Intent

At Calverton Primary School, it is our intent that we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage pupils to participate in a variety of musical experiences throughout which we aim to build confidence and musical competence. Music education is important for all pupils. It is a powerful, unique form of communication that can change the way our pupils feel, think and act. It transcends different cultures and abilities. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music is also a highly academic and demanding subject and at Calverton, we aim to enhance all pupils’ skills in this area.

Implement

At Calverton, we follow the Charanga scheme of work across the whole school from Reception to Year 6. This scheme enables wide exposure to a range of musical genres with lots of practical opportunities for pupils to explore and develop as musicians and singers. Music is taught weekly for 45 minutes in all year groups and the learning sequence is as follows; Listen and Appraise, Musical Activities, Perform and Share. Ongoing assessment takes place in lessons and this is used to inform learning and whether the teacher needs to adapt the Charanga planning moving forward.

In Nursery they follow a bespoke programme which focuses on specific text which allow pupils to learn specific nursery rhymes.

In addition to this, other opportunities are offered in Music through two specialist teachers. Pupils in KS2 are given the opportunity to sing as part of the school choir and learn a range of instruments including; Keyboard, brass and Ukulele. On a half termly rotation, the two specialist teachers focus on a year group and teach weekly sessions to enhance the learning from Charanga. In these sessions, pupils use their voices and instruments to work on the four main foci – pitch, rhythm, beat and melody.

Impact

The music lessons that are offered at Calverton enhance children’s musical knowledge and allow them to express themselves through music. At Calverton, we believe that pupils should ‘dream big’ and music education opens a whole new world. Music lessons foster a love of something that pupils will continue to engage with throughout their life. Increased confidence, co-ordination and creativity are just a few of the life-long skills that pupils will work to master through Music lessons.