Music

Intent

1. To have very high expectations in music across the whole school so that all children experience and learn a range of musical styles and composers, as well as develop their improvisation and composition skills.

2. To provide a broad and balanced curriculum which is progressive in knowledge, skills and vocabulary. 

3. To develop our children’s confidence in their musical ability and performing.

4. For our children to develop an understanding and appreciation of how technology can be used in the musical world.

5. To improve children’s listening skills and to use a range of musical vocabulary to accurately describe and appraise pieces of music.

6. To offer our children new and exciting musical opportunities and experiences.

7. To promote our school and British Values.

8. To prepare our children for the next steps in their learning journey.

Implementation

In Key Stage 1, children are taught to sing a wide repertory of songs regularly during weekly singing assemblies. These are appropriately selected for their year group using suggested repertoire from the Model Music Curriculum. Every day as they come in to school, children are encouraged to listen to music and develop an awareness of different types of music ranging from Western classical music by famous composers, to a range of styles from popular culture, to music from countries across the world. They are presented with opportunities to use both tuned and untuned instruments to create, experiment combine and explore them. Throughout the Key Stage, children use these to develop their knowledge of rhythm, pulse, pitch, dynamics and tempo and non-standard notation. Children also have the opportunity to create a whole class composition using a cross-curricular stimulus.

In Key Stage 2, children continue to sing a wide repertory of songs during weekly singing assemblies. Children are taught how to use a wide variety of instruments and are encouraged to appraise performances in a thoughtful and sensitive manner. They are taught to recognise and discriminate between various musical elements such as texture and timbre as well as recognising and writing scale notations. Throughout Key Stage 2, In Year 4, children are introduced to brass instruments as part of their music curriculum. In Key Stage 2, children continue to learn about famous composers through the daily listening and appraising activity. Children also continue to develop their composition skills through their composition project; recording this using rhythmic, stick and staff notation as they move across the key stage.

Additional Opportunities

Over the course of their time at Nicol Mere, children are given the opportunity to perform in whole class productions, visit theatres and orchestral performances. Not only do these experiences support the children’s curriculum learning about different composers, they also provide them with a chance to broaden their understanding of Music and the Performing Arts, visit different establishments and experience different forms of culture.

Small group and individual instrumental tuition is available (for children in years 3 to 6) at an additional cost. This tuition is provided by visiting tutors from the Wigan Music Service.

In Years 3-6, children are encouraged to join the school choir. During this, the children in the choir are able to perform in front of both the children and the wider school community, as well as visiting care homes in the community. 

Impact

At Nicol Mere, we recognise the unique needs of each child and support them in reaching their full potential. The impact of our Music curriculum is measured in the experiences, confidence and competence of our children within the subject. We ensure children receive the experiences they require, both within and beyond the curriculum, to develop their skills and become confident Musicians. During their time at Nicol Mere, children learn about a variety of musicians, composers and styles of Music and, throughout school, they are able to use the instruments and resources available to them to develop their skills and knowledge within different musical concepts.

Nicol Mere Music Curriculum, Genre Features &  Knowledge Organisers