“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 has the chance to perform and listen to a range of music from different genres and through history. 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, gaining a sense of creativity and achievement appreciate the very best music from around the world and compose their own musical pieces.

Implementation of our Music Provision

The music curriculum at Whitehouse is a progressive curriculum which allows our pupils 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 differentiated learning objective to ensure every child can make progress with realistic and achievable goals. In addition, a gold challenge within each lesson provides extended learning for the more able. Targets for the lesson are shared and discussed with the class to ensure pupils are aware of and understand the skills they are learning.

In key Stage 1, pupils will learn to sing creatively and with expression. They will learn to play both tuned and un-tuned instruments musically. Importantly, they will be taught how to listen and appraise a range of music at a suitable level. They will also be encouraged to experiment, be creative and combine sounds to be begin composition. In Key Stage 2, pupils will build on the learning, singing and playing musical instruments in a variety of contexts with increasing accuracy, control and expression. They will listen with increased detail and recall, appreciating and understanding music from different traditions, famous composers and musicians. Pupils will begin to use staff and other musical notations as they compose and perform solo and in ensemble.

Teachers and pupils 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 and un-tuned instruments. Teachers also have access to ‘Charanga’ which is an interactive music teaching resource. This can be used by teachers as a complete teaching unit or in addition to support individual lessons. In addition to discrete music lessons, our cross-curricular approach should allow for many other opportunities for musical experiences such as singing assemblies or class learning songs. The children will also have opportunities to perform in school plays as well as extra-curricular activities such as the school choir. Teachers are encouraged to plan as many interactive music lessons as possible including educational visits, guest speakers or performance opportunities to enrich the learning of music and inspire our pupils.

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 for a range of musical terminology and are able to experiment with these skills during practical based sessions which encourage children to explore their musical ideas in a safe, non-judgmental learning environment. 

• Cross curricular learning in music aids understanding across the curriculum and encourages whole class participation through a shared theme. It also supports SEN or EAL pupil who may find it hard to access learning through written lessons and gives pupils an opportunity to achieve success.
• An increased musical understanding of different genres and composers helps children to develop their comprehension of history, societies and the wider world.
• 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.
• 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 pupils to partake in musical opportunities such as visiting the O2 for Young Voices.
• Individual music lessons allow pupils to pursue a passion for a particular instrument and develop their skills including reading notation and working towards musical graded exams.
• Teacher assessment, peer assessment and pupils’ self-assessment are used to track progress and attainment. Assessments are recorded and monitored on classroom monitor and analysed through pupil-progress meetings termly.