“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”  Plato

Intent of our Music Provision

At Whitehouse Community Primary School our aim is to engage and inspire the children with musical learning that is an essential part of our enquiry curriculum. Our aim is that every child is included and has the chance to perform and listen to a range of music from different genres, cultures and throughout history. These opportunities are aimed to expand our pupil’s musical experiences, give them the skills to use music to enrich their lives and raise their career aspirations and confidence. Our curriculum should provide the children with the opportunity to learn to sing, create and compose music and to learn to play a musical instrument. As an integral part of the cross-curricular journey that the children take at Whitehouse, their musical education should allow them to develop a life-long love of music. Through the spiral approach, the children will continue to progress and develop their skills as musicians. The children will gain a sense of creativity and achievement through composing and performing their own musical pieces and will broaden their musical knowledge by listening to and appreciating the very best music from around the world.

Implementation of our Music Provision

The music curriculum at Whitehouse is a progressive curriculum which allows our children to advance their knowledge and skills across the different strands, year on year. Teachers plan sequences of lessons which are linked to year group’s termly enquiry themes where possible and based on year-group specific targets. All lessons have a three step, scaffolded learning objective to ensure every child can make progress with realistic and achievable goals. In addition, a gold task within each lesson provides an extended challenge to develop their understand further.

In key Stage 1, chidlren will be introduced to the vocabulary of the inter-related dimensions of music through a range of listening and appraising activities. Children will learn to sing creatively and with expression and they will learn to play both tuned and un-tuned instruments musically. They will also be encouraged to experiment, be creative and combine sounds to be begin composition. In Key Stage 1, our teachers use an online teaching resource called KAPOW as a basis for their lessons. This scheme provides a comprehensive set of videos and interactive resources to support the teaching of music and ensure coverage of all curriculum content. In Key Stage 2, children will build on and deepen their understanding of musical vocabulary and will be taught to listen with increased detail to music from different traditions, composers and musicians.  Children will build on their skills in singing and playing musical instruments in a variety of contexts with increasing accuracy, control and expression. Chidlren will begin to use staff and other musical notations as they compose and perform. In Key Stage 2, music lessons are planned by our teachers to ensure coverage of our key stage 2 targets and are carefully linked to our termly enquiry theme question.

Teachers and chidlren have access to a wide range of resources to support their musical learning including whole class sets of tuned instruments as well as a range of percussion instruments. Teachers are also encouraged to use a range of interactive music teaching resources and recorded musical performances. Our cross-curricular approach allows for opportunities for musical experiences such as singing assemblies, class learning songs and school performances. In addition to this, teachers plan extra-curricular musical opportunities such as the school choir, educational visits, guest speakers, parental engagement sessions or performance opportunities to enrich the learning of music and inspire our children. Our core learning values of The Whitehouse Way and our RRSA initiative are embedded in all our lessons to ensure they echo the school ethos.

Impact of our Music Provision

Our music provision is planned to ensure that every child at Whitehouse Community Primary School is provided with the skills necessary to make progress and be successful. Through music, our children develop an understanding of a range of musical vocabulary and are able to experiment with their musical skills during practical based sessions which encourage children to explore their musical ideas:

• Opportunities for performances in lessons or assemblies allows children to develop their confidence in front of audiences whilst also granting them validation for their hard work and determination.
• Practical ‘hands-on’ lessons allow all children to be included and children who may find written subjects difficult may find an opportunity to ‘shine’ which will boost confidence and engagement.
• The knowledge and skills learnt will prepare our children for the challenges of secondary school and give them the confidence and ambition to pursue learning music outside of school through hobbies, further education or a career in music.
• Children’s exposure to a wide range of music from difficult cultures and traditions improves their understanding and acceptance of others and inspires them to express their own ideas creatively.
• An increased musical understanding of different genres and composers helps children to develop their comprehension of history, societies and the wider world.
• Our cross curricular, spiral approach aids understanding and vocabulary and supports SEN or EAL children who may find it hard to access learning through written lessons and gives children an opportunity to achieve success.
• Through our school choir, children are able to develop social links, train their voices, develop a passion for singing and perform in both local and national venues.
• The outcomes of children’s work is displayed around school across corridors and various classrooms which allows the children to share in their successes and bring meaning to their actions. Particular achievements may also be published in the school newsletter which motivates children to partake in musical opportunities such as visiting the O2 for Young Voices.
• Teacher assessment, peer assessment and children’s self-assessment are used to track progress and attainment. Assessments are recorded and monitored on classroom monitor and analysed through pupil-progress meetings termly.