Music at Bidbury Infant School
At Bidbury, our learning in music is based on the Kapow Primary music scheme of work. This aims to help children to feel that they are musical and to develop a life-long love of music. The focus is on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners. Our curriculum introduces children to music from all around the world and across generations, teaching children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities. Children will develop the musical skills of singing; playing tuned and untuned instruments; improvising and composing music; and listening and responding to music. They will develop an understanding of the history and cultural context of the music that they listen to and begin to learn how music can be written down. Through music, our curriculum helps children develop transferable skills such as team-working, leadership, creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and presentation and performance skills. These skills are vital to children’s development as learners and have a wider application in their general lives outside and beyond school.
The Kapow Primary music scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets outlined in the National Curriculum and the aims of the scheme align with those in the National Curriculum. The content of the units has been categorised into five key strands with opportunities to recognise and apply the inter-related dimensions of music across each strand. The scheme takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands below are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences:
The Kapow Primary music scheme follows a spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks better, as well as developing their understanding and knowledge of the history of music, musical notations and the interrelated dimensions of music. Skills are taught within each year group and these are then further developed to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage. Units have been plotted against the Development Matters statements and the Early Learning Goals for EYFS and the National Curriculum statements for KS1 music. The strands each unit covers have been identified.
In each lesson, pupils will actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as improvisation and teacher-led performances. Lessons are ‘hands-on’ and incorporate movement and dance elements, as well as making cross curricular links with other areas of learning. Lessons are adapted to ensure that they can be accessed by all pupils and include opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
For the EYFS, our Year R pupils to work primarily towards the Communication and Language and Expressive Arts and Design Development Matters statements and Early Learning Goals, whilst also covering the foundational knowledge that will support them in their further learning in music in key stage 1. The children are also introduced to music through continuous provision and by enabling them to explore different forms of music in their daily classroom play.
Early Learning Goals Children at the expected level of development will: |
Development Matters statements Children in reception will be learning to: |
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Exploring sound Exploring how we can use our voice, bodies and instruments to make sounds, and identifying sounds in the environment.
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Communication and language |
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Expressive arts and design |
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Understanding the World |
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Celebration music Learning about the music from a range of cultural and religious celebrations, including Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas.
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Communication and language |
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Expressive arts and design |
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Understanding the World |
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Music and movement
Creating simple actions to well-known songs, learning how to move to a beat and expressing feelings and emotions through movement to music. |
Expressive arts and design
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Musical stories
Moving to music with instruction, changing movements to match the tempo, pitch or dynamics and learning that music and instruments can convey moods or represent characters. |
Communication and language |
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Expressive arts and design |
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Transport
Identifying and copying sounds produced by different vehicles using voices, bodies and instruments, demonstrating tempo changes and understanding how symbols can represent sound. |
Communication and language |
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Expressive arts and design |
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Big band Learning about what makes a musical instrument, the four different groups of musical instruments, following a beat using an untuned instrument and performing a practised song. |
Communication and language |
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Expressive arts and design |
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Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
For key stage 1, the scheme of work aligns with the National Curriculum music aims and enables pupils to meet the end of key stage 1 attainment targets.
National Curriculum music aims:
Pupils should be taught to:
DfE National Curriculum: Music programme of study: key stage 1
Year 1
AUTUMN |
SPRING |
SUMMER |
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Keeping the pulse |
Tempo |
Dynamics |
Sound patterns |
Pitch |
Musical symbols |
My favourite things |
Snail and mouse |
Seaside |
Fairytales |
Superheros |
Under the sea |
Identifying the difference between the pulse and rhythm of a song and consolidating understanding of these concepts through listening and performing activities. |
Using voices, bodies and instruments to listen and respond to different pieces of music. Learning and performing a rhyme and song with a focus on tempo. |
Exploring the feeling of pieces of music, conveying mood through movement and making links between music, sounds and environments. |
Introducing the concept of timbre; learning that different sounds can represent characters and key events in a story. Clapping to the syllables of words and phrases before creating rhythmic patterns. |
Learning how to identify high and low notes. Composing a simple tune, exploring different instruments and investigating how tempo changes help tell a story. |
Exploring key musical vocabulary. Listening and moving to different types of sea themed music. |
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My favourite things |
Snail and mouse |
Seaside |
Fairytales |
Superheros |
Under the sea |
Pupils should be taught about: |
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Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes |
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Play tuned and untuned instruments musically |
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Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music |
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Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music |
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Year 2
AUTUMN |
SPRING |
SUMMER |
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Call and response |
Instruments |
Contrasting dynamics |
Singing
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Structure
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Pitch
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Animals |
Musical storytelling |
Space |
On this island |
Myths and legends |
Musical Me |
Using instruments to represent animals, copying rhythms, learning a traditional African call and response song and recognising simple notation, progressing to creating animal-based call and response rhythms. |
Introducing the instruments of the orchestra. Learning how different characters can be represented by timbre, how emotions can be represented by pitch and how changes in tempo can convey action. |
Identifying dynamics, timbre, tempo and instruments in music heard and comparing pieces by the same composer. Visually representing music in creative and more formal ways and learning to play and compose motifs. |
Taking inspiration from the British Isles, exploring how to create sounds to represent three contrasting landscapes: seaside, countryside and city, creating their own soundscapes. |
Developing understanding of musical language and how timbre, dynamics and tempo affect the mood of a song. Learning to create music through the use of a graphic score. |
Learning to sing the song ‘Once a Man Fell in a Well’ and to play it using tuned percussion. Adding sound effects, experimenting with timbre and dynamics and using letter notation to write a melody |
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Animals |
Musical storytelling |
Space |
On this island |
Myths and legends |
Musical Me |
Pupils should be taught about: |
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Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
Play tuned and untuned instruments musically |
ü |
ü |
ü |
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ü |
ü |
Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü |
ü | ü |
Impact
The impact of our music curriculum can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Teachers assess pupils against each of the learning objectives and at the end of each unit there is often a performance element where teachers can make a summative assessment of pupils’ learning. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils by providing a visual record of the key learning from the unit, encouraging recall of practical skills, key knowledge and vocabulary. After the implementation of our music curriculum, pupils should leave infant school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their junior school education and beyond as well as being able to enjoy and appreciate music throughout their lives.