We are proud to be a music mark school in 2022/23. This enables us to maintain the quality of the music education opportunities we offer our children.
At St John's, music is taught through Charanga which is a high quality, structured music programme. In FSU and KS1 it provides children with the opportunity to listen and respond to different styles of music, learn to sing nursery rhymes and action songs and to begin to develop an understanding of the musical concepts of pulse, rhythm and pitch. There is also a focus on improvising and playing music using classroom percussion and many opportunities to share and perform music.
At St John's, music is taught through Charanga which is a high quality, structured music programme. In FSU and KS1 it provides children with the opportunity to listen and respond to different styles of music, learn to sing nursery rhymes and action songs and to begin to develop an understanding of the musical concepts of pulse, rhythm and pitch. There is also a focus on improvising and playing music using classroom percussion and many opportunities to share and perform music.
Children in Keystage 2 using their instrumental skills in a Charanga music lesson
In KS2, the programme allows the children to further develop their understanding of pulse, rhythm and pitch as well as introducing the musical dimensions of duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and simple musical notation through the use of well known songs and musical games. The children learn to sing songs with greater musical understanding and to use tuned classroom percussion (and their own instruments if they have them) to improvise, compose, record, rehearse and perform in a variety of styles.
In lower KS2 the children take part in specialist whole class ensemble teaching, learning the PBuzz in Year 3 and the PBone in Year 4. During these sessions, as well as learning to play their instruments, they are taught to read standard musical notation and to identify note values from semibreves to semiquavers.
In lower KS2 the children take part in specialist whole class ensemble teaching, learning the PBuzz in Year 3 and the PBone in Year 4. During these sessions, as well as learning to play their instruments, they are taught to read standard musical notation and to identify note values from semibreves to semiquavers.
From Year 2 upwards, children have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument as individuals or in small groups. Currently most of our children are learning to play the recorder which provides a secure set of transferable skills should they wish to progress to a different instrument in the future.
Music forms an integral part of wider school life at St John's, singing is central to acts of worship and key liturgies and celebrations throughout the school year. At Christmas our Nativity production gives the younger children an opportunity to perform for family and friends and our Carol Service allows our older children (supported by former pupils) the chance to use their instrumental skills to accompany congregational singing.
From Year 3, the children also have the opportunity to join the schools' Starmaker club and take part in our annual production in a local theatre. During covid, due to the restrictions the club presented an amazing outdoor performance of Peter Pan, but last year we were back in the New Hall for a production of Olivia.
Music forms an integral part of wider school life at St John's, singing is central to acts of worship and key liturgies and celebrations throughout the school year. At Christmas our Nativity production gives the younger children an opportunity to perform for family and friends and our Carol Service allows our older children (supported by former pupils) the chance to use their instrumental skills to accompany congregational singing.
From Year 3, the children also have the opportunity to join the schools' Starmaker club and take part in our annual production in a local theatre. During covid, due to the restrictions the club presented an amazing outdoor performance of Peter Pan, but last year we were back in the New Hall for a production of Olivia.
The Starmakers in their outdoor performance of Peter Pan
Olivia at the New Hall
Overall, our music curriculum aims to engage and inspire all of our children in order to increase self-confidence, team work and creativity.
SEND in MUSIC
Ambition- What are we aiming for children with SEND to achieve in this subject?
- All children should be encouraged to participate fully in musical activities and enabled to achieve at their own level.
- All children will encounter music from a variety of time, culture and genre and be encouraged to express their feelings about the music.
- All children have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument through WCET.
- All children will have access to learning to read standard staff notation (LKS2)
- All children will use tuned and untuned percussion instruments to improvise in response to musical stimuli as well as using their own musical ideas in composition.
Access- What amendments are made to the subject in order to help children with SEND to achieve?
- The Charanga music scheme uses a spiral curriculum that regularly revisits key objectives in music with small increments in learning.
- Activities within lessons follow the same pattern and have the same layout across the school enabling children to develop confidence to participate.
- Teachers model answers to musical questions allowing children to scaffold their own responses.
- Visual reminders of the key musical elements are used when talking about the music being listened to.
- Notation is taught using kinesthetic as well as visual prompts.
- Opportunities to perform/improvise or compose with tuned or untuned instruments can be adapted through choice of instruments or limiting the range of notes (pitch and value) used.