Music

Music at Kenmont

Intent:

Here at Kenmont Primary School, our aim is to develop a life-long relationship with music for all children, from the instrumental players to the listeners, the dancers to the programmers. By placing equal value on all aspects of music, we strive to support children to develop musically across the three pillars of progression referred to in Ofsted’s Music Research Review (2021); technical, constructive and expressive. We do this by making sure we challenge barriers to instrument learning through providing whole class instrument lessons on djembe, ukulele and recorder over a number of years to allow children a degree of confidence and competency on an instrument, supported by extra- curricular clubs that are low or no cost for all children to access, to support ongoing progress. We make sure there are a number of enriching musical experiences throughout the year to broaden children’s understanding of a variety of styles and genres of music from all around the world and across generations and to help familiarise them with different instruments, how they sound and are played, including the voice. We encourage our students to explore the social impact of music making to help them think about the ways in which music connects to our own identities and is important to others in a number of ways; and we support children to explore their creativity through building a solid understanding of the skills and knowledge that pave the way for improvisation and composition, developing the ability to refine and evaluate as they progress. Our ambition is that every child moves on to secondary school feeling that they had an opportunity to express themselves through music and explore their creativity.

Implementation:

Our current curriculum predominantly follows the Sing Up scheme of work and takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands below are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences;

·         Performing

·         Listening

·         Composing

·         The history of music

·         The inter-related dimensions of music

Over time, children will be taught to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and un-tuned instruments accurately and with control. They will learn to recognise and name the inter-related dimensions of music – pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics – and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions and to discuss their response to listening and appraising music using musical language.

The progression of skills is largely based on the new Model Music Curriculum and shows how the skills are taught within each year group, developing year on year, to ensure children develop musically across the three pillars that interrelate in music; technical, constructive and expressive, as stated in the Ofsted Research Review (2021).

At Kenmont, we follow a spiral curriculum model, where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks, better; developing understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff and other musical notations as well as the inter-related dimensions of music and more.

In each lesson, children participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies, from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as improvisation and teacher and peer directed performances. Lessons are hands on, and incorporate movement and dance elements, making cross curricular links when relevant.

Lessons are delivered by a music specialist and timetabled into the school curriculum for every year group from reception to year 6, with years 2 onwards receiving 45 minutes per week, year 1, 30 minutes and Reception 20 minutes. Singing assemblies for years 1-3 and 4-6 take place weekly and provide both performance opportunities for various year groups as well as developing singing skills. Whole class instrument lessons for ukulele, djembe and recorder have been incorporated into the curriculum for Years 3 to 6, inter-woven into the curriculum and musical foci.

In addition to the timetabled music lessons, children can access a KS2 choir, djembe club and ukulele club, all of which are offered at low or no cost to support access for all.

Visits from musicians to the school, and trips to experience live music are organised throughout the year, and the school works closely with the Royal College of Music and the Tri-Borough Music Hub to enrich the musical lives of our students through involvement in various musical projects.

A broad range of instrumental lessons are available for students through our peripatetic teachers and Pelican Music. Band lessons are also available, with students learning electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and vocals.

Impact:

The impact of our curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Many of the half termly units of work end with performance opportunities which are videoed to support summative assessment as well as encourage children to peer assess, self-assess and evaluate individual progress. ‘Progression snapshots’ are timetabled into the curriculum.

Our curriculum aims to equip our students with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary music education and to be able to enjoy and appreciate music throughout their lives.

The expected impact of our curriculum is that children will;

• 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 understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical contexts in which it is developed
• Understand the ways in which music can be written down to support composing and performing activities
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own musical preferences
• Meet the end of key stage expectations as outlined in the National Curriculum for Music
• Identify as a musician and understand music in multiple ways

Music Development Plan

The Department for Education require that all schools have a music development plan, as set out in the national plan for music education.   Please find a copy of the Kenmont plan below.

Music Development Plan

Progression of Skills and Knowledge 

Music progression of skills and knowledge  document details how our curriculum builds pupils knowledge and skills over their time at the school.

Music Skills and Knowledge Progression

Music Long Term Plan

Music Long Term Plan