Music

Our subject leader is Miss Suzie Brown

We are committed to ensuring the children have access to high quality music lessons and musical experiences. To ensure this is achieved we subscribe to Charanga as a musical scheme of work.

Through the Charanga Musical School programme the children develop their understanding, make musical judgements, apply their new learning, develop their aural memory, express themselves physically, emotionally and through discussion and create their own musical ideas. The wide range of core resources have been developed specifically to motivate and capture everyone’s personal interest.

The children not only learn about music; they become musicians who are able to share and perform using their new skills.

There are 3 main resource areas: Units of Work, themed Topic songs and activities and instrumental Courses. The Units of Work are the main focal point for the music curriculum whilst the Topics and Courses provide a wealth of extension, enhancement and cross-curricular possibilities and experiences.

The Units of Work are divided into 6 steps, ideal to spread across a half term. The activities and games cover the musical dimensions, (formerly elements – pulse, rhythm, pitch etc) through singing and playing instruments, listening and creating music – all intrinsically linked through a central song or piece.

Intent

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

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 inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Charanga has been developed to provide a range of materials from across the ages and around the world. The Units include listening pieces such as Miriam Makeba’s Click Song, Handel’s Let the Bright Seraphim and Britten’s Old Abram Brown as well as more contemporary pieces including well known pop songs, in a broad range of styles.

Additionally, there are Topics, which are collections of songs and activities, based on a range of themes including National Anthems from around the world, English Folk Songs and Great Composers. The instrumental Courses focus on specific instrumental learning and musical traditions and explore history and context as well as developing performing skills eg Djembe drumming, Hip Hop and the Blues.

Implementation

Singing is central to our music lessons with the Units based around songs with differentiated instrumental parts for 24 instruments. They have been created to support a class ensemble approach where each child can sing and play an appropriate instrumental line. This helps to draw together children’s learning together into a meaningful ‘musical experience’.

Improvisation and composition for voices and instruments form part of each Unit and can be used as starting points for further creative work.

Lessons are supported with onscreen resources at every step and between lessons the children can access Charanga Music World, a safe online space to learn, explore and develop their playing, creative and musicianship skills.

Throughout music lessons the children are encouraged to behave as musicians and explore the dimensions using their voices, body percussion and instruments. Class 3 children (Years 3 & 4) are learning to play the ukulele and in Class 4 (Years 5 & 6) the children are learning the recorder.

We ensure all our celebrations contain a strong music element. All pupils can access private music tuition through lessons offered by the North Yorkshire music service and Craven school of Music. Some children are currently learning the keyboard. Every two years, Y5/6 children attend Young voices. This is a very popular event.

Throughout the year there are opportunities for children to showcase their singing and performing. Key Stage 1 all take part in a Nativity performance at the end of the Autumn Term. The whole school performs songs they have learned in the Christmas end of term service at St Mary’s Church. At the end of Spring Term the children learn songs and perform them for a wider audience in the Easter service and at the end of the Summer Term the children in Class 4 showcase a performance as part of the Year 6 children leaving and moving onto secondary school.

Thornton in Craven Primary School runs an after-school club each week centred around performance. This is run by a performing arts school. At the end of each half term the children who attend this put on a showcase for parent to watch. These performances include Matilda, The Wizard of Oz and Elf.

Impact

Children will achieve age related expectations in music at the end of their cohort year.
Children will retain knowledge that is pertinent to music.
Children will have the opportunity to foster their instrumental flare and use this as a form of expression.
Children will participate in wider musical activities.
Opportunities for improved well-being and confidence will be increased.
Children will gain wider audience performance experience.
Children will have heightened awareness of musical opportunities available in and outside of school in the hope that access will be increased.