Music is a huge part of our Sandhills identity. Music lessons are fun and inspiring, engaging the children with songs, lyrics and movement. We want children to express themselves and to reflect on what they are listening to: developing their own appreciation of music with the opportunities we provide as a school. We also want children to consider how music is written, structured and recorded, therefore exploring some of the technology needed to help create composers of the future and to broaden their understanding of what music is.
The children have a widely varied experience of music both in lessons, assemblies and as extra-curricular provision in our school choir and through the opportunity to learn a wide range of instruments. It is important to us that the children encounter music and musicians from a range of backgrounds, eras, cultures and countries as well as exploring the work of male and female composers. As pupils progress through the school, they develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to music.
We regularly celebrate our culture of singing and performing and have termly concerts for the children to develop their self-confidence, performance skills and ability to work together.
The children who attend the school choir also perform regularly at concerts throughout the county including The Festival of Voices and concerts at The Centre for Music.
We use the Charanga scheme of work to support children’s learning in music. The scheme contains lessons, songs, warm ups and a range of other musical activities that support every aspect of musical learning in our school. It uses visual representations to help the children to understand song structure, volume and the dynamics of music. There is a steady progression overview to ensure consistent musical development across each phase. Using Charanga as the basis of our music curriculum ensures that we are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum.