Intent

Music is available to everyone and at Woodside it is our intention to introduce all children to music from Foundation Stage using the first instrument: the voice.

We aim to develop a love of music from an early age and build on this love by developing an understanding of music theory as the children progress their music lessons through the school.

Music unites communities and at Woodside we believe in the power of music to make community connections in our local area. It is our intention to bring music to the wider community and use music to support the making of community links.

Implementation

Every class from Year 1 to year 6 has one session of music a week lasting approximately 40 minutes. This is accompanied by a weekly music assembly. Foundation Stage have 20 minute music sessions with the specialist music teacher, alongside music in enhanced provision and rhyme time sessions in their classroom. Year 3 have access to Whole Class Ensemble teaching weekly.

We start to teach children rhymes and simple, two note (so mi) songs in Foundation stage, working on the skill of pitch matching and showing the melodic shape with actions. We develop their singing through KS1 increasing the pitch to include a larger range of notes and working on their understanding of melodic pattern. During KS1 they will have opportunities to perform cumulative songs. As we develop singing through KS2 we focus more on our understanding of pitch, dynamics and tempo. Children have the opportunity to develop their control of pitch and diction with opportunities to perform a wide range of songs with an increased vocal range. Children in upper KS2 will learn about key signatures and how to transpose music between keys.

In Foundation Stage children are encouraged to show actions in time with the beat. As we move into KS1, we develop our understanding of beat (pulse) and learn to show it using marching and larger actions. Moving into KS2, children consolidate their understanding of beat every year and develop it further, learning about the difference between beat and rhythm, showing written rhythm and learning about the link between beat and time signatures.

In KS1 children start to clap rhythm patterns, learning in Year 2 that some beats can have one longer note and some have two shorter notes. Moving into year 3, children learn the rhythm names ta and tete and begin to write the stick notation for these rhythms. The understanding of rhythm is developed throughout KS2 to include more complex rhythm patterns and how to write and read them both as stick notation and on the stave.

We bring music into other subjects and make cross curricular links; for example, in history we play a piece of music that embeds the time period and puts the time period in a context. This helps children to make links between composers and what else would have been happening in the world at that time.

We have performance opportunities from Foundation Stage to Year 6. These include performing to other classes and to parents, singing at events within the Woodside Community and taking groups of children to perform at external venues including Young Voices at Sheffield Arena and Bradford Music and Art Service Events at St George’s Hall.

We have a composer of the half term that children listen to at the beginning of assemblies, this develops their knowledge of a musical timeline and their listening skills.