St James' CE Primary School
‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians.’
National Curriculum, DfE 2014
The teaching of Music at St James’ Church of England Primary School provides children with a sense of achievement, and increases their self-confidence and creativity. As children progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon. By Key Stage 2, pupils should be singing and playing musically with increasing confidence and control. They should also develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant early learning goal or programme of study.
There are so many careers in music that children may go on to pursue, including musician, music teacher, singer, music therapist, music technician, audio engineers, choir director, composer, lyricist, music director and many more!
Through the music curriculum, we aim to allow children to:
-
Know how music is made through a variety of instruments.
-
Know how music is composed and written down.
-
Know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written.
-
Develop knowledge of the interrelated dimensions of music: pulse, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and notation.
-
Develop skills of performing, composing and appreciating music.
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the knowledge and skills specified in the relevant early learning goals or programme of study. By the end of Key Stage 2, our end points for pupils are:
-
Pupils can perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
-
Pupils can learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
-
Pupils can understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.
Our cyclical curriculum is built on the requirements of the early years foundation stage and the National Curriculum. Our learning outcomes are planned to provide progression and opportunities for assessment against these requirements.
We work in partnership with Tameside Music Service and the Hallé Orchestra (through the Hallé Inspire project and Come and Play with the Hallé). Our children benefit from a rich, well resourced music provision with specialist staff and access to enriching opportunities to play and perform as well as watch live music in fabulous venues. We believe that music offers our children unique, inclusive opportunities to flourish and achieve and explore all the wonder and creativity music has to offer.
We have held Artsmark for 5 years, having recently been rewarded the Silver Level Award, and we are now in the process of working towards the Gold Level. As part of this, Year 3 and Year 5 have the opportunity to complete an Arts Award, which enables them to grow as artists/musicians as they they partake in different art forms.
