Music
Vision
Music is fully embedded in every aspect of school life, and our aspiration is that every child adopts a lifelong love for it. We give children the opportunity to become real musicians, with some former pupils winning music scholarships to deepen the foundational education they learnt at Evendons, and pursue their musical talents further.
We want our pupils to have no limits to their ambitions and grow up aspiring to be music producers, songwriters, composers or rockstars!
Intent
We offer children an engaging and fun music curriculum reflecting the world they live in, coupled with access to different musical styles throughout history.
Children are able to listen and appraise a variety of musical styles alongside performing pieces and creating their own compositions through the use of instruments and technology. To achieve this, all children access a variety of musical games, songs, instruments, music workshops, and extra-curricular activities giving them practical hands on experience.
We help children to grow in confidence as they progress through the musical curriculum and become passionate in their responses to music. Added to this, we want children to become more independent learners within this area, reflect upon their learning and develop resilience within the musical world. We work to:
- encourage awareness, enjoyment and appreciation of music in all its forms
- develop imagination and creativity
- help children of all abilities develop positive attitudes and to experience success and satisfaction in music
- offer opportunities to sing, play instruments, compose, listen and appraise.
Gifted and talented musical pupils are recognised quickly and they are encouraged to build on their skills.
Development of specific skills
Singing skills: A singing culture is established and nurtured within the school. Children and adults in the school are encouraged to sing whenever appropriate to aid well-being as well as musical outcomes.
Instrumental skills: Children are taught to sing a wide ranging variety of songs and to use their voices expressively. They have the opportunity to play both tuned and un-tuned instruments with increasing control, rehearse and perform with others, with an awareness of audience.
Composing skills: Children create musical patterns and are shown how to explore, select and organise musical ideas, recording these in a variety of ways (e.g. pictorial score, by means of a digital recorder, tape recorder or video or using notation).
Appraising skills: Children are given the opportunity to explore and explain their own ideas and feelings about music, dance, expressive language and musical vocabulary. They analyse and compare sounds and become confident at suggesting improvements for their own work and that of others.
Listening, and applying knowledge and understanding: Children should be able to listen with concentration, internalise and recall sounds with increasing auditory memory (the ability to remember sounds and the information they convey.) Pupils develop a growing awareness of the interrelated dimensions of music, they will learn that time and place can influence the way music is created, performed and heard, that music is produced in different ways and is described through invented and standard notations, which will be applied appropriately throughout their musical journey in school.
We build on the musical horizons of each child and we strongly believe that children should be given the opportunity to share their musical skills at different events both in and outside school. It is our aim that each child becomes a confident performer, however we take each child at their own speed and we support children who are less confident and encourage them to flourish. We believe music lessons are lively and interactive that aim to foster a passion for music in children of all abilities.
Implementation
Each year group is taught how to play one instrument in particular during their weekly music lessons.
- Reception: voice and listening skills
- Year 1: ukulele
- Year 2: recorders
- Year 3: guitar
- Year 4: xylophones
- Year 5: djembe drums
- Year 6: keyboard and working towards musical production
Lessons are designed to be progressive and build on prior learning, and our lesson plans include ideas for support for the less able as well as opportunities to challenge the more able. Interactive whiteboard resources with audio support are used to support the lesson, and homework activities are given to children to encourage them to continue learning outside the classroom. The choice of vocabulary ensures exposure to all the key musical language.
In Year 6, the children will perform a musical play, bring all musical and performance skills together. All children are given the opportunity to perform at Christmas and we encourage all children to enter 'Evendons Got Talent' in the spring term to pronote their confidence and showcase their individual talents. The School Choir also performs regularly through out the year, as you can see in the picture above.
Music and Movement
All pupils have ‘music and movement’ sessions three times a week. We believe that dance is an important strategy in developing children’s cooperation, coordination and focusing skills. Children learn all types of dances from difference genres and cultures, building on their cultural capital and knowledge of the world. The dances increase in complexity as they move up the school to Year 6.
We dance as a school all together every Friday to build our connection as a community. Our Year 6 children lead dances on occasion to help teach the younger children. We have also created a play list on Spotify called ‘Evendons School Classics’ so that parents can support children in continuing dancing at home.
Impact
Our children leave as confident musicians, mostly working at or above their expected level for music.
- Our music curriculum encourages children to continue to learn musical instruments- 30% of Evendons children are learning an additional instrument outside of the school curriculum.
- 65 children attend the school choir every week
- Year 6 children wanted to run their own lunchtime dance club, based on the music and movement session
- Four pupils were chosen to have solo for the WAMSA concert at the Hexagon March 2023
- Two pupils are currently auditioning for West End musicals
- Children bring the love of music home and teach their parents songs and dances, as per parent survey 2022
- Parents attending music assemblies say how confident their children have become as performers. ‘It has been incredible to see the class build their confidence as performers’
- Evendons children have a love of music - ‘ One of the best things about our school is that we get to take home instruments’ pupil voice Feb 2023.
- All children are able to access music lessons including SEN and Disadvantaged children.
- All children able to play a musical instrument with precision and control with musicality by the time they leave
- All children can compose music based on a theme, they know how to create an effective exciting musical composition.
- Evendons Children can read crotchets and quavers and notes on the treble clef by the time they leave
- Evendons Got talent – 75% of children entered 2023- in Year 1 98% children entered.
- Children continue on their musical journey when leaving Evendons. Two children have applied for music scholarships
Music
