Music at Firfield
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything” Plato

Our Music Lead is Carol Lawson

Intent:

Music is integral to the life of a child at Firfield Primary School. To develop our children’s creative and curious minds, our aim in Music is to allow creativity to flourish and to provide a vibrant musical experience for all children. Our intent is to provide an engaging, rich and ambitious learning journey for our children, that builds effectively on prior learning and focusses on the key progression skills set out in the National Curriculum. We provide a vibrant musical experience for all children. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.

Through our music curriculum pupils will:

• Gain enjoyment, self-confidence and a sense of achievement through musical activities.
• Be aware of, understand and respond appropriately to the rich variety of sounds in their environment and particularly to those organised arrangements of sounds called music.
• Acquire musical skills and understanding of musical concepts through primarily active listening then performing and composing.
• Develop their capacity to express ideas and feelings through the medium of sound.

Implementation:

At Firfield, we deliver a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum through Charanga. This is supplemented in Year 4 with Wider Opportunities, a whole class project where every child is provided with an instrument and expert music tuition enabling the children to have broad experience of musical genre and composers.

Charanga is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based approach to support children’s learning in music. A steady progression plan has been built into Charanga, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development and clear progression. By using Charanga as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that they are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum. Charanga includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places. These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre. Charanga provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole-body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform, and are given opportunities for collaboration through composition. During music lessons, children will be given opportunities to learn music specific vocabulary in a meaningful context. During the lesson, children will be given opportunities to apply skill and given chance for collaboration through composition.

Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:

1. Listening and Appraising
2. Musical Activities
   1. Warm-up Games
   2. Optional Flexible Games
   3. Singing
   4. Playing instruments
   5. Improvisation
   6. Composition
3. Performing

The children also have access to Charanga’s Yumu platform which is a safe online space where children can learn, play and develop their musicianship further.

Further to this, children across the whole school have the option to learn a classical musical instrument from a peripatetic, specialist teacher in small group and one to one sessions.

We promote the love of singing in our school through singing assemblies, services, Glee Club, Singing Club and our participation in Young Voices. 

Impact:

Once their time at Firfield ends, the children will be equipped with lifelong skills, knowledge and an enthusiasm for Music study that will prepare them for their next stage of education.

They will leave Firfield with an increased knowledge of the wider world of Music. Through the study of Composers throughout history, musical workshops, instrumental lessons, the ability to compose Music using a range of mediums, singing and taking part in local community events, the children will leave Firfield Primary School more confident, proficient and carry with them a life-long love of Music.