St Joseph's Rotherhithe

Music

Intent

The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
- Be taught to sing, create and compose music
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

 

At St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, we are dedicated to providing a well-rounded education that includes the arts. We believe that music is an essential part of a child's development and cultural enrichment. To achieve this, we have chosen to implement the Sing Up Music curriculum, which offers a structured and comprehensive approach to music education. At St Joseph’s The Sing Up Music curriculum is taught as a one-year program for each year group ensuring flexibility to meet our school's unique needs.

‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity’ (The National Curriculum)

 

Implementation

At St Joseph's Primary School children are provided with opportunities beyond the National Curriculum to further support their understanding. These include having visitors with a musical talent, visiting concerts and school productions. External interests and talents are also encouraged and showcased in class and assembly, ensuring that everyone is challenged regardless of previous musical experience. Children have an understanding of how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives.

 

The music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as the singing assemblies, various performances and the learning of instruments.

 

EYFS 

Through Expressive Arts, children are taught to sing songs, make music and dance. Children are given opportunities to experiment with ways of changing sound and develop an understanding of pulse rhythm and pitch. Children follow a scheme of work from Sing Up Music scheme and enjoy listening and responding to different styles of music, learning to sing, joining in with nursery rhymes and action songs which leads to playing classroom instruments and performing for others. Children are also encouraged to use everyday objects to make music and create sound, children enjoy exploring our music wall outdoors and experimenting with sound using objects made from different materials such as wood, metal and plastic. Children experiment with water buts, kettles and pans, piping, guttering, bin lids and many different types of beaters.

 

In KS1, children are taught through the musical programme Sing Up. Lessons happen on a weekly basis. The Sing Up music scheme ensures that children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. The elements of music are taught in the classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. In the classroom, children learn key aspects of music through cross-curricular links. They also learn how to compose, focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. The children are taught composing and/or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument. Sing Up Music encourages creativity through improvisation and composition, aligning with our school's commitment to nurturing creative talents.

 

In KS2, children learn to play recorders with a professional music teacher. Weekly curriculum music lessons happen on Tuesday afternoons for Years 3 & 4 / 5 & 6, alternating each term. The music teacher follows the Southwark Music Service Scheme of Work, blending curriculum music topics with instrumental learning: Ukuleles in Years 3 & 4 and Recorders in Years 5 & 6. Weekly lessons allow children to explore their music topics in greater depth, building foundational skills and fostering an appreciation for music.

 

Additionally, every Wednesday, the children have the opportunity to sing with an Archdiocesan choir master, further enriching their musical experience and helping to develop vocal skills and confidence. This regular exposure to expert-led choral singing enhances their understanding of music theory and performance.

 

Children are given opportunities to showcase their musical skills at end-of-term events, such as Christmas Fayres and performance assemblies. They may also participate in an after-school choir, deepening their engagement and enthusiasm for music as they develop their performance abilities and collaborate with their peers.

 

Impact

We are excited to implement the Sing Up Music curriculum at St Joseph’s and look forward to fostering a love for music while nurturing the musical talents of our students. This curriculum will enhance our educational offerings and contribute to the holistic development of our students.

All pupils will benefit from a high-quality music education, which engages and inspires them to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians.

 

Children can sing, feel a pulse, add rhythms and create melodies in a group and they can further develop these skills in the future and continue to enjoy and embrace music in their lives.

 

It will increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they will develop a growing musical vocabulary that allows them to critically engage with music.

 

Teaching and learning of music is a reflective process for the children as they are given the opportunities to assess themselves and their peers.

 

The children also celebrate their success and skills with their peers and wider audiences.

 

We assess against the National Curriculum through: teacher assessment, pictures and video evidence, which captures each child's progress throughout the year.

 

music development plan summary 24 25 st josephs.pdf

 

Music

 

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