Music
Intent
At Bishop Wilson we have adopted the Music scheme of work from Kapow.
The intention of the Kapow Primary Music Scheme is first and foremost to help children to feel that they are musical and to develop a life-long love of music. We focus on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners. Our curriculum introduces children to music form all around the world and across generations, teaching children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities.
Children will develop the musical skills of singing, playing tuned and un-tuned instruments, improvising and composing music, and listening and responding to music. They will develop and understanding of the history and cultural context of the music that they listen to and learn how music can be written down. Through music, our curriculum helps children develop transferable skills such as team-working, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and presentation and performance skills. These skills are vital to children’s development as learners and have a wider application in their general lives outside and beyond school.
Kapow’s Primary Music Scheme of Work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets outlined in the national curriculum and the aims of the scheme align with those in the national curriculum.
The scheme takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands below are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences:
- Performing
- Listening
- Composing
- The history of music
- The inter-related dimensions of music
Implementation
Each five-lesson unit combines these strands within a cross-curricular topic designed to capture pupils’ imagination and encourage them to explore music enthusiastically. Over the course of the scheme, children will be taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and un-tuned instruments with accuracy and control. They will learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music – pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics – and use these expressively in their improvisations and compositions.
The scheme of work follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks better, as well as developing understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff, and other musical notations, as well as the interrelated dimensions of music and more.
In each lesson, pupils will actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and understanding of how music works. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies form independent tasks, paired and group work as well as improvisation and teacher-led performances. Lessons are ‘hands-on’ and incorporate movement and dance elements, as well as making cross curricular links with other areas of learning.
Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
Curriculum Enhancement
At Bishop Wilson we want children to leave us with an enjoyment of listening to and creating music from a variety of styles, genres and cultures. They will have had the opportunity to develop their skills in singing, using instruments and working both as an individual and collaboratively to create music. They will have had a number of opportunities across their school journey to perform to an audience. In EYFS and Year 1 all children take part in a Nativity performance which takes place in our church for parents and the rest of school. Year 2 perform in our Mother’s Day Worship. In LKS2 children take part in an Easter production and Year 6 prepare a musical performance as part of their leaving celebrations. There are also opportunities for all year groups to perform in class assemblies through singing, playing instruments and dancing. The wide variety of music making is also shared in our half termly music celebration assembly.
We promote strong Christian values through our weekly singing assemblies where the whole school join to learn and practise a variety of Christian hymns and songs which are then revisited through the week.
As part of our Bishop Wilson vision to serve others, our KS2 children perform for parents and our community at an annual in-school Charity event to raise money for MacMillan and other charities important to our community. Our school Singing Club also perform regularly at local residential homes and these community links encourage children to understand their place in God’s world and how they can continue to use their gifts to serve others.
Assessment
The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be monitored continuously through both formative and summative assessment. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and at the end of each unit there is often a performance element where teachers can make a summative assessment of children’s learning.
The expected impact of the scheme of work is that children will:
- Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school.
- Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social, and historical contexts in which it is developed.
- Understanding the ways in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities.
- Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own personal musical preferences.
- Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for Music.
For the school’s approach to the assessment of Music, please see the school’s Marking, Feedback & Assessment Policy (2023).
Home Learning and Useful Links
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/primary-music-ks1--ks2-index/z6762sg
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z7tnvcw
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zwxhfg8
Play It! - Free primary school music player from Bring The Noise for EYFS and KS1 - BBC Teach
Nursery Rhymes and Songs - A to Z - BBC Teach