'Music is the art of thinking with sounds…'

Jules Combarieu

At Hensall, we believe that music plays an important part in every child’s creative education. Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire, include and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression and it can play an important part in the personal development of children. Music reflects the changing culture and society we live in, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world that they are a part of. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, it also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community and it can have a significant effect on well-being. Dancing and singing along to our favourite music and songs are enjoyable pass times for all ages.

Intent

At our school, we want children to develop a life long love of music and aim to give every child the opportunity to experience the power of music to enhance their lives, as well as capitalizing on the positive impact it gives to learning in other areas of the curriculum. 

Singing, playing instruments, performing, and composing are enjoyable, creative and fulfilling learning experiences in their own right, but research shows that this learning extends beyond the musical curriculum.

• Making music in the early and primary years increases listening and concentration skills, and enhances a child’s ability to discriminate between sounds. This improves phonetic awareness and helps to develop language and literacy skills.
• There is a positive impact on spatial reasoning, which is linked to mathematical thinking and on physical co-ordination, which supports handwriting skills.
• Music-making in small groups promotes teamwork and the development of leadership skills, as well as being hugely enjoyable.
• Pupils’ confidence can be enhanced if they have opportunities to perform.
• Music-making has social and emotional benefits, helping children to improve their mood and relieve stress. It can be a powerful tool in raising spirits and promoting positive mental health; something we are passionate about at Hensall.

Implementation

At Hensall, we deliver a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum through Charanga. 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. By using Charanga as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that we 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. skill and given chance 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

Performance is an important part of the music curriculum and at Hensall, children have the opportunity to perform in school nativities, end of year productions, assemblies and community carol singing in Hensall Church.

Alongside our curriculum provision for music, pupils also have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers from North Yorkshire. Pupils in Year 5 and 6 also have the opportunity to participate in the annual Young Voices concert where they have the opportunity to learn a wide range of songs to be performed alongside other schools at Sheffield Arena.

Impact

All pupils will benefit from a high-quality music education which engages and inspires them to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians. They can choose how they enjoy music, either as a listener, creator, performer or musician. It will increase their self confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they will develop a growing musical vocabulary that allows them to critically engage with music. Teaching and learning of music is a reflective process for the children as they are given the opportunities to assess themselves and their peers. The children also celebrate their success and skills with their peers and wider audiences. We assess through teacher assessment, video evidence and pupil voice which captures each child’s progress throughout the year.

Here's what some of the children say about music at Hensall.

"I like listening to the music, it's relaxing." Bryce Year 5

"I like music, especially music that is calm." Matilda Year 2

"I like the challenges for warm ups." Imogen Year 4

"I like music because I am good at it." Dennis Year 1

Curriculum Progression Documents 

The curriculum progression documents for music shows how we map subject knowledge and skills sequentially from EYFS to Year 6. In each year group, we know the order of what our pupils have learnt, what they are learning and what they will need to learn in the future. This document enables us to identify any gaps in learning that need to be addressed to ensure that new learning makes sense to our pupils.

In addition to this we also map out subject specific vocabulary across school and examples of texts that may be used in different year groups.