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Music

At Gordon Children’s Academy, we have designed our Music curriculum so that our learners: 

  • Develop a passion for music, in which pupils learn to appreciate music and develop a life-long love of music. 
  • Develop their skills, knowledge and understanding, to enable them to be become confident performers, composers and listeners 
  • Are introduced to a variety of genres of music from around the world and across generations, recognising the multicultural nature of our school and how we use music as a medium to explore and appreciate British and other cultures 
  • Develop their musical skills through singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, composing music and responding to music that they listen to 
  • Develop transferrable skills which are key in their development as learners and have a wider application in their lives both inside and outside of school e.g.: team-working, leadership, creative thinking, decision-making and performance skills 

Throughout the child’s journey at Gordon Children’s Academy, their musical skills and understanding are built year on year, from singing nursery rhymes and action songs from memory and performing simple rhythm patterns on tuned and untuned percussion instruments in Early Years, progressing their skills and understanding in KS1 where they also experience whole class instrumental tuition on the glockenspiel, to further developing their skills and knowledge of the subject in lower KS2,  where the children access music confidently, and have the ability to read and follow a simple musical or graphical score. Throughout all of this the child’s enjoyment of music is a key element, running alongside the ‘taught’ musical skills and objectives. 

Implementation 

Music in the Early Years 

Music is an integral part of our Early Years curriculum. Children enjoy singing activities and sing nursery rhymes, number rhymes as well as a range of simple songs led by the early years staff. They use percussion instruments to accompany these songs as well as composing their own music using the instruments. In addition, musical instruments are available within the learning environments for the children to access and explore the instruments as part of our continuous provision. 

Music in Key Stages 1 and 2 

We follow the National Curriculum for Music across Key Stages 1 and 2. When children leave Key Stage 2 we expect them to be able to: 

  • 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 
  • 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 
  • Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate notations 

Music across the school is delivered by teaching staff who are all non-specialists in teaching music. However, a number of staff are able to play an instrument and they share they enthusiasm for music with the children. We use the ‘Charanga Music School’ scheme of work which supports all of the requirements of the National Curriculum and gives children access to a wide range of musical concepts and experiences. Staff also dip into this resource as well as planning their own ideas to create stimulating and engaging lessons for our children.