“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words.” Victor Hugo
“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” Maya Angelou
Music is a universal language and one of the highest forms of creativity. At Girnhill Infant School we aim to provide children with the opportunities to learn and perform within a variety of different musical genres. We will teach subject specific music lessons enabling all children to learn the knowledge and skills required to be a ‘musician’. Our music education aims to engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music through a progressive curriculum. All children are given the opportunity to compose and create as well as play and perform using a variety of instruments.
At Girnhill Infant School we aim for all our children to:
| At Girnhill Infant School, our intent is that children have high-quality opportunities to recognise and develop their musical skills and understanding through practical lessons. This includes singing, performing, playing, composing and critiquing music of a variety of genres. We believe that music is a universal language which embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. Our music education aims to engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their own unique talents, and therefore increase their self-confidence, creativity, and sense of achievement.
The music curriculum provided at Girnhill Infant focuses on the nine interrelated dimensions of music; pitch, pulse, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, texture, structure and notation and is explored throughout a variety of activities such as; listening and appraising; music activities; creating and exploring and singing and performing We are ambitious in our expectations of all pupils, ensuring cross curricular links are made to develop children holistically. At Girnhill, we map out the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework for Music into a sequential and coherent progression model. This model outlines the substantive and disciplinary knowledge that will be covered as well as the vocabulary, enquiry questions and the sentence stems needed at each stage of learning.
|
At Girnhill Infant School, oracy is a powerful tool for learning; by teaching children to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them. Vocabulary is purposeful and progressive to allow children to develop their expressive language and leave school being able to articulate their understanding of music using the four strands of good talk. Technical tiered vocabulary is modelled through flashcards and teacher talk using ‘my turn, your turn’. Sentence stems are used to provide children with a model of how to speak like a musician and scaffold their talk effectively. Questions are carefully planned in advance to target pre-empted misconceptions, address gaps in learning and enable children to develop their explanations of musical concepts.
All music lessons start by re-capping on previous learning. This is scaffolded by our Music Lead and specialist, Mrs Towers, who teaches all music lessons across Key Stage One. Music lessons have opportunities for the children to listen and critique composers, developing knowledge and skills in discussing the key elements of music; genre, tempo, pitch, timbre and dynamics. Tier 3 (subject specific) vocabulary, knowledge and new skills are all clearly modelled. Lessons for music are largely practical, allowing our children’s creativity to develop and shine. Teachers use a range of ‘Assessment for Learning’ techniques to check children’s understanding. Assessment is ongoing and informs planning so that all children are guided towards their unique next steps. At the end of each academic year, Target Tracker is used to formally assess children against age-related expectations.
Learners have the skills to listen, appraise, compose and perform like a musician.
Learners are able to apply the music subject specific vocabulary to talk like a musician.
Children are exposed to a wide range of genres and children are able to recall facts about genres of music.
