Music
Hi, I’m Mrs Lawrenson and I am the subject leader for Music at Lyme Community Primary School. I come from a musical background and have always had a love for music, as it has played a huge role in my life throughout my childhood. I have sung in many different choir groups, including a ‘Barbershop Quartet’ most recently. I love inspiring others to be passionate about music and showing how music can play a key role in everything we do and influence how we feel. I lead weekly singing assemblies for Key Stages 1 and 2 every week. The children enter the hall and listen to a piece of music purposefully chosen to offer an appreciation across a range of genres including classical, rap and pop songs. We appraise the music and recognise features from the piece and discuss how it made us feel. During our singing assembly, we learn a range of songs across different genres and themes, many of which include the use of sign language, which the children are fantastic at learning!
It is vital that our music curriculum not only teaches the children the fundamental music skills, but also allows them to understand the deeper meaning of music throughout the centuries. Our Model Music Curriculum, engages and inspires our children through a variety of learning experiences including Charanga, visits (eg Song Fest and Liverpool Philharmonic) and visitors to school. Skills and knowledge are developed and built upon year on year, to show progress from our youngest to our oldest children.
Lyme is a ‘singing school’. We understand that our voices are powerful in changing our mood, which is crucial in beating anxiety and stress. We also have an amazing group of children from Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, called ‘Singing Stars’ who meet regularly and lead singing games and activities during playtimes. This helps to involve children who are lonely or of low mood, and lift their spirits. Our successful choir is also very popular with both boys and girls from Key Stage 2. We sing for many special events including our popular Carol Service.
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, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils 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.’
DfE, National Curriculum (2014)
A curriculum designed for Lyme Community Primary School
MUSIC – CURRICULUM INTENT
Purpose of study
Throughout their time at Lyme Community Primary School, children are provided with a high-quality music education that engages and inspires pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increases their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. As pupils 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.
Our Model Music Curriculum, using the Charanga scheme, Mr Chadwick the Director of Valley Brass Band and St Helens Music Service, is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in the areas of musical appreciation (listening and discussing), performance on instruments, reading music and with voice, composition and recording and evaluating musical performances. We encourage children to focus on the work of great musicians for inspiration and exploration, and to build up a repertoire of techniques and approaches that they can apply in their own compositions.
Pupils in Early Years are given opportunities to be imaginative and investigate and experience things, and have a go. They are given the freedom to freely explore resources, sing songs, make music and dance and experiment with ways of changing them. There is an emphasis on independence and self-initiated learning.
In KS1 children are taught to use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes. They will play tuned and untuned instruments musically (recorders in Y2) and listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music. Children will experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
In KS2 children are taught to play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments (brass in Y4) with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression. They will improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music and listen with attention to detail, recalling sounds with increased aural memory. Children will use and understand staff and other musical notations and appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians. Children will develop an understanding of the history of music.
At Lyme, children are given the opportunity to explore music in more detail through arts week. Each class will focus on an aspect of music and learn to play a musical instrument. This is often used in conjunction with other subjects such as dance, drama and art to develop more meaningful learning experiences.
Assessment and Curriculum Planning
Here at Lyme Community Primary School we believe children should be taught to evaluate music, using this as a platform from which to develop their creativity and skill. In Early Years, children are assessed against the EYFS age related criteria within the strand of Expressive Arts and Design, though aspects of creativity and inventiveness can be seen in all areas of the creative curriculum.
At KS1 & KS2 we use Charanga assessment statements to enable teachers to monitor which pupils are working towards their age related expectations and who may be exceeding these goals. This is done through questioning and teacher observation. This information will be reported through SIMS and used by teachers when reporting to parents.
We offer wider opportunities for performance through our own extra-curricular Brass Ensemble, Guitar Club and Choir.
Please explore the following links to inpire you!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ac-xMobPyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Tfbn2c_Eg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6VafUsDS-E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqGc17ICsWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liHfJ_0EMoQ
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=19&AgeGroup=1
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=19&AgeGroup=2
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=19&AgeGroup=3
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/primary-music-ks1--ks2-index/z6762sg
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