Our Music Curriculum
Curriculum Intent
At Great Steeping School our intent is for music to be an enjoyable, inclusive and modern learning experience. Whilst we are a small rural school, we ensure all children participate in a variety of musical experiences though which we aim to build a strong knowledge of musical culture and build confidence.
Curriculum Progression and Implementation
The Charanga music programme is used from Reception toYear 6 to ensure a wide exposure to different genres of music, with lots of practical opportunities to explore and develop as musicians and singers. Our teaching focuses on developing the children's ability to know about rhythm and follow a beat. Through singing songs and making music, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen and to appreciate different forms of music. Children develop descriptive language skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent different feelings, emotions and narratives. We also teach technical vocabulary such as volume, pitch, beat and rhythm and encourage children to discuss music using these terms. Our music curriulum supports Gratitude and Empathy from our school values.
What does a music lesson at Great Steeping look like?
A music lesson at Great Steeping contains the following elements:
Flashback: this involves revisiting previous knowledge and skills to secure recall of musical facts and practical skills.
Learning Question and related success criteria – our music curriculum is broken down into small steps. Each step is introduced at the start of a lesson as a learning question. The success criteria is a measure of how well the learning question has been answered.
Learning: this might include teacher-led, questioning and class discussion and / or independent activity and small group work where children have the opportunity to discover musical information and practise applying their knowledge and skills. Teachers may stop the class to address misconceptions during learning time or show how knowledge and skills can be applied in different contexts.
Plenary: to review progress made towards answering the learning question and consolidate learning
The order and amount of time spent on these different aspects of the lesson will vary dependent on the lesson’s place in the sequence of learning and teacher assessment.