Intent
It is our intention at Melton to deliver a wide range of opportunities for all children to engage with music from teaching in class to extra-curricular activities. We aim to give all our pupil’s a chance to find a love of music at Melton and to encourage them all to carry on with their passion for music beyond their time at primary school. We hope for every pupil to develop their knowledge and skills in all areas of Music. These skills include listening and appraising a range of quality music, singing as ensembles and learning to play instruments. Through Music, we aim to deliver our Intent by:
- Teaching the skills of Music using the Melton Way; courage, perseverance, responsibility and reflection.
- Encouraging pupils to use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
- Playing tuned and un-tuned instruments musically
- Listening carefully to a range of high-quality live and recorded music from a variety of different traditions and from great composers
- Providing time to experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music
- Developing an understanding of musical composition
- Giving children the skills and vocabulary to evaluate music
- Playing and performing in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
- Encouraging pupils to improvise and compose music for a range of purposes
- Listening with attention to identify and describe certain aspects of a piece of music
- Developing an understanding of musical notations and how to follow someone else’s actions when performing as well as giving actions to others.
At Melton, we have carefully planned our curriculum for our children. There is a clear progression of skills on every long-term plan for each year group.
Implementation
Music planning is taken from Charanga across the school to focus on different musical styles and skill areas. Staff can follow ready-made lessons or ‘freestyle’ using the library of resources, in order to create a unique and personalised sequence of lessons. Throughout the year, all pupils will have the opportunity to develop the skills in the following areas; Listening and appraising, singing, playing instruments, improvisation, composition and performing.
In Key Stage 2, all children can learn an instrument through peripatetic music lessons with an experienced music tutor. In Year 5, all children are currently learning to play the percussion instruments and lessons are delivered by an experienced external tutor. In Year 4, all children will be learning to play the recorder.
At Melton, we believe it is important to offer every child the chance to attend an extra-curricular music club to enhance their playing and performance skills. We encourage children to work towards a specific performance such as singing at a retirement home, playing at church services, performing in whole school assemblies or at concerts with other local schools such as Farlingaye.
Impact
There are many ways we can demonstrate the fantastic music curriculum at Melton. Below are a few highlights:
- Our choir will be attending the Young Voices concert at the O2 in January 2023 and will experience singing alongside 5000-8000 other children.
- All children have performed a song or piece of poetry at the Harvest Festival church service, prepared as part of the in-class music teaching.
- Early Years and KS1 will perform a range of songs as part of their school nativity.
- All year groups will perform a song at the Christmas Church Service, and some will include musical instruments.
- All KS2 classes will perform songs as part of their school plays.
- There are several interschool and outer school events planned to provide opportunities for children to perform both in singing and instrumentally.
- Our Year 5 children attended the Celebration event at Snape Maltings, performing a Greatest Showman song and dance medley to a large audience.
