Music

Purpose of study

At St Michael's, we believe music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon

Get Set 4 Music provides a high-quality music curriculum that supports the whole-child. The curriculum is carefully sequenced to build skills progressively, ensuring pupils develop creativity, confidence and a deeper understanding of music over time. This ensures that pupils become:

• Confident to explore new ideas and creative approaches
• Resilient when facing challenges
• Creative, continually refining ideas to achieve their best

We listen to our pupils, offering a wide range of inclusive and engaging musical experiences, both within lessons and through extracurricular opportunities. We support pupils to develop the values and skills needed to celebrate and respect the success of others, whilst taking pride in their own achievements.

Inclusion: We ensure that all pupils - regardless of attainment, additional educational needs or background - can access music without barriers and make individual progress. Lessons are adapted to support all learners, including those with SEND, so that every child can participate and achieve.

Assessment: Our teachers assess the children’s work in Music through direct observation of children at work, questioning children or listening to their conversations. We also obtain photographs and recordings of their finished pieces which are recorded using the Get Set 4 Music assessment software. We have clear expectations of what the pupils will know, understand and be able to do at the end of each Key Stage. Teachers are supported with resources to know how to prepare children for their next phase of education. These resources include the Get Set 4 Music progression of skills and knowledge ladders and vocabulary pyramid.

Monitoring and Reviewing: The planning and co-ordination of the teaching of music is the responsibility of the subject leader, who:

• Supports colleagues in their teaching, providing a strategic lead and direction;
• Evaluates the strengths and areas for development in the subject through staff and pupil voice questionnaires;
• Reviews evidence of the children’s work and observes Music lessons.
• The quality of teaching and learning in music is monitored and evaluated by the subject leader and is overseen by the curriculum leader.

Whilst in school, children have access to a varied programme, which allows them to discover areas of  strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. This is evident during sessions, in which children have grown in confidence and have had an improved self-esteem as a result of performing alongside others. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as listener, creator or performer. They can dissect music and comprehend its parts; they can sing and feel a pulse; they have an understanding of how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives. 

We encourage the musical experiences and development of our children in nursery and reception as an integral part of their work. As these classes are part of the Foundation Stage, we relate the musical development of the children to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five years of age. Children sing songs, make music, dance, and experiment with ways of developing the sounds and movements used. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, instruments and techniques, as well as being given opportunities to represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings