Music

Music makes a major contribution to the education of our children here in West Boldon Primary. It helps our pupils develop their understanding, make musical judgements, apply their new learning, develop their aural memory, express themselves physically, emotionally and through discussion and create their own musical ideas. Furthermore, Music instils in our pupils an ability to use music to help maintain emotional and social well-being and celebrate culture and community in ways which involve entertaining or understanding themselves and making sense of the world around them. Music is a highly creative subject where children develop their own musical ideas. Creativity in music is encouraged through children’s improvisations and compositions when singing and playing instruments. They make connections between ‘new’ and ‘old’ learning, solve problems, and think critically to develop and improve their ideas.Primary schools play an important role in fostering pupils’ interest in music, therefore; it is on this foundation that broader opportunities in music, including those delivered by external music teachers, rest. Therefore, high-quality music education, as part of the school curriculum, is so vital. Furthermore, The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that children in reception classes, are provided with opportunities to explore music, using a variety of songs and musical instruments, and to match movements to music.

At West Boldon Primary we will build the children’s knowledge and skills in music to enable them to take part in performances and appreciate different aspects of the music they hear as they get older. We will encourage them to form opinions about their tastes in music, alongside an awareness of different styles and traditions from different times and places. Children will have the opportunity to foster their instrumental flare and use this as a form of expression. Not all the children in our community have not had the opportunity to handle and play different instruments. They also have not had the opportunity to see live performances and show an appreciation for the arts. By learning music at West Boldon, our pupils will have the opportunity to sing and play a range of instruments, as well as learn how to create ensembles that are performed to others. They will develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to begin to compose and listen with discrimination to a range of musical genres and artists.

Organisation of Music at West Boldon Primary

Music is taught by Class Teachers / Higher Level Teaching Assistants and all classes are taught Music throughout the year.

In Early Years Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2, Music is taught through the Dimensions curriculum topics.

The teaching of these topics has been organised so that sufficient time is given to the teaching of Music to ensure the programmes of study are covered and pupils can make real progress.

Year 3 children practising their drumming

Scheme of Work

Here at West Boldon Primary we follow Dimensions: Learning Means the World Curriculum to plan and weave our music lessons throughout current learning themes.

Our children are introduced to music and music skills through the topical teaching of instrumentation, notation, cultural understanding, musical vocabulary, and elements and singing. Building upon these fundamentals throughout our topics and across all key stages allows us to develop a detailed picture of how important music is to our learning.

The planning for children in across Early Years and both key stages covers all aspects of music teaching and learning, from listening and appraising through to composing and performing and practical activities are introduced in a fun way.

What our pupils say…

(Click to enlarge)