‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity’ (The National Curriculum)
At Molehill Primary Academy, our music curriculum intends to inspire creativity, self-expression and encourage our children on their musical journey as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others. We want to foster a lifelong love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. By listening and responding to different musical styles and finding their voices as singers, performers and composers, we will enable them to become confident, reflective musicians and be able to apply their musical knowledge to new situations and instruments.
The aims of our Music curriculum are to develop pupils who:
- Can sing and use their voices individually and in a group.
- Create and compose music on their own and with others.
- Have opportunities to learn a musical instrument.
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.
- Listen to, review and evaluate the work of great composers and musicians from a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions.
- Enjoy and have an appreciation of a range of different musical styles e.g. Classical, Jazz, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock, etc.
- Use and understand musical language and include musical features in their own work.
- Make judgments about the quality of music.
- Have opportunities to play a wide variety of instruments.
- Have different opportunities to take part in performances.
We follow the National curriculum and over their time at Molehill, children are exposed to a range of styles of music and have the chance to play a variety of instruments.
The music curriculum ensures students sing, listen, play, perform, compose and evaluate. This is embedded in weekly classroom lessons as well as weekly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances and the learning of instruments. In KS1 music is taught by Class teachers using the SingUp! Scheme. In KS2 weekly music lessons are taught by a music specialist, who also leads KS2 singing. Children in Year 3 and 4 learn the recorder alongside staff notation. Children in Year 5 and 6 learn the ukulele and develop their understanding of chords as well as other forms of notation.
Throughout the year there are also opportunities to perform outside of the classroom, such as our Harvest Festival, Christingle Service, and Easter celebration, which are joined by the whole school. Other performances for specific year groups include, Christmas plays, the Recorder Festival, the Ukulele Festival and the Year 6 performance. Other ensembles, such as the Choir and Young Voices also perform at various occasions throughout the year.
We also welcome musicians into the school to ensure the children have the opportunity to high quality, live music. We have links with a local orchestra as well as with Kent Music, whose Roadshow visits the school.
We use our Foundation Subjects Tracker to ensure that all knowledge and skills from the National Curriculum and beyond are planned and delivered through from years 1-6. Skills are constantly revisited, within each year group and across the year groups to ensure progression in all areas.
Children leave Molehill with a love of music and with a strong musical foundation, on which they can build at secondary school. They can discuss music, using correct musical vocabulary and discuss some of the structures of music. Children can evaluate their own and others’ performances and compositions and explain what will make it better. They can sing, keep in time to a pulse, play rhythms and create melodies in a group and sometimes individually.
Through their primary musical education, pupils also develop essential skills such as resilience, self-confidence, awareness of others and self-reflection.
Our music curriculum also ensures that children develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world.