Music

Music Development Plan

The aims of the Music Curriculum at Walsgrave Academy are:

• To inspire in children a love of music and develop their interests and talents as musicians
• To develop children’s knowledge and appreciation of a diverse range of genres, traditions, musicians and composers
• To develop children’s skills in singing, improvising and composing, playing, performing and appreciating
• To build children’s knowledge and use of the language of music, including the interrelated dimensions of music.

Delivering the Music Curriculum at Walsgrave Academy:

In Early Years, the foundations of Music are taught holistically, with knowledge and skills woven into engaging topics that have been developed systematically to ensure progression. Children develop knowledge of different styles of music and learn to sing, play instruments and perform in a variety of contexts, including singing nursery rhymes and songs, playing percussion instruments and singing, playing and performing in a Christmas performance.

In Key Stage 1, Music is taught through termly music projects as part of the Thematic Curriculum, each focused on differing core disciplines of music. Children’s knowledge of the differing disciplines is built through projects including singing sea shanties and songs from musicals, and composing a local area soundscape and bhangra-style rhythms. Children develop their skills across the disciplines, including singing in unison, exploring rhythms on untuned instruments and expressing opinions.

In Key Stage 2, Music continues to be taught through termly music projects focused on the core disciplines of music. Children further their knowledge of the different disciplines through projects including appraising music from Brazil, composing digitally and singing songs from around the world. Children continue to develop their skills across the disciplines, including singing with clear diction, composing with layers of sound and explaining emotion and mood within music.

Across both Key Stages, children receive instrument tuition each term, building their technical skills as musicians. Each year group focuses on the introduction of a different musical instrument: