Music at Swarcliffe Primary School 

At Swarcliffe Primary School, our Music curriculum supports pupils to develop a wide range of skills including listening and appraising, playing musical games, singing songs, learning and playing instruments, improvisation, composition and participation in opportunities where they can perform and share their learning.

At Swarcliffe Primary School, we aim to make music an enjoyable experience which inspires and motivates children to engage and participate in musical opportunities provided. Children are encouraged to develop their skills and passion for music, engaging in experiences, which help to build their self-confidence, develop creativity and instil a sense of achievement. It is important to support children in developing their understanding and experience of music through: listening, appraising, evaluating, analysing, composing and performing music across a range of musical genres and historical periods. At Swarcliffe primary school, we incorporate music across the curriculum and aim to use music in a cross-curricular way to help further develop children’s experiences and understanding of music from different periods in history and across a range of different genres.

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
  • learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
  • understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations

EY Foundation Stage:

Aspects of musical learning and development:

  • Hearing and Listening
  • Vocalising and Singing
  • Moving and Dancing
  • Exploring and Playing

‘It can be seen within the four aspects how music threads through all areas of learning and development. Music can be a way of exploring, communicating and responding to experience. This interaction with others, whether this be with one other person or a group, is personal to each individual and is often an expression of feelings. All vocal communication is comprised of musical elements such as pitch, rhythm and timbre, demonstrating that musicality is an intrinsic part of being human. Music should be seen as a core component of children’s learning to ensure they have broad, balanced and rounded experiences in early childhood and beyond.’

Key Stage One: 

Pupils should be taught to:

  • Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
  • Play tuned and un-tuned instruments musically
  • Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
  • Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Key Stage Two: 

Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

Pupils should be taught to:

  • Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
  • Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
  • Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
  • Use and understand staff and other musical notations
  • Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
  • Develop an understanding of the history of music.

Summative assessments are completed to inform leaders of areas requiring further development and skills that still need to be further embedded. Communication with parents and carers is ongoing and information regarding their child’s progress is provided as part of the annual school report. In addition to this, our peripatetic music teacher reports on the progress of those children receiving music tuition by completing additional music reports.

At Swarcliffe Primary School, our music curriculum supports children to feel a sense of achievement, increased self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and an understanding and appreciation of different cultures and traditions. Our music curriculum will also provide children with opportunities to enjoy music as a listener, an appraiser, a creator or a performer. The children will become confident in listening and evaluating music, using musical terms to describe what they can hear.

 

 

Examples of additional texts we use to enhance our Music curriculum:

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - Pam Adams

The Three Little Pigs - Mara Alperin and Ag Jatkowska

A Squash and a Squeeze - Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

We're Going On A Bearhunt– Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

Giraffes Can't Dance – Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

Musical Max – Robert Kraus

The Gingerbread Man – Ladybird

Macbeth – Anna Claybourne and Tom Morgan-Jones

The Firework Maker's Daughter - Philip Pullman

What a Wonderful World - Ashley Bryan

Enrich, Enhance, Excite

At Swarcliffe Primary School, our music curriculum is further enhanced by memorable experiences such as visits to see live musicians; inviting visitors into school to perform and hosting our own musical events where we showcase what we have learnt. Immersion in these experiences help our children embed the musical concepts that are taught through the programmes of study. As part of our musical offerings at Swarcliffe Primary, there are clubs available for the children to join which help further develop skills taught during the school day. In addition to this, we offer daily friendship sessions where the children can choose from a selection of activities including musical tuition and time with a dedicated member of staff who is available to support children in developing their skills and preparing for regular performances organised throughout the school year. We also provide children with the opportunity to receive weekly music tuition with a peripatetic music teacher who ensures that children receive high quality musical education.

During the time that school is closed, there are still activities that you can access to help you continue to enjoy musical experiences until we return to school.

Here are a few links to websites that you might want to try:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio

https://charanga.com/site/

Teach yourself recorder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYDRLHj6vDQ&list=PLGbTO82eAIaxvszSGFoe84q1C4d_3Lpj1

Practice the songs we have been learning in school: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vmm+recorder+songs

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/home-key-stage-1-subjects/music/music-activities-and-games

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/keystage2-ks2/ks2-subjects/ks2-music

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zwxhfg8

 

Phase 5/6 have been enjoying music lessons - trying different instruments, singing and dancing to a variety of tunes from different genres of music. Their confidence is growing and it has been lovely to see!

KS2 Instrument Lessons

Key documents

Name
 Music Documents
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Knowledge Organisers

Name
 EYFS.pdfDownload
 KS1.pdfDownload
 LKS2.pdfDownload
 UKS2.pdfDownload
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