Music
Intent
At Our Lady and St Brendan's, we aim for every child to appreciate the joy of music. Our curriculum allows children to sing, perform and learn a musical instrument. We want our children to have diverse experiences of music including: listening and responding to music from different periods in history, being exposed to music from different cultures as well as gaining the vocabulary to evaluate current music. Music lessons should give children the opportunity to understand the language of music both in terms of the technical vocabulary needed to learn a musical instrument and as a form of communication.
Through opportunities to play and compose music together, pupils will be able to experience how music connects and unites people. As a Catholic school, music is an essential part of worship assemblies and children should experience the beauty of singing both in a choir and as a whole school.
Implementation
The music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded through weekly lessons of Music following the Charanga scheme of work.
Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:
Listening and Appraising
- Listening and Appraising
- Warm-up Games
- Optional Flexible Games
- Singing
- Playing instruments
- Improvisation
- Composition
- Performing
Mastery in the Curriculum
Charanga Musical School Units of Work enable children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.
Children also have the opportunity to practice and perform through our partnership with the Diocese Singing Program. Tutors come into school every week and provide expert singing tuition to all year groups across school. Our children really enjoy sharing what they have learnt through termly concerts.
We have a school choir who have sung at many events including Young Voices in Manchester.
It is really important that all children at Our Lady and St Brendan's have access to individual and whole class music tuition. In Years 4 and 5, all children learn a musical instrument. Through partnerships with Bradford Music Hub and the Yorkshire Academy of Creative Arts and Dance, children have access to individual 1:1 music tuition ay any age.
Impact
As a result of this curriculum, children at Our Lady and St Brendan's will be able to respond to a variety of music including music from different periods and cultures. Children will be able to enjoy music, in as many ways as they choose – either as listener, creator or performer. They will feel confident when discussing music and comprehending its parts. They will be able to sing, feel a pulse, add rhythms and create melodies in a group and they can further develop these skills in the future and continue to enjoy and embrace music in their lives.
Progression
