Intent

Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. In our schools, music can bring communities together through the shared endeavour of whole-school singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing. The sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of a school community, enriching each student while strengthening the shared bonds of support and trust which make a great school.

At St Benedict’s Catholic Primary, we value Music as an integral part of our student’s education and their entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Music provides the opportunity to celebrate the children’s creative achievements as well as developing a love of a wide range of music. The social, emotional, moral and cultural development that Music can bring to our lives as a school and wider community is thoroughly embraced at St Benedict’s, making a major contribution to the development of our pupils.

Music is at the heart of human creativity, forming a strong relationship with the other creative subjects in the National Curriculum. A high quality Music curriculum should encourage the listening and appreciation of a wide range of music – regardless of personal opinion – to further inspire performance, composition and improvisation as well as the formal reading of notation. As pupils progress, they will develop the ability to listen critically but with empathy to different composers as well as their peers, supporting their confidence, mental health and wellbeing. Pupils will be taught how the inter-related dimensions of Music work together to be able to perform and compose, and how the context of music gives greater depth to its meaning and cultural wealth. They will be encouraged to question, reflect and become inspired through studying the compositions of great composers from around the world. Through their Musical experiences of listening, composing and performing, the children will develop a greater understanding of all aspects of Music, being encouraged to take pride in their own achievements and those of their peers. By studying select pieces of music from a wide range of eras, cultures and purposes, children will be helped to understand that there is no ‘right answer’ when interpreting a composition and that Music is a natural and very creative response to the world around us.

Implementation

Our Music curriculum follows the CUSP programme of study which, in turn, aligns
with the key principles of the Model Music Curriculum (non-statutory guidance for
teaching music provided by the DfE in March 2021). Pupils will be taught to listen critically and factually, as well as being given the opportunity to experiment with
performance and composition. As the children progress through school, pupils will be
introduced to formal notation to support their performance and composition, and to
begin the transition to Music lessons at Secondary School. Pupils will be given the
opportunity to develop the inter-related dimensions of music throughout the Key
Stages.

The National Curriculum stipulates that all children should have access to high-
quality music curriculum. Key aspect of study that are explicitly referenced in the
National Curriculum for Music include:

• listening and appraising
•  singing
• playing tuned and untuned instruments
• reading musical notation
• performance
• composition and improvisation
• music production
• knowledge about the history of music from a range of cultures and traditions.

These are all carefully represented in the CUSP Music curriculum.

St Benedict’s music curriculum has a strong emphasis on the vocabulary the children
need to explore their own musicality and to talk confidently about the music of
others. Vocabulary is taught explicitly at the start of each lesson and is revisited
throughout the topic. Clear structures and learning routines underpin each lesson
which allows pupils to direct their cognitive attention to the core content in each
block.

Each block focuses on a particular musical skill, as outlines below. During the
lessons, the children will focus on a particular composer or composition to develop
their knowledge, listen to a wide range of music that will inspire them and connect
them to the world around them. Opportunities to sing, play both tuned and untuned
instruments, listen, appraise, compose, improvise and perform are offered through a
curriculum that is built cumulatively over time to ensure that pupils develop a good
knowledge of music.

Knowledge notes are used to support the teaching of new concepts and are shared
with the children throughout each teaching block. Assessment of Music is formative
and based on pupil outcomes from each lesson. The following can be used to
assess pupils’ knowledge and understanding of music and musical skills:

• Expectations of what pupils will know and be able to do are included on the
  front page of each block.
• Pupils should know and remember the key language that is delivered
  cumulatively throughout the curriculum.
• Questions for assessment are provided for each block.
• Children with SEND are included in every lesson and musical opportunity. Teachers
  carefully consider the requirements of pupils with SEND to ensure that they can
  access all musical opportunities at their level.