Intent

‘Where words fail, music speaks’ – Hans Christian Anderson.

At Herne Junior School, music is an integral part of our children’s educational journey. By taking a highly practical approach and delivering an engaging, relevant and inclusive curriculum, we are ensuring our children develop a life-long love of music, whether that be through performance, composition or listening and appraising. The opportunities and experiences that we offer our children, allow them to find their own musical preferences and develop a whole host of transferable skills that will help shape their abilities and character in later life.

Implementation

In order for music to have an impact and for children to engage with it, we believe that a consistent approach is required. Each class is timetabled to receive an hour a week of curriculum music. Throughout each year, the children are exposed to a variety of instruments and a broad and diverse selection of music units ranging from a world music to a composer/song writer study. These schemes of work are progressive and sequential in both skills and knowledge, building on their learning from KS1 and preparing them for the next step of their learning journey. In line with the National Curriculum, the children learn through singing, performance, composition, listening, and appraising.

Extra-curricular opportunities are as important as the curriculum itself, and that is why we provide our children with a varied selection of music clubs. These range from orchestra to boys’ percussion club and are open to all abilities and circumstances. Children also have the opportunity to receive 1:1 or small group musical tuition, provided by our visiting peripatetic teachers. An open dialogue and relationship with our peripatetic teachers helps the children who are learning to play an instrument develop their musical understanding, but it also shows how working together can provide positive outcomes.

Impact

By raising the profile of music at Herne Junior School, the impact of music has become much clearer. The curriculum and the extra-curricular provision that we offer both depend on each other. By making both of these things a priority, we are creating an environment that celebrates music and inspires a love of the subject. Opportunities for the children to apply and share their musical knowledge and understanding and show the real impact of what music can do is measured through:

• Termly performances that showcase the children’s learning
• Participation and engagement in enrichment opportunities
• Audio and video evidence of practical music making
• Lesson visits
• Pupil voice
• Teacher voice
• Parent voice