Our Approach
At Monkshouse Primary Academy we aim to help pupils recognise themselves as musical and to nurture a lifelong love of music. We aim to develops the skills, knowledge, and understanding needed to support pupils in becoming confident performers, composers, and listeners. The curriculum introduces pupils to music from across the world, encouraging respect and appreciation for the music of all traditions and communities. Pupils build musical skills through singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, improvising, composing and listening and responding to music. They develop an understanding of the historical and cultural context of the music they encounter and learn how music can be notated.
Music lessons support the development of transferable skills, including teamwork, leadership, creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and presentation and performance abilities. These skills are integral to pupils’ development as learners and have wide application in their lives beyond school.
Vision in Action
The National curriculum organises the attainment targets for Music under:
Listening to music is important to develop an appreciation for music but listening with a critical ear also allows pupils to recognise how music is constructed and how it impacts the listener. Listening and evaluating is therefore the precursor to Improvising and composing and performing. By exposing pupils to a diverse range of music from various cultures and historical periods, this strand also promotes an understanding of the history of music.
Learning technical proficiency with an instrument takes time, and the ability to create and control sound is fundamental to making music. This proficiency requires knowledge of specific instruments, including how to hold and play them, as well as the development of fine (and sometimes gross) motor skills and postural awareness. When it comes to singing, controlling breathing and voice modulation to create dynamic contrasts is crucial.
In order to compose and perform longer pieces of music, pupils need to understand notation as a means of communicating musical ideas. They will learn that the position of notes on the stave indicates their pitch, and that the symbols used represent the duration of each note or rest. Our aim is for pupils to be able to ‘work out’ how to read a simple piece of music from a given starting note by applying the principles of staff notation, rather than reading music by sight or simply memorising musical pieces.
Improvisation in music involves creating music spontaneously, without prior planning or written notes. This helps pupils build confidence, express themselves freely, and develop flexibility in their musical thinking. Composition tasks require students to plan and structure their musical ideas. This structured approach strengthens their ability to organise thoughts systematically and often use notation to record their ideas.
Performing provides pupils with a practical reason to hone and apply their musical skills. It promotes group practice and collaboration, as pupils work together to achieve an aim. This experience not only boosts pupils’ confidence and self-esteem but also enhances their awareness of themselves and others within the group.
Accordingly, Kapow Primary’s Music curriculum has been structured with these strands running through each unit.
The strands ensure balanced coverage of the different areas of Music and that both substantive and disciplinary aspects are covered.