Music
At St Christopher’s our curriculum focuses on an understanding of music. Musical knowledge is gained through experience and developed through singing, listening, composing (including improvising) and performing. These musical practices are woven throughout the curriculum, and are carefully sequenced so that pupils can build procedural knowledge and technical skills through practice. This allows them to begin to realise and develop their own expressive intentions through music.
Through beginning to understand the language of music it allows children to become more musical. Each lesson has a musical focus, such as pulse, rhythm, tempo or pitch. Experience of, understanding and use of these elements build gradually throughout the curriculum.
We encourage the love of music through regular use of music throughout the school day including collective worship, lesson time and our chosen music support Rocksteady where the children have time to be involved in a rock band and perform to their friends and family.
Our music curriculum aims to develop a love of music in our pupils and provide opportunities for them to be inspired by rich and diverse musical styles from around the world and through history. The content of the curriculum has been carefully planned and sequenced to build skills in listening and appraising, performing, composing and improvisation. Engaging and practical weekly lessons aim to develop pupils’ talent as musicians as well as increase their self-confidence, creativity and imagination. Children have opportunities to play a range of instruments in their weekly music lessons; develop a love of singing during weekly whole school assemblies, and perform in local and national concerts.
As pupils move through KS1, they begin to focus on specific musical elements such as pitch, rhythm and dynamics. They will play rhythm together and have the opportunity to use a wide range of tuned and un-tuned percussion instruments. Pupils are taught to recognise the sounds of different instruments and begin to use music specific vocabulary to describe the musical pieces they hear. Well known pieces of music, such as Peter and the Wolf, are used in Year 2 to help pupils understand how music can be used to create moods and characters in stories.
In KS2, pupils are exposed to contrasting music styles from around the world such as Music from the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Pupils will have the opportunity to learn about the music of classical composers such as Camille Saint-Saёns and Beethoven; as well as studying influential music from popular culture such as The Beetles, Ed Sheeran and rap music. Pupils become more skilled at playing tuned instruments such as ukuleles, glockenspiels and steel pans as they move through the key stage. They have the opportunity to read and record music in different ways throughout the school and compose their own pieces using ICT programs in specific year groups.