Music

At St Joseph’s we follow the National Curriculum for Music (2014).

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notation

To meet these objectives, we use a music programme called Charanga, supported by Cumbria Music Hub, which provides a variety of lessons that are easy for the children to follow, that compare a variety of music genres and that allow the children to learn different instruments. The long-term plan has been designed for us to use in our school, over a 3 year programme, reflecting our class structure. Each unit of work comprises the strands of musical learning which correspond with the National Curriculum for Music-

1 Listening & Appraising

2 Musical Activities

  a Warm up games - these musical games embed the interrelated dimensions of music through repetition.

  b Optional flexible games

  c Singing - at the heart of all musical learning

  d Playing Instruments- tuned and untuned percussion and an option to play any band instrument. A sound before symbol approach is used but scores are provided as an understanding of notation is introduced to the children.

  e Improvisation- with the song, using voices and/or instruments.

  f Composition- with the song using instruments.

3 Performance- Share what has taken place in a lesson and work towards performing to an audience.

As well as this, we aim to offer other musical opportunities for our children. These include

• Kodaly based singing experience in EYFS and KS1 based on fun, frequent, active sessions.
• singing in whole school assemblies
• concerts and plays for parents across the whole school
• the Christmas Nativity play
• KS1 and KS2 trips to local care home Kirklands to perform songs
• annual participation in the KS2 massed choir’s performance ‘Sing Up’ concert lead by Cockermouth School
• KS2 carol singing at the local Sainsbury’s
• live performances in school by visiting musicians such as Cumbria Music Hub and the local secondary school
• whole class instrumental lessons in brass/strings.
• composition workshops and music Technology workshops in Key Stage Two
• New for 2021 Whole class KS2 tuition in ukuleles.

We can offer extra-curricular lessons in guitar and recorder, and other instrumental teachers can be invited by request.