Music
Curriculum Intention
Intent
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.
- Learn to sing and use their voices, musical instruments and technology to create and compose music on their own and with others.
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated through the inter-related dimensions of music.
At Thoresby Primary school, our intention is to deliver a high-quality music education with these same aims and aspirations. Through our curriculum, children will become more fluent in the interrelated dimensions of music: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure. With a strong understanding of these music dimensions, children can effectively listen to, perform, compose and improvise music. Our pupils will increasingly understand the technical, constructive and expressive aspects of music. Music is both a powerful and enjoyable outlet for creativity and expression. Our curriculum will help children to be musical and foster a lifelong curiosity and love for all types of music.
Implementation
At Thoresby, there are many different opportunities throughout the week, term and year for children to be musical and practise music. We endeavour to ensure that these opportunities provide balanced opportunities for developing the children’s listening, performing and composing skills as well as their understanding of the technical, constructive and expressive aspects of music.
Our assemblies are an invaluable chance to appraise and perform music as a group. The music children listen to as they enter and leave assemblies is carefully planned over a four-year cycle to ensure that pupils hear a varied diet of music from all periods, styles and traditions. Each selected piece is accompanied by questions specifically selected for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The songs that pupils learn to sing together have been chosen to help foster a love for singing, no matter the children’s musical ability.
All children participate in whole-school singing performances throughout the year, like our Christmas Carol Concert or the exciting finale to our summer Kaleidoscope festivities. In addition, every year group rehearses and performs a production for their parents. These performances give music learning an authentic value and a chance to celebrate everyone’s musical talents.
The discrete music lessons delivered by teaching staff priorities the teaching of musical instruments and composition. Children in Key Stage 1 spend two years learning to play the glockenspiel while children in Key Stage 2 spend four years learning to play the recorder. Learning to play an instrument for a consistent amount of time ensures that our pupils have the time to develop fluency in their playing. When children are taught to compose, lessons are supported by the Kapow Primary music programme.
Our music provision is also supported by the Hull Music Service. Whole class ensemble teaching in Year 3 kick-starts their learning with recorders in Key Stage 2. These weekly lessons teach the children to care for their recorder, how the recorder works and how to perform a range of songs on their new instrument. At the end of the year, our children perform as part of music concert that brings together schools from across the city. It is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate their musical journey.
Many of our students go on to learn other instruments as a result of enjoying these lessons so much. Our longstanding relationship with the Hull Music Service allows us to offer pupils the chance to learn brass, string, woodwind and percussion instruments in small groups with peripatetic teachers. We offer this opportunity to Key Stage 2 students and try to ensure the costs are affordable for all our families. As a result of this tuition, many of our students have been awarded music medals or music grades by the ABRSM. Those pupils with sufficient experience playing their instruments are invited to join our school music ensemble. Under the guidance of our ensemble lead, our students are taught the skills and coordination necessary for performing as part of a band or orchestra.
We are also lucky to be a core school for the Choral-Hull singing programme. This programme provides professional singing coaching for all Year 4 and Year 5 children. A selection of the Year 4 and Year 5 pupils are invited to hone their skills further in our aspirational Choral Choir. This choir is taught singing to a higher standard and perform at several incredible concerts throughout the year including Gabrieli Roar and the Interkulture International Choirs Festival.
In addition to the music taught within the school day, children can continue to practise their performing skills in after-school clubs. Our school choir is very popular and all age groups are welcome. At choir, the children have the chance to enjoy singing as a team, as well as opportunities to perform to audiences outside of the school community. In previous years, the school choir has performed at local events, including the Vista Festival and the Song for Hull concerts, and were even invited to contribute to the 2019 charity single Winters Dream for Viking FM.
Impact
As a result of the music curriculum and extra-curricular opportunities, children at Thoresby learn to analyse, appreciate and enjoy music of all different varieties. The children are able to progressively develop their understanding of the interrelated dimensions of music and use them to perform and create music in their own way. Music is an outlet for creativity and expression, as well as a vehicle for developing self-confidence, teamwork, respect for others and mental health. All children become well versed in musical skills but many pursue music further through instrument tuition or by joining choir.
