Music

At Deepcar St. John’s C of E Junior School, children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres.

The aims of our music curriculum are to ensure that all pupils:

· Receive high quality first teaching in order to develop their own knowledge, skill and capability.

· Understand and are able to explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

· Reflect on their own and each other’s performances, aiming to develop their evaluation skills.

· Are taught to sing, create and compose a wide variety of music genres.

· Understand the value and importance of music in the wider community.

· Understand the value and importance of singing as part of collective worship as a whole school together.

· Create an unbiased respect for all genres of music and how music can express different emotions.

The music curriculum ensures that children can sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This takes place in music lesson in class, daily collective worship, peripatetic music lessons and after school choir. We follow the Music Express Scheme in each year group which allows for lessons to be planned in a sequenced way and for children to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding. Where possible, links are made to other areas of the curriculum. Children are also given the opportunity as a whole class to learn to play the violin. This is part of the Wider Opportunities Music Scheme.

Each element of the music curriculum is taught to ensure that children understand the principles of composing, performing and analysing music. Lessons are inclusive and provide an engaging learning environment for all, ensuring that children focus on correct language when playing, performing and evaluating. Children gain the insight into music from different countries and cultures and learn about famous composers and musicians. The progression of music skills is clear throughout school and teachers develop lessons based on these skills.

Throughout their time at Deepcar St. Johns, a child’s musical skills and understanding is built on year by year. They are given opportunities to promote self-awareness, confidence, achievement and interaction.

Children have the opportunity not only to experience and perform music in school, we also have strong links with the local community and the school choir regularly performs at a number of events throughout the year including the local annual Valley Music Festival.

Children are able to experience regular live music performances including musicians from the Sheffield Music Hub and visiting pantomime productions.

At the end of Year 6, all children take part in a production which involves singing and performing.

We monitor the impact of our music provision through termly assessments using the PITA system, lesson observations, pupil voice interviews and making recordings of music performed in class.

To perform

To compose

To transcribe

To describe music