Intent

At The Cambridge Primary School we aim for all our pupils to develop a life-long love of music through a wide range of quality musical experiences which engage and inspire them. Music plays an integral role of supporting our children’s understanding of our core values of respect, teamwork, honesty, happiness, excellence, and responsibility. At the heart of the music curriculum are creativity, curiosity and excitement and an aim to develop children’s confidence, self-esteem, and collaborative skills. We aim to overcome barriers to instrumental learning through providing both whole class and small group instrument lessons free of charge as well as providing children with instruments to take home and a specialist music classroom where they can practice at school. We aim to provide children with access to choirs, orchestra clubs and performance opportunities throughout the year both in and out of school. We listen to our students and connect them to outside agencies to further their musical ambitions through our ties with Hampshire Music Service. We ensure that children experience a variety of styles and genres of music through live professional concerts and our ‘Music of the Week’ listening programme. Our vision is that every child moves on to secondary school feeling that they have had an opportunity to express themselves through music and explore their creativity. We hope that children understand that hard work, dedication, and perseverance have a positive impact on progress, and they have the skills, desire, and confidence to further their music education.

 

Implementation

Our curriculum takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands (performing, composing, listening, history of music, inter-related dimensions of music) are woven together to create an engaging learning experience to meet the National Curriculum requirements.

At The Cambridge Primary School we use a spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. The progression of skills is based on the Model Music Curriculum and ensures children develop understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff, and other musical notations as well as the inter-related dimensions of music.

Children in Reception to Year 6 have a weekly one-hour music lesson as well as a 15 minute singing assembly every two weeks. All lessons and assemblies are taught by a specialist music teacher. Lessons are taught using digital resources such as Sparkyard, Sing up, recorder magic, Classroom 200. Physical resources include keyboards, percussion, flutes, ukuleles, clarinets, recorders, and guitars.

Music is assessed verbally using ongoing, formative developmental feedback and children regularly peer and selfassess during lessons or by watching recordings of their own performances. Musical learning is celebrated with performances in assemblies, end of term videoed performances in class, and music awards in the weekly achievement assemblies.
 

Impact

• Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school 
• Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social, and historical contexts in which it is developed
• Understand the various ways in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities 
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own personal musical preferences
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Music

 

Fundamental British Values in Music

Throughout the music lessons we are encouraging children as practitioners to be tolerant of different views and embrace the traditions behind different cultures and the meaning of music in different context.