The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
At Middleton Primary School the intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a variety of musical genres.
Our objective at Middleton Primary School is to develop a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts. This has a key role in enhancing wellbeing.
The music curriculum ensures students sing, listen, play, perform, compose and evaluate. The interrelated dimensions of music are taught through weekly singing assemblies and through units of music dedicated to learning an instrument. In teaching a child to play a tuned instrument they develop understanding of pitch, rhythm, and notation. Each music lesson ensures a child listens to a quality recording of the music they are to learn. They sing the piece before playing the piece and then practise it to perform by the end of a session/unit.
There are also opportunities to improvise and compose in a similar style of the piece they have learnt.
Instrumental Lessons are provided within specific year groups by musical teachers, specialists from Cockburn Trust and Arftforms. Music lessons are also supplemented through units on Charanga and Music Express. Opportunities to participate in Artforms concerts and festivals and Class Dynamix Musical Activities enables musical learning to be embedded.
Whilst in school, children have access to musical activities, which allows students to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a student may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music, in as many ways as they choose- either as listener, creator or performer. They can dissect music and comprehend its parts. They can sing and feel a pulse. They understand how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives.