At Ryhope Junior School, we believe that Music plays an important role in our broad and balanced curriculum. Music provides the children with the opportunities to be expressive, creative and to explore their feelings and emotions. One of the principal objectives of this subject is to help children acquire a more perceptive approach to the medium of sound, which has implications for children’s listening skills not only in music lessons, but across the wider curriculum.

Intent

What are we trying to achieve through our curriculum…

Our Music curriculum aims to ensure that all children have the opportunity to:

• 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 Ryhope Junior School, children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. We use the ‘Charanga’ programme to deliver music lessons in an enjoyable, interesting and stimulating manner. We encourage children to develop an informed interest in music in whichever ways appeal to them and are committed to developing a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music.

Our pupils are also encouraged to realise their musical potential to the best of their ability through singing (to allow them to view their voice as an instrument) as well as through improvisation and composition of their own music using a variety of instruments. Children are introduced to reading musical notation and creating their own compositions. Children are also given opportunities to sing and perform a variety of genres outside of curriculum lessons through our assemblies. We are committed to ensuring that our children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge and experiences to involve themselves in music in a variety of different contexts.

Implementation

How our curriculum is delivered…

Music is timetabled for an hour each week and lessons are delivered in our Arts Room. In addition, children enjoy participating in a whole school singing assembly for half an hour each week, led by the subject leader. There is also an opportunity for children to learn to play a musical instrument- whole class ensemble teaching of recorders takes place in year 4 for half a term and all children have the opportunity to learn to play the violin.

We use the Charanga programme (www.charanga.com) to deliver the music curriculum. This web-based scheme of work offers a topic-centered approach to support children’s learning in music.  A steady progression plan has been built into Charanga, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. By using Charanga as the basis of our scheme of work, we can ensure that children are fulfilling the aims for musical learning (as stated in the National Curriculum, 2014; the Model Music Curriculum, 2021; and the National Plan for Music Education, 2022):

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.

Charanga includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places, linking to the suggested repertoire in the Model Music Curriculum (DfE March 2021). These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre. While there are opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each teaching unit, the progression planned into the scheme of work means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.

Children will be given the opportunity to develop various essential musical skills and concepts and also to experience music in a variety of ways: - through movement, singing in tune, memorising a wide range of songs, developing listening skills, performing and listening, acquiring musical skills in the reading of notation, experiencing live and recorded music, participating in live performances, making simple musical instruments and composing simple tunes.

At Ryhope Junior School, we value the importance of live music performances. Through our yearly visit to the pantomime and visiting musicians, children experience live music performances, which we hope will inspire in them a love of music.

Impact

The difference our curriculum is making…

Music is not a lesson that requires a written response. Children are encouraged to share their knowledge and understanding through collaborative discussions about the pieces of music they have listened to, and the pieces that they have created and performed. As a school, we measure the impact of music lessons through the children’s ability to demonstrate the skills they have learned. These are tracked on a spreadsheet throughout the year, showing those children who are working above, at or below the expected standard for their year group. Evidence of discussions, performances and musical compositions is recorded in a floor book by each year group, showing their progression in skills across the school.

In addition to this, the children’s developing performance skills are showcased through singing at our Harvest Festival and Carol service at our local church, as well as performances within school.