St Cyprians Greek Orthodox Primary Academy – Music Curriculum Intent

Intent

At St Cyprians, our intent is for pupils to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners. We aim to foster a lifelong enjoyment of music (whether in performance or simply listening) and view music as an essential medium through which children are able to express themselves creatively, building imagination and self-confidence. Our 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 key skills of singing; playing tuned and untuned instruments; improvising and composing and listening and responding to music. They will develop an understanding of the history and cultural context of the music they listen to and learn how music can be written down. Our curriculum also helps children develop transferrable skills such as team-work, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving and decision making. There are also many opportunities for children to perform, including choir trips, Nativity shows, end of year concerts and Rocksteady performances showcasing what the children have learned with our visiting tutors.

We want every child to feel that they are musical and have confidence to perform publicly. These skills are vital to their development as learners and have a wider application in their general lives outside and beyond school.

Implementation

Each class is taught a weekly music session by a music specialist in a well-equipped music room with a range of tuned and untuned percussion and keyboards. The school has a unique music curriculum which builds on and adds depth to topics learned in the classroom as well as offering discrete music lessons focusing on musical theory, physical coordination and creating music using ICT.

Children are taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments with control. They learn to recognise and name the inter-related dimensions of music: pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, texture and dynamics. They then develop these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.

All children are given instrument lessons; in years two and three, pupils learn to play the descant recorder, developing their ability to manipulate an instrument to make musical sounds, as well as developing their music reading skills and working together as an ensemble. In years four to six, pupils learn to play the keyboard, reading chord symbols and melody lines from notation, as well as learning correct finger positionings.

Pupils also take part in whole-school singing assemblies, where they learn a range of uplifting songs drawn from musical theatre, contemporary and historical popular music and gospel.

Impact- Our expectations

• Pupils will be able to perform in front of an audience with raised confidence and skill
• Children will have enhanced singing skills; harmonies and rounds etc
• Children will be able to read musical notation with confidence, identifying note values and rests using the Kodali method.
• Children will develop a broad and eclectic repertoire of songs and music drawn from a variety of artists in popular, classical and world folk traditions
• Children will leave school knowing the six elements of music