Music Intent 

 Aims

The overarching aim for Music is to inspire our children with the power and positive experiences music brings. "We are all musicians!"

At Victoria Road Primary School, our music curriculum explores how musical techniques and skills can be nurtured and developed in all pupils to build on their musical journey. We believe that every young person should be able to experience music and we hope to foster a lifelong love of this subject through finding their voices as singers, playing instruments, composing and performing. 

According to the new National Curriculum “Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity” (2014) .

We aim to give children a broad, rich and balanced curriculum with the opportunity to gain confidence in music by;

• Performing, listening to, reviewing and evaluating music
• Being taught to sing a range of songs, creating and composing music 
• Understanding and exploring how music is created, produced and communicated
• Learning an instrument
• Being exposed to music from a range of genres
• Expressing themselves creatively 

Through our belief that ‘Learning is a Journey’ we create opportunities for music to be embedded into other areas of the curriculum, as well as ensure that children have the desire and curiosity to learn more. 

Here at Victoria Road, we believe that music should be an inclusive curriculum where children can learn songs from different cultures accepting diversity. This includes, learning songs in a range of languages and supporting children with additional needs by adding actions and teaching sign language during class and whole school singing. Music is a powerful tool and we feel that all children should have the opportunity to be exposed to all elements to enhance enjoyment. 

We ensure that all children have the chance to play an instrument as they progress through the school. They will have the entitlement to play drums, recorders and guitars, as well as experiencing a range of performances for enrichment. There is also the opportunity to take instrumental lessons individually and in small groups.

 Implementation

Music is timetabled weekly at Victoria Road Primary School. Our music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom through the structured music programme Music Express (KS1) and Sing Education (KS2) as well as the weekly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances, musical clubs and the learning of instruments. Music Express offers a clear progression of skills with specific starting points and end points. The units have been carefully selected for coverage and to link with termly topics in KS1, which will prepare them for when they enter KS2 and start engaging with the Kodaly pedagogy that is introduced with the Sing Education scheme. 

The Kodaly method allows musical concepts to be presented logically and methodically, and builds on children's prior experience with music, using singing, hand signs, rhythm sight-reading and collaboration.

Sing’s core approach to musical learning is through our primary instrument - the voice. Music Express is inspiring children to use their voices and enjoy singing, securing them with a solid musical foundation which is then built upon in KS2. The core musical elements are taught in the classroom, allowing children to use musical language (keywords such as pulse, rhythm, pitch) and understand the process of making, playing, and analysing music. Children will learn how to read rhythm, identify pitches and understand melodic and chordal accompaniment, then apply these concepts to songs in both simple and compound time and from a range of cultures. They will also learn to compose, improvise and appreciate different musical styles and genres through practical learning activities, including the use of instruments such as glockenspiels, ukuleles and a variety of percussion. 

Our whole school weekly “Singing “ sessions and our Choir consist of rehearsing and learning a wide range of songs from traditional to modern. Beyond the classroom children have the opportunity to learn guitars and be part of an iRock band. 

Impact

At Victoria Road Primary, children have the opportunity to explore their musical journey by performing with the chance to discuss and evaluate their strengths and areas for development. 

We use a range of strategies to assess what skills and knowledge the children have attained each term including the following:

• Videos and photos (online music book)
• Pupil voice
• Regular feedback
• Teacher assessments

Evidence is recorded in Online Music Books including photographs, videos and child voice from key focus children.