Our Music Story

At Old Clee Primary Academy, we are becoming confident, secure, enthusiastic musicians.
 

At Old Clee Primary Academy we ensure that music is a continuous, integral part of school life, in which all our children become musicians. Our staff and students are enthusiastic and excited about music and have an enduring desire to learn more. All our students gain a wide range of knowledge and skills. They understand and experience the positive impact that music has on social and personal wellbeing. (Did you know that, when singing as a group, our heartbeats synchronise? Amazing!)

Intent

The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:

❖ perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians

❖ learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others,

❖ have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence

❖ understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

As musicians, our children will develop singing, playing tuned and un-tuned instruments and music appraisal skills. We are proud to deliver a range of high quality music opportunities both within and outside of the curriculum.

Our students will hear music in the classroom as a vehicle for learning, and to set the mood and encourage creativity. They will have the skills and vocabulary to appraise music; identifying and assessing what they are hearing and articulating how they feel about it.  

Implementation

The objectives of teaching music at Old Clee Primary Academy are to enable children to:

• know and understand how sounds are made and then organised into musical structures;
• know how music is made through a variety of instruments;
• know how music is composed and written down;
• know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written;
• develop the interrelated skills of performing, composing and appreciating music.

Music is currently led by our Music Lead, Mrs Hunter. Music is primarily taught using the Charanga scheme, with the Model Music Curriculum (MMC) supporting our assessments. Charanga is an exciting online music programme, which is complemeted with more focused activities to further develop and embed skills. Charanga is invaluable when introducing and establishing basic skills, and can be used by teachers who aren’t necessarily music specialists. We also like to challenge and enthuse our students with music clubs and workshops delivered by external music groups. When some of our students asked us for an Old Clee choir, we listened! We now have a choir, which practises on a Wednesday, after school. Look out for news about performances!

All musical learning in this scheme is built around the Interrelated Dimensions of Music: pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and notation. These dimensions are at the centre of all the musical learning.

The children are taught in a “spiral”, which means that all of the dimensions are revisited and built upon in every lesson. When children learn in this way, the information they receive is retained and recalled with confidence. As you can see from the image below, by Year 6, our children will be able to recall and use a wealth of musical knowledge and be wonderfully equipped, not only for secondary school but they will have the gift of music for life.

Charanga is used for listening to and appraising music. The students are exposed to a wealth of essential musical vocabulary, which is constantly revisited and built upon progressively year by year. They are encouraged to form their own opinions and express them confidently, using the vocabulary they are learning during their lessons.

Criteria for progression sits within the progression of skills document, which is the primary focus of assessment in music. The progression of knowledge sits alongside this, with the overarching MMC objectives emcompassing all of the required skills. The route to achieving the goals includes creating a strong schema, based on rich knowledge and subject specific vocabulary. 

Children learn and demonstrate how to find the pulse in a given piece, and to move their bodies confidently in any way they choose in order to find and respond to the pulse. They learn how to echo and compose rhythms to play along with the music they are appraising, and to include them in their own compositions. We use chime bars and glockenspiels to support their learning to compose, and sleigh bells, tambourines and other small percussion to enjoy while finding and creating rhythms.

The students are also given opportunities to use ukuleles and guitars as they move through school, both in lessons and in extra curricular clubs. They will be able to recall different parts of their instruments and their function, and how to respect and take care of the instruments. They will also be able to hold the instruments correctly, learn how to strum or pick to get a pleasing sound, and how to fret notes and make chord patterns. Our children who sign up to ukulele or guitar club will also have the opportunity to borrow a school instrument to practise with at home.

The children also receive lessons on reading music, and understanding musical notation and language. They learn how to play/sing what they are reading, and how to compose their own music. They are using 2Simple music and musical whiteboards with staff and notation printed on them as cues. They are being taught to use a range of pitch, tempo and dynamics to create mood in their compositions. The students will talk freely about a variety of genres and world music, and will be able to ascertain musical origins and genres when listening and appraising. Alongside this they will gain the ability to compose music of a given genre, using the different styles they have learned.

The children will be able to read musical notation and understand sheet music and how that translates into singing/playing an instrument.

Impact

We feel very strongly that music is life changing, and that it can and does impact positively on every child’s wellbeing and social and mental health. Our children have a range of opportunities in which to shine, and to learn vital skills to take with them as they grow into adulthood.

Our children will understand what it means to be a musician, and that they can be musicians themselves. They will be confident when talking about music, and use their vocabulary correctly. Discussion will be enthusiastic and positive, and will reflect their learning. They will be able to appraise music in their lives outside of the academy, and will approach learning an instrument with enthusiasm and confidence.

Through monitoring:

• Monitoring of learning ensures knowledge and understanding of concepts being taught. Vocabulary is being modelled consistently alongside effective use of the Charanga scheme, and pupils are expected to use and understand musical vocabulary.

• Learning that is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress.
• Music elements are taught in a spiral, which will consistently consolidate the inter-related dimensions of music and build secure knowledge and understanding of how they work and can be used.

When the students leave Year 6, they will be able to:

• Sing solo, in groups or in parts using clear diction, controlled pitch and sense of phrase
• Play and perform with accuracy, fluency, control and expression
• Think about the audience when performing and how to create a specific effect
• Describe, compare and evaluate different types of music, using musical vocabulary
• To use the inter-related dimensions of music when appraising a piece of music
• Comment on others’ work and suggest how intended outcomes could be achieved
• Evaluate the success of own and others’ work, suggesting specific improvements
• Listen to, internalize and recall sounds and patterns of sounds with accuracy and confidence
• Use musical vocabulary such as: Pulse, Rhythm, Pitch, Tempo, Dynamics, Timbre,   Texture, Notation, Hook, Mood, Structure
• Identify and explore the relationship between sounds and how music can have different meanings
• Compose by developing ideas within a range of given musical structures
• Create and improvise melodic and rhythmic phrases as part of a group performance

This has been further enhanced by our recent journey towards becoming a thinking school. Metacognition underpins everything that we do at Old Clee. We aim to develop creative thinkers, resilient problem solvers and reflective questioners who are equipped with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact in the world around them.

They will take a wealth of musical knowledge with them as they progress through their school lives and beyond. It will mean that they will have their music skills for life, and have the ability to use music to improve their quality of life now and in the future.

Successes from 2022-23

• Opportunities to learn and perform in an ensemble or band using ukuleles in class
• Developed more instrumental tuition with afterschool ukulele and recorder clubs
• Developed children's use of more technology in making music. 
• School choir is proving very popular, and has grown rapidly in number and skill level.

Priorities for 2023-24

• Create community links with performance opportunities at Old Clee Church and local residential home.
• Explore more opportunities for whole class instrumental teaching
• Work with local music hub to develop skills within our choir
• Liaise with local music hub to facilitate children's music opportunities both within and beyond the school setting.
• Utilise technology during lesson times to maximise learning potential.