Music
Intent
At Park Primary School, we are building a culture where music is for everyone. We ensure that music is a joyful, engaging and inclusive experience that enables every child to develop their musical potential and develop an appreciation of the value of music that is deeply personal to them. We aspire for our children to recognise themselves reflected in the musicians and composers we listen to and encounter inspirational and aspirational musical role models that reflect the world: past, present and future, in all its diversity. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts. We intend to inspire musicians of the future and create a passion for music in all our children that will stay with them for a lifetime.
Implementation
There are five strands to our implementation of that intent.
- An ambitious and engaging music curriculum.
Weekly music lessons are taught through the musical programme Sing Up! where teachers can produce inclusive lessons for all children to access the musical curriculum in a fun and engaging way. Sing Up! lessons are planned in sequences to provide children with the opportunities to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding.
Our Year 3’s have weekly taught ukulele sessions with a specialist teacher from the Doncaster Music Hub.
- Weekly singing assemblies.
Everyone sings at Park. We have weekly whole school singing assemblies which provide the opportunity to appreciate the value and joy of collective singing as well as developing singing skills. Songs are selected for their musical value as well as linking with our school values and assembly themes. We look at classical composers and discuss themes in music and instruments used and provide our children with a varied diet of music in order to be well rounded musicians, discerning listeners and to appreciate the value of all music types. - Music clubs.
We have a school choir, which meets weekly and has performed in local and national concerts and performances. Children are invested in our choir, which provides them with the opportunity to progress to the next level of learning and further enjoyment. - Regular opportunities to perform.
We are a Rock Steady school, and children enjoy taking part in these weekly sessions, which enables them to learn their chosen instrument and progress through the grading system as their skills develop. They have the opportunity to perform to parents and peers every term to demonstrate their progress. - Planned inspirational and aspirational musical experiences.
Children at Park participate in many musical performance opportunities including performing at St. Mary’s Christmas service, Young Voices at Sheffield and Sing Out at Doncaster Dome.
Impact
At Park we expect to see all children making progress with their music learning. Through discussions, children talk positively about music showing excitement and enthusiasm for their progress. We have positive parental engagement such as attending concerts and assemblies. Through the years, children develop and use the language of a musician. By the time children leave Park, all children are able to play a musical instrument with some level of musicality.
We monitor the impact of our music provision by using learning walks to check on the visibility of music in school and to talk to children about their learning and how they feel about music. We observe lessons to look at how questioning is used to extend children’s thinking and to see the language and vocabulary our children are using.