Music
At Slip End Village School we value music. We are Musicians!
Music at our school is all about supporting the children with their creativity and innate love for the subject. Music’s inclusive nature allows everyone to thrive and become part of a collaborative community. With these skills our pupils learn to become musicians!
We are committed to providing the children with an exciting and culturally rich experience, with opportunities in which pupils can develop personal interests further. Through a wide and diverse exposure to music, we want children to explore with playing instruments and learning songs from modern and historical contexts.
Throughout their learning journey, our pupils learn to become appraisers, editors and composers, developing and embracing their connection with music.
At Caddington and Slip End Village Schools, children gain knowledge, skills and an appreciation of music through: listening, performing, analysing and composing.
We are committed to establishing an exciting and culturally rich experience, with opportunities in which pupils can develop personal interests further. We aim to engage children by exposing them to all types of historical, contemporary and world music.
At the core of our music curriculum and teaching, we aim to support and provide all pupils with the opportunity to experience and grow in key musical constructs, through robust and direct teaching, including: pulse, pitch, rhythm, dynamics, texture, structure, improvisation and notation. Throughout their musical journey, pupils will be able to make increasingly sophisticated and creative responses and tap into their innate emotional connection with music. We want children to be enthused and excited by the prospect of their music lessons.
At Caddington and Slip End Village Schools, we use ‘Charanga’ as the backbone of our planning and teaching. This scheme allows for close correlation with the National Curriculum for Music, provides sequencing and progression throughout the children’s learning journey and keeps learning structured. This programme is extensively used in the Central Bedfordshire area and provides teacher support through meetings and CPD training. This is supplemented with a selection of music games to allow for assessment of a variety of music skills and to address any misconceptions. Planning is reviewed on an annual basis and adapted according to National Curriculum developments and the needs of the differing cohorts to keep it fresh, relevant and inspiring.
In Music, assessment takes place by:
• Use of the Depth of Learning platform to identify the objectives being met by pupils• Whole Class Feedback sheets allow for on the spot assessment for learning and observations of skill progression• Music booklets are provided to the children to record their learning each lesson – this allows for retrieval practice the following lesson• Pupil voice is used to assess what the pupils know and their understanding of key vocabulary learnt throughout their learning journey• Recordings of performances are completed to play back to the children; allowing them to appraise and critique their work as well as allowing them to be proud of their work
As a result of our music curriculum, our children are exposed to different types of historical, contemporary and world music, broadening their understanding of musical time periods. The children can talk about a variety of musical constructs including pitch, rhythm and dynamics and much more. The children will be able to connect emotionally with music and make creative responses to music that they hear.
• Retrieval practice is used regularly as one song or piece of music is focussed on each half term
• Spaced, repetitive practice
