At Quinton Primary School, the intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres.
Our objective at Quinton Primary School is to develop a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.
Our music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in classroom activities as well as the weekly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances and the learning of instruments.
Through the musical program Charanga, our teachers are able to produce inclusive lessons for all children to access the musical curriculum in a fun and engaging way, further promoting a love of learning. Teachers deliver music following the Charanga programme, designed specifically for the teaching of music in primary schools. Charanga lessons are planned in sequences to provide children with the opportunities to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding.
The elements of music are taught in classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. In the classroom children learn how to play the glockenspiel and a variety of untuned percussion instruments in Reception through to year 2. Years 3 and 4 learn how to play the recorder and years 5 and 6 learn how to play the ukulele. Playing various instruments enables children to use a range of methods to create notes, as well as how to read basic music notation. They also learn how to compose, focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.
At Quinton Primary School, in using Charanga and services available by Warwickshire Music Hub, we are able to deliver our music curriculum which results in fun, much engagement and high-quality music education for the children. The quality of children’s learning is evident through pupil interviews, recordings of children’s lessons, assembly and concert performances and the mere fact that they enjoy their lessons.
Children enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as a listener, creator or performer.
Subject-specific knowledge developed in our music lessons provides the children with experiences and foundations which will get them ready for their learning in secondary school and for some give them a passion to pursue a career in music.