Music

Intent

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School we strive to cultivate a real enjoyment of music and aim to deliver high quality music teaching, supporting and encouraging all children to realise their full potential

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School we believe that music is a unique form of communication and is an integral part of our culture. It provides an important medium to help children understand themselves, relate to others and the wider world.

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.

Implementation

The key concepts in music we plan a progression for are as follows:

  • Performing
  • Composing
  • Appraising

Key Stage One

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School during key stage 1 children listen carefully and respond physically to a wider range of music. They play musical instruments and sing a variety of songs, adding accompaniments and creating short compositions, with increasing confidence, imagination and control.  They explore and enjoy how sounds and silence can create different moods and effects.

Key Stage Two

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School during key stage 2 children sing songs and play instruments with increasing confidence, skill, expression and awareness of their own contribution to a group or class performance. They improvise, and develop their own musical compositions, in response to a variety of different stimuli with increasing personal involvement, independence and creativity. They explore their thoughts and feelings through responding physically, intellectually and emotionally to a variety of music from different times and cultures.

Performing skills

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School children will be taught to sing a wide-ranging variety of songs and to use their voices expressively. They should have the opportunity to play tuned and un-tuned instruments with increasing control and should rehearse and perform with others, with an awareness of audience.

Composing skills

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School children will create musical patterns and will be shown how to explore, select and organise musical ideas, recording these in a variety of ways.

Appraising skills

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School children will be given the opportunity to explore and explain their own ideas and feelings about music, using music, dance, expressive language and musical vocabulary. They will analyse and compare sounds and will become confident at suggesting improvements for their own work and that of others.

Listening and applying knowledge and understanding

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School children should be able to listen with concentration and to internalise and recall sounds with increasing aural memory. They will develop a growing awareness of the eight musical elements: pitch, duration, pace, dynamics, texture, timbre, form, silence. They will learn that time and place can influence the way Music is created, performed and heard, that music is produced in different ways and is described through invented and standard notations.

Impact

At the end of KS2 children will be able to:

  • Compose – Children will be able to confidently create their own music.
  • Listen and Appraise –  children will be confident in commenting on the dynamic range and on the speed of a range of music.  They will be able to agree the parts which require more rehearsal.
  • Perform – Children will be able to perform music which may require considerable periods of rehearsal and preparation.
  • Mode of Enquiry – children’s engagement with great music should arise through diverse musical experiences and responses