Music

As a school, we aim to nurture children’s musical talents and allow all children to access high quality teaching and resources. Our whole school approach to teaching and learning in Music uses the Kapow Primary Music Scheme, which is supplemented by class instrumental lessons for the recorder and ocarina. Our children are taught life skills through our music teaching, such as, determination, focus, confidence and the ability to celebrate the achievements of others.

We aim to help children to feel that they are musical, and to develop a life-long love of music. We focus on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers, and listeners. The 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 learn how music can be written down. Through music, the 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. Our use of Kapow’s 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.

In addition to the above, the aims of music education at All Saints are to:

develop aesthetic sensitivity and creative ability in all pupils.
foster pupils’ sensitivity to, and their understanding and enjoyment of, music through an active involvement in singing, listening, composing and performing.
provide for the expression and development of individual skills and for sharing experience and cooperating with others; promoting singing, playing, composing and listening to enable individual and collective satisfaction.
develop the language skills used in music making, including specific music vocabulary.
develop the capacity to express ideas, thoughts and feelings through music.
develop social skills and awareness through making music together and offer pupils opportunities to experience personal satisfaction and self-confidence whilst engaged in musical activities.
develop an awareness of musical traditions and developments in a variety of cultures and societies, past and present.

Music as a practical subject:

We aim to give pupils opportunities to perform and compose music, enabling them to respond to it with more understanding. We endeavour to make musical experiences as rich and as varied as possible. As individual music making takes time, some of the opportunities take place outside normal lesson times.

Instrumental tuition is provided for piano, cello, violin, guitar, recorder, ocarina and percussion. Children learning these instruments have regular opportunities to perform in front of an audience.

Music readily links with other subjects and can make an important contribution to the life of the school, and to the wider community, e.g., the bi-annual RAH Schools gala concerts, singing and instrumental performances, church services and Christmas and Summer productions.