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Learning Intention
“Music, even without words, can evoke our laughter, joy and aspirations. It can provide a soundtrack to life, inspiring and encouraging us like nothing else.” Miss Chipchase, Music Leader
At Meadowbank, we recognise the vital role of Music in allowing curiosity, creativity and self–expression to develop alongside resilience, confidence, compassion and collaboration. We encourage and enable children to develop their skills to listen, sing, perform, evaluate, analyse and compose across a wide range of historical periods, styles, traditions and musical genres. Our vision is to provide ambitious, memorable and meaningful opportunities to inspire our children to develop a love for Music, empowering them to flourish as musicians in the wider world. Many enrichments are planned so that children all have the opportunity to play an instrument, sing in the school choir, perform and attend musical concerts in the wider community, listen to music and compose their own both independently and collaboratively. As music develops a connectivity of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as ethnicities across the world. Children are able to enjoy exceptional music in as many ways as they choose- either as a listener, creator or performer. This allows skills learnt to be used in collaborative and self-lead work, sharing our achievements with our community and other schools. Our music curriculum encourages children to find different ways to express themselves, to articulate their own musical interests and passion and to set themselves high aspirations and to create lifelong learners.
Aims
- To provide opportunities for children to develop their individual skills, sharing experiences and encouraging connectivity across school and the trust.
- To provide opportunities for learners to acquire the necessary skills and understanding through participation in musical activities individually and by working in a group.
- To encourage and develop creativity and imagination through listening, responding, composing and performing music.
- To develop musical oracy through discussion and exploration to encourage children to articulate their views and opinions.
- To support learners to develop an awareness of musical traditions and developments from a variety of cultures.
- To shape our children to become Musicians of the future and build on their own individual capital.
Learning Journey
The Music Leader has a strong understanding of the EYFS curriculum, and the seven areas of learning and development that shape the educational programmes in our Early Years Foundation Stage. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected, and the experiences, opportunities and activities which are planned enable children to develop a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundations for good future progress through school and life. Music is planned progressively for each year group across school through high-quality skills and a knowledge rich curriculum alongside Charanga’s Model Music Curriculum scheme. This enables all children to be challenged as they explore, experience and build on prior knowledge and skills already learnt. We teach our children to listen to and appreciate different forms of music. As children progress through the school they are able to maintain their concentration by listening to more extended pieces of Music from a range of genres. Children are given opportunities to experiment with sounds which is linked progressively to specific musical terminology such as pitch, dynamics, pulse and timbre. Children are introduced to the concept of improvisation and they compose together and are encouraged to share their creations as groups and as soloists. We focus on how Music can represent feelings and emotions and how they can express this through their own compositions. Creating leaders of change for the future, children explore different genres of Music to inspire their own which are individual and unique to each child. Music learning is also enhanced through our wider opportunities program which is designed to give all our children the chance to learn to play a musical instrument, providing breadth and depth within the subject. We work collaboratively with local Music specialists to further enhance the learning of all children providing opportunities for children to listen to live Music and perform to others. Our Music specialists teach disciplined skills including musical notation, recognising pulse and pitch and how to compose Music using a wide range of musical instruments. It is the role of the adults to facilitate Music learning at Meadowbank and enable all children to have the opportunity to become Leaders of Change by asking their own questions, sharing their own understanding of Music and playing a vital role in their own Music capital.
Learning Environment and Immersion
To enable our young musicians to thrive within a rich Musical curriculum we plan for a creative environment which all children have access to. Providing children with a range of musical instruments that they can play from different cultures, having access to high quality texts for children to use when finding out about the history of music supports them to explore, experiment and apply skills, knowledge and vocabulary. Music resources are readily accessible within continuous provision right from our Foundation Stage; encouraging listening and sound discrimination within Phonics as well as during rhythm and rhyme time. In order to create curiosity and connection, Music is also linked to the half termly ‘big question’, encouraging children to engage and develop new skills within a meaningful and rich environment so they see a purpose and make connections to Music beyond the classroom.
Assessment for Learning
Music assessment is captured in a variety of different ways. The progression of Music skills, knowledge and vocabulary maps are used as a tool when medium term planning. Planning also includes the children’s voice and their questions, interests and experiences. The sequence of learning is evident in the weekly planning and progress is captured and evidenced through photographs, videos and through the child’s voice. The articulation of musical response plays an important role in identifying each child’s musical knowledge and understanding of a specific musical concept taught. Oral feedback is also given to children during a lesson encouraging them to self-correct, address misconceptions and to make accelerated progress in relation to meeting and exceeding age related expectations.
Monitoring and review
The Music leader is responsible for the monitoring of Music through lesson pop ins, pupil voice, planning looks and whole school CPE opportunities. The role of the Music leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of Music, being informed about current developments within the subject and providing a strategic lead and direction for Music in the school. Regular pop ins enable the Music leader to observe the quality of teaching and learning, quality assure the outcomes for children and identify areas that need to be developed further. Feedback is given to the teaching team which informs next steps for monitoring and support. This allows the Music leader to identify more vulnerable groups of children and support staff to ensure that these groups make accelerated progress. Children are enthusiastic to discuss their Music learning during pupil agency activities and pop in opportunities. The Arts Ambassadors at Meadowbank are involved in further developing a rich Musical environment and are able to confidently share their ideas during team meetings about making Music the very best it can be at Meadowbank.
