Music Rationale

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.

Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. In school, music can bring communities together through the shared endeavor of whole school singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing. The sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of a school community, enriching each student while strengthened the sharedbonds of support and trust which make a great school.   

Aims

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 inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

At Windwhistle Primary School we use the ‘Charanga Music School’ scheme of work which supports all the requirements of the National Curriculum and gives children access to a wide range of musical concepts and experiences. The ‘Charanga Musical School’ Scheme provides teachers with week-by-week lesson support for each year group in the school. It is 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 new National Curriculum and is absolutely in line with published OFSTED guidance. The learning within this scheme is based on: Listening and Appraising; Musical Activities - creating and exploring; and Singing and Performing. The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in music lessons including modelling, demonstrating and exploration. Children also have the opportunity to use/listen to a wide range of instruments, including through ICT and computing. Children are given the opportunity to learn to play the keyboard or guitar on an individual basis in lessons delivered by a peripatetic teacher and paid for by parents.