Music

Mrs Mint is our Music leader at St Andrew's:

"My love of music comes from a passion for the arts in all their forms, including theatre and performance. I enjoy a wide range of musical styles and feel it's important for children to be exposed to as many musical genres as possible during their primary years. Some of my own happiest childhood memories are from taking part in musical performances - including singing and dancing - in school, church and with friends.

As music lead across the school, one of the most rewarding aspects is seeing children grow in confidence and pride as they perform, whether that is through singing, playing instruments or taking part in productions.

Music gives children the opportunity to express themselves creatively and to be part of something shared and meaningful. Performing, in particular, allows children to shine, building confidence, resilience and a sense of achievement.

Music involves creativity, listening and collaboration: important and transferable life skills for today's world.  I value opportunities for children to work together, support one another and experience the joy that music and the arts can bring.  The primary aim is always to inspire a lifelong love, understanding and appreciation of this most special art form."

Intent

As a powerful and unique form of communication and expression, music is an integral part of life at St Andrews. Music brings everyone together and allows children to express themselves. Our intention is to deliver fun, inclusive and inspiring lessons to engage all of our children. We believe that music should be embedded within our school providing additional opportunities for our children to be able to appreciate, gain confidence and perform music. During assemblies, children learn new songs and enjoy community singing experiences, allowing for communication and cooperation between both EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Our children learn to appreciate the various styles of music available to them from early music to current popular culture. Individual instrumental tuition is also available at our school. We believe we are providing the children at St Andrews with the significant skills to become courageous musicians through their experiences.

At St Andrew’s we use the Kapow Primary music scheme which promotes a life-long love of music. Kapow focuses on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that the children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners. The children are introduced to music from all around the world and across generations, teaching the children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities.

Implementation

The Kapow scheme of work weaves together the individual strands to create an engaging and learning experience for the children:

• Performing
• Listening
• Composing
• The history of music
• The inter-related dimensions of music

In each lesson the children will actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and understanding of how music works. The lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work, as well as improvisations and teacher-led performances. Lessons incorporate movement and dance elements, as well as making cross curricular links with other areas of learning.

Impact

The impact can be monitored through both formative and summative opportunities.

At St Andrews we expect the children to leave with a range of skills to enable them to succeed at secondary school. The expected impact is:

• Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able express themselves musically at and beyond school.
• Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical context in which it is developed.
• Understand the ways in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities.
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and identify their own musical preferences.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for music.

Music lessons

At St Andrew’s we offer the children music lessons from qualified music teachers:

• Piano lessons
• Drum lessons
• Wind instruments