Music

Statement of Intent

At Harrietsham Church of England Primary School, our intention is that our music curriculum will inspire pupils to develop a love of music, and an enthusiastic response to a high quality, music curriculum, that engages and supports all.

In their Music Education, we aim to teach children to develop the key skills of listening, singing, composing, improvising and performing - founded upon the National Curriculum for Music. Music lessons will uphold the fundamental skills of learning, endorsing good attitudes in lessons, whilst also being fun!

Music at Harrietsham will make use of our beautiful, outdoor environment. Music will nurture pupils to flourish and will endorse our school vision and values. Music will contribute to the well-being and nurture of pupils in our school. Music lessons will provide a forum for rich discussion and expression for all, honing speaking and listening skills, and widening vocabulary. Music, by its nature, will richly illustrate the importance of diversity, as pupils discover music from different cultures and periods in history.

Music at Harrietsham will provide wider opportunities for peripatetic learning, community outreach, educational visits and trips, and links with local schools. Music at Harrietsham will be a celebrated and highly valued feature of our school.

We use the Kapow Music Scheme to teach our lessons.

The Kapow Primary Music scheme is designed to help pupils recognise themselves as musical and to nurture a lifelong love of music.

The scheme develops the skills, knowledge, and understanding needed to become confident performers, composers, and listeners. The curriculum introduces pupils to music from across the world, encouraging respect and appreciation for the music of all traditions and communities.

Pupils build musical skills through singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, improvising, composing and listening and responding to music. They develop an understanding of the historical and cultural context of the music they encounter and learn how music can be notated.

The scheme also supports the development of transferable skills, including teamwork, leadership, creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and presentation and performance abilities. These skills are integral to pupils’ development as learners and have wide application in their lives beyond school.

Implementation

The main learning environment for Music is a nominated Arts Room which is welcoming, exciting, engaging and informative. The room benefits from good speakers and a projector which are used to share high quality recordings. Instruments are available around the room. This room opens out into our outdoor space behind the school, allowing for more space, engagement with the wider world and opportunities for outdoor learning.

Pupils have weekly Music lessons lasting at least an hour.

The school hall also has a high-quality PA system for larger, musical events, such as visits from musicians, ensemble concerts and our annual Big Summer Sing.

Music develops many social skills, such as teamwork, turn taking, respect and fellowship. Music is also planned in partnership with the Collective Worship Lead, whereby the termly themes are complimented by song choices, and the Music Lead takes Collective Musical Worship weekly. Music plays a major role in our school celebrations and productions.

Music at Harrietsham is well supported by the local hub, Kent Music. The Music Lead and our teachers benefit from the high quality CPD, and are kept up to date with Kent Music’s communications. We hire instruments at low cost from Kent Music. We subscribe to Singup, an organisation that champions singing skills and it supports both specialist and non-specialist teachers of Music.

Impact

Harrietsham School is known for its high quality, and enriching Music Education. Children discover musical strengths and talents, as they each progress their key skills of singing, listening, performing, composing and improvising, throughout their time here at Harrietsham. Pupils adopt the fundamental skills for learning, as supported in Music Lessons. Pupils leave the school with confidence to offer their musical skills acquired here to their future schools, and into the wider world.

Music Long Term Plan

The document below gives details of the Music Topics that each year group are planning to cover over the course of the school year.

Music Long Term Plan

Music Subject Framework

Our Framework gives details of all of the areas of Music that we would want an Age Expected child to have mastered at the end of each term. Click the link below to view the Music Framework for each year group within our school.

Music Subject Framework

Music Subject Concepts

Our Music Concepts are key concepts within the Music curriculum which we have identified as being important to our children's musical learning. These concepts run through our Music Curriculum and are revisited and built upon at various points in our children's educational journey.

Music Subject Concepts

Music Ready to Progress Criteria

Our Music Ready to Progress Criteria are the key objectives that we would like each child to have mastered before moving onto the next year group curriculum. Without mastering these Ready to Progress Criteria, the children may develop gaps in their learning.

Music Ready to Progress Criteria