Music

Intent

At Bradley Barton Primary School, we aim for all children to experience music as an enjoyable challenge in which they acquire progressive skills. We believe that learning is a pleasurable struggle and we want music to provide a rich opportunity where learners feel comfortable making mistakes. We believe that music plays an important role in increasing our children’s wellbeing and confidence, as well as their language and curiosity to ask questions that will deepen learning. Through our music curriculum, we aim to give learners opportunities to acquire the musical language and skills to be able to discuss, compose and perform music at a level appropriate to their age.

Implementation

In music lessons at Bradley Barton, children are immersed in the full range of musical genres, from romantic to rap and baroque to bhangra, extending their knowledge of musical traditions around the world. We aim to develop progression in the central skills of listening, singing, playing instruments, composing and improvising is ensured across every year group, through careful planning of our curriculum "vehicles". Children are taught to read appropriate musical notation to enable them to communicate and refine their ideas with others, from early mark making in EYFS through to reading the full range of notes contained in the treble clef in Year 6.

At the same time, it is important to develop the idea that music is fun and is for life. The children are given opportunities to experience a wide range of both live and recorded music, and are encouraged to perform their own music through school performances, developing their self-confidence and respect towards others.

Children get the chance to learn a variety of musical instruments through our Devon Music Hub partnership, and with the range of musical instruments we have in school. Many children from Year 2 upwards take up the opportunity of instrumental music lesson from the peripatetic music service. Children develop singing skills once a week through singing assemblies and practice for singing performances.

Impact

Our well-planned music curriculum ensures that children understand and know how music is created and communicated, including through the central skills of music. Children develop an understanding that music enables us to communicate emotions in a way that no other discipline can. Also, the children understand that music transcends cultural and geographical boundaries and forms a meaningful part of popular culture.

Children are able to enjoy music in many ways – either as a listener, creator or performer. Children have the skills and knowledge to discuss and share their own thoughts, opinions and ideas, acknowledging and respecting that they may vary and that this is positive.

It will be evident over time that the progress, knowledge and skills of pupils will increase between EYFS and Year 6.  

EYFS:

At Bradley Barton, music starts in Early Years, taught through the Early Years Curriculum. Children explore sounds of instruments through their vehicle and as part of their development in Expressive Arts and Design. Write Dance provides additional opportunities to explore music through movement, alongside developing their fine motor skills. In EYFS, music always forms part of the continuous provision as well as a guided session every one to two weeks.

YEARS 1 to 6:

At Bradley Barton, we ensure progression of musical understanding through two complementary approaches:

• To encourage children to see their learning as being holistic and interconnected, we aim to plan our termly vehicles to include age-appropriate aspects of the music curriculum. For example, Year 5 have recently explored "The Planets" by Gustav Holst as part of their vehicle on space. After listening and appraising, they explored the role of tempo, dynamics, pitch and timbre in creating their own space soundscapes. 
• Charanga Musical School is a modern, exciting and digital resource to support the teaching of music, and it provides an interactive, sequence of lessons exploring the full range of musical genres. Teachers use Charanga to teach music discretely where it doesn't link easily to their chosen vehicle. Children also have access to Charanga Musical World at home to extend their learning, both through singing and through practising a musical instrument. For example, this term, Year 3 children are learning to play the recorder and in the Spring term, Year 1 children will be learning how to play the bells. 

The National Curriculum states that our music provision " should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so to 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."

Music is led by Lauren Thomas. 

Children’s Learning

During Bradley Barton's music week, the children have enjoyed improvising, composing, learning and performing music. Children in Years 1-5 completed a Djembe drum workshop, enjoyed a String Quartet concert, with two Year 5 children playing alongside, participated in a violin experience and rocked out to a drum performance and workshop. 

As part of World Make Music Day 2022, children took part in various music activities including making music with instruments, composing music for their vehicles, listening to new music and discussing the challenging learning link question 'Music can only be made and performed by people who have had music lessons.' Agree or disagree, and why? Some pupils who access peripatetic music lessons practiced in the lead up to the whole school assembly and performed pieces of music. The children also enjoyed a violin performance and drum workshop.   

Year 6 children attended the MIX music festival run by the South West Music Hub at the National Trust's Killerton House and Gardens. They enjoyed a wealth of live music performances and interactive workshops about music, performance and creativity. These included body percussion with Beat Goes on, a performance and workshop with BSO Resound - the world's first disabled led professional music ensemble, a ukulele workshop where they learnt to play Don't Worry by Bob Marley and a live music festival experience. 

This is a piece of KS1 learning linked to their topic of Oceans. This is their response to listening to piece of music by Debussy for the first time. The learning objective was to listen with concentration and understanding to a piece of music.