Music

Music Curriculum

Intent:

In the Orchard Lea Federation, music is an exciting experience that promotes self-confidence and inspires creativity.  Children have the opportunity to play a range of untuned and tuned musical instruments, including their voices.  They are taught how music can be used to promote positive wellbeing and self-expression.

Children at Orchard Lea are given opportunities to compose their own music.   Both individually and collaboratively, they can express themselves, apply their skills and evaluate their musical creations, promoting highly aspirational musicians.  All children’s successes are celebrated to give them a sense of achievement and inspire a new generation of budding musicians.

Implementation:

Throughout their primary education, children gain a wealth of musical knowledge and understanding surrounding the inter-related dimensions of music: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and musical notations.  Alongside this, children listen and respond to a variety of musical genres from a range of time periods. 

In both Key Stages 1 and 2, children have access to units taught by the specialists from Hampshire Music Services, exposing them to wide array of instruments and musical techniques.

Part out of our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen to, and appreciate, different forms of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach children to make music together, using instruments such as the recorder and glockenspiel, to understand musical notation, and to compose pieces. The children are taught technical language such as volume, pitch, beat, rhythm, dynamics and are encouraged to discuss music using these terms. We also have the music service come and teach instrumental lessons to year 2 classes throughout the year.

Our school uses the national curriculum for music as the basis for its curriculum planning and the Charanga Music scheme for the delivery of Music lessons in KS1, whilst in KS2, we use the Hampshire Music Service schemes.  While there are opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each teaching unit, the progression planned from both the Charanga and Hampshire schemes of work means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school. Each unit aims to activate and build on prior learning, to ensure better cognition and retention. Each unit is carefully sequenced to allow for prior learning to be built upon and skills to be practiced and advanced.

The Charanga Musical School Scheme and the Hampshire Music Services Schemes provide teachers with week-by-week lesson support for each year group in the school.  They are ideal for specialist and non-specialist teachers and provides lesson plans, assessment, clear progression, and engaging and exciting whiteboard resources to support every lesson. The Scheme supports all the requirements of the national curriculum.

Each Unit of Work comprises of the strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music combining a range of musical activities and games.

• Listening and Appraising

• Singing

• Playing instruments

• Improvisation

• Composition

• Performing

Music - Progression of knowledge and skills