Music

"Where words fail, music speaks."

Hans Christian Anderson

At St Maxentius, our music curriculum is delivered by specialist teachers as well as class

teachers we give our children the very best. Through a broad, balanced, supportive and

purposeful curriculum linked with National Curriculum objectives, we strive to ensure that all

our pupils are able to succeed and find their unique talents and strengths. We aim for all

pupils to experience and enjoy Music in discrete lessons and as part of a rich curriculum.

Music skills are developed through a practical approach and applied in performing and

composing. Children are encouraged to develop their listening skills and the ability to appraise

a variety of musical styles and forms.

At St Maxentius, we value music as a powerful and unique form of self-expression and communication. We are musicians! We aim to provide every child with high-quality musical experiences which engage and inspire them. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music and to appreciate a variety of music styles. We aim for every child to leave school with a range of musical skills, knowledge, and an understanding and love of music which they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. The Early Years framework is the foundation for the development of Music skills and provides the building blocks for all future learning

Curriculum

At St Maxentius, we take our music curriculum from the Charanga Music Scheme

The Charanga Musical School Scheme provides teachers with week-by-week lesson support for each year group in the school. It is ideal for specialist and non-specialist teachers and provides lesson plans, assessment, clear progression, and engaging and exciting whiteboard resources to support every lesson. The Scheme supports all the requirements of the national curriculum.

In line with the curriculum for music and guidance from Ofsted, this Scheme moves away from the previous levels and learning objective/outcome concepts to an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning.

Ofsted have stated that “We will not always know the learning outcomes” so segregated learning objectives at the start of each lesson are not appropriate. Instead the interrelated dimensions of music weave through the units to encourage the development of musical skills as the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities (including creating and exploring) and performing.

How the Scheme is structured

Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:

Listening and Appraising
Musical Activities
1. Warm-up Games
2. Optional Flexible Games
3. Singing
4. Playing instruments
5. Improvisation
6. Composition
Performing