Intent:

Throughout our children's learning journey, beginning in EYFS progressing all the way through to Year 6, the importance of Music is weaved into daily life. Children can experience how powerful music can be to enhance their lives and enrich the curriculum through listening to and appreciating different genres of music from all around the world, and by seeing how music has had an impact on the course of history.

At Lydd Primary School, children are able to explore and play a range of different musical instruments. With progression through the school, children will develop their understanding of key musical vocabulary, broaden their knowledge of composers and musicians and be able to develop their own musical tastes. It is our aim for children to gain an appreciation for music, to build confidence and become future composers and performers themselves. 

Implementation:

Our whole school approach when teaching Music is for our lessons to be engaging, fun and enhance a child's development irrespective of their academic abilities yet ensuring progression. We follow the Charanga music scheme, which follows the pattern of: listen and appraise, sing, play instruments, compose, improvise and perform, which is in line with the National Curriculum objectives.

Early Years Foundation Stage

The EYFS framework is organised into areas of learning rather than subjects. Music skills are developed within EYFS and then feed into KS1 and KS2. Statements taken from the 2020 Development Matters are prerequisite skills for music within the national curriculum. Areas of learning specifically relevant for Music are: 

 • Communication and Language

 • Physical Development

 • Expressive Arts and Design

Children begin to explore the Expressive Arts and Design area by being imaginative and expressive:

• Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs.

• Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and (when appropriate) try to move in time with music.

Leading on to the:

Communication and Language: 

• Listen carefully to rhymes and songs, paying attention to how they sound.

• Learn rhymes, poems and songs.

Physical Development:

• Combine different movements with ease and fluency.

Expressive Arts and Design:

• Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.

• Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them.

• Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.

• Listen attentively, move to and talk about music, expressing their feelings and responses.

• Sing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody.

• Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups. 

Building up to:

Communication and Language:

• Sing a large repertoire of songs.

Physical Development:

• Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and make marks.

Expressive Arts and Design:

• Listen with increased attention to sounds.

• Respond to what they have heard, expressing their thoughts and feelings.

• Remember and sing entire songs.

• Sing the pitch of a tone sung by another person (‘pitch match’).

• Sing the melodic shape (moving melody, such as up and down, down and up) of familiar songs.

• Create their own songs, or improvise a song around one they know.

• Play instruments with increasing control to express their feelings and ideas. 

In EYFS, children develop their musical skills through a varied range of activities, such as continuous provisions, child-initiated or teacher-led EYFS units through using Freestyle within our Charanga Scheme.

Key Stage 1 & 2

Music lessons are delivered using a two-year rolling programme in order to alleviate repetition. Children have weekly lessons and teachers follow the Charanga scheme of work but are able to adapt the lesson to suit their class needs.

Each Unit of Work comprises of the strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:

1. Listening and Appraising
2. Musical Activities
   1. Warm-up Games
   2. Optional Flexible Games
   3. Singing
   4. Playing instruments
   5. Improvisation
   6. Composition
3. Performing

In Key Stage 1, children will be developing:

• their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.
• play tuned and untuned instruments musically.
• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music.
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Children can find the rhythm through the introduction of body percussion and will practice and perform to an audience within the community during their Christmas production. Children are taught how to play the Glockenspiel, they are able to experiment through sounds, whilst with repetition understand letters and follow simple music steps. 

In Key Stage 2, children will be able to: 

• sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control.
• develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
• improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
• use and understand staff and other musical notations
• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
• develop an understanding of the history of music.

Over the years, children have received ukulele, recorder & brass lessons during their time in Year 4 helping to develop their understanding of musical notation and to perform to the community. 

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand new musical skills and concepts, revisit existing skills and embed their learning to secure and to form the learning progression spiral.

It is our aim to give the children at Lydd Primary School extra- curricular opportunities such as offering lessons in a musical instrument of their choice. Currently, we have children learning the piano, keyboard, drums and guitar with Mr Watts from Make Time For Music. We also invite Kent-based musicians to perform live music, giving children an insight into different styles to deepen their musical experiences and understand the connection between music and the world around us.  Our school talent show boosts self esteem, confidence and gives our music maestros the opportunity to shine. Children can join a school choir in preparation for performing at the O2 ready for Young Voices, Church services and school fetes. 

Impact:

Due to an energetic and exciting approach to music at Lydd Primary School, children are engaged, inspired and grow a love of music. Through staff and pupil voice our music outcomes are reviewed and reflected on across EYFS, key stage 1 and 2. Children develop their creativity and talents as musicians and their team-work skills are enhanced through group-based work and performances. Their self-confidence and sense of achievement is greatly enhanced through their collaborations with each other and their performances. 

To celebrate the children in Year 4's achievements and the wonderful progression they have made, we invited relatives in to listen to our children play their brass instrument and also allow our children to teach their parents and grandparents tips and techniques when playing a brass instrument. Great use of vocabulary, super understanding and allowed the grown ups to experience and realise that it was not as easy as it looked!