Intention (Why do we teach what we teach ?)

We have designed our Music curriculum so that our learners:

• Develop a passion for music, in which pupils learn to appreciate music and develop a life-long love of music.
• Develop their skills, knowledge and understanding, to enable them to be become confident performers, composers and listeners
• Are introduced to a variety of genres of music from around the world and across generations, recognising the multicultural nature of our school and how we use music as a medium to explore and appreciate British and other cultures
• Develop their musical skills through singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, composing music and responding to music that they listen to
• Develop transferrable skills which are key in their development as learners and have a wider application in their lives both inside and outside of school e.g.: team-working, leadership, creative thinking, decision-making and performance skills

Implementation (How do we teach it ?)

Our Music curriculum is taught:

• Progressively so that it begins in the Early Years, where the children’s musical awareness is developed to support their imagination and creativity. This early love of music is then developed throughout the school, whereupon, children are encouraged to perform, rehearse, sing and explore their own musicality
• So that the individual strands of music are interwoven in lessons to create engaging, enriching learning that progresses through the years and throughout the key stages.  Music lessons comprise of: performing, listening, composing, the history of music and the interrelated dimensions of music.
• Pupils knowledge is built upon year-on-year, and they are taught how to sing fluently and expressively, play tuned and untuned instruments with accuracy and control.  They will learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music: pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics and use these in their own composition and improvisations expressively
• We use Bolton Music Service specialist music teacher and associated scheme of work. This ensures that teaching is of a high quality and staff are continuously developing their own musical knowledge.
• So that pupils actively participate in a range of musical activities and tasks that are drawn from a range of musical styles and traditions to develop their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. Pupils take part in weekly singing assemblies where they are able to hone their performance skills
• So that the cross curricular value of music and the enjoyment that it can bring are used in other subjects, we ensure that topics within each class link in with other subjects (e.g. Year 5 learn Viking songs, explore Viking instruments and compose a Viking piece of music to complement their Viking History Topic)

Impact (What has been the impact and how do we know?)

The impact of the Music curriculum at St Bede's Catholic Primary can be seen through:

• Our children are engaged and excited by our music curriculum.  The skills that they are taught equip them with a range of skills to enable them to appreciate music throughout their lives
• Our children have become confident performers, composers and listeners, who are able to express themselves musically at school and beyond
• Our children show an appreciation and respect for a range of music from a variety of genres across a variety of generations
• Our children demonstrate and express their enthusiasm for music
• Our children progress throughout the music curriculum which enables them to meet the expectations outlined at the end of each key stage for the national curriculum