Music
Intent
As a powerful and unique form of communication and expression, music is an integral part of life at Nelmes. Our intention is to deliver fun and inspiring lessons to engage our children. We believe that music should be embedded within our school providing lots of additional opportunities for our children to be able to appreciate and perform music. During assemblies, children learn new songs and enjoy community singing experiences, allowing for communication and cooperation between both key stages. Our children learn to appreciate the various styles of music available to them from early music to current popular culture. Individual instrumental tuition is also available at our school provided by Havering Music School.
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
Children are taught Music on a regular basis throughout the school. using ‘Charanga’ which is a scheme of work that allows non-music experts to understand and teach a regular and well planned scheme of work. Charanga allows steady progression both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. By using Charanga as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that we are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum.
Charanga provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music, and are exposed to a variety of genres from both the past and present times. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.
The scheme is structured so that each unit of work comprises the strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:
- Listening and Appraising
- Musical Activities: a. Warm-up Games b. Optional Flexible Games c. Singing d. Playing instruments e. Improvisation f. Composition
- Performing
Impact
Nelmes, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Discussion and feedback from the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)
- Staff meetings with opportunities for dialogue between teachers
- Termly reporting and tracking of standards across the curriculum
- Photo evidence and video analysis through recording of performance in lessons
- A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
- Dedicated music leader time
The impact of our music curriculum is also measured in the uptake of additional activities such as choir and 1:1 music lessons. In addition to this, we also measure the general impact on a regular basis to see how music is embedded throughout everyday school life- this may be in the form of regular assemblies and cross curricular in other subjects besides music.
By accessing a rich and varied programme of music, when children leave Nelmes, our hope is that they will feel a sense of achievement, will have grown in self-confidence, will possess an awareness of others and will be able to self-reflect. It is our hope that they will be inspired by different genres of music and enjoy music in as many ways as they choose whether it be as a listener, performer or creator.
For more information about Music at Nelmes click the link below:
Music development plan- September 2024
