Music
At Billesdon, we teach music through the Leicestershire Music scheme. We chose this scheme because it gives children access to a wide range of musical experiences, vocabulary, types of music and technology. It teaches children to read music, initially through graphic notation, from EYFS onwards.
Music was a subject that was difficult to teach remotely during school closures and therefore, to close these inevitable gaps, we have chosen Leicestershire Music because it provides high quality training and content for teachers and teaching assistants to deliver lessons with clear objectives and progression throughout the year, and within each child’s time at our school.
It is engaging and practical in nature, making music a lesson that each child looks forward to and enjoys.
Curriculum Overview - click here
Intent
Through their work in music, children will:
- Explore Pulse, Voice, Rhythm, Pitch, Technology, Structure and Form, and 20th Century Music every year, with clear progression each time a theme is revisited over their seven years at Billesdon.
- Develop a rapidly widening repertoire of musical concepts which they then interpret into original and creative musical pieces over the course of a unit.
- An appreciation and deep awareness of different musical genres.
- Gain the ability to critique others’ performances as well as evaluate their own.
- Develop a passion for a diverse range of musical activities.
Implementation
There are six units of work for each year group: Pulse, Voice, Rhythm, Pitch, Technology, Structure and Form, and 20th Century Music. As we have mixed year groups across Key Stages 1 and 2, we use a two-year rolling programme to ensure that all children receive the correct content without gaps in their knowledge. For example, in Year A, Year 3 and 4 while follow the Year 3 programme, and in Year B, Year 3 and 4 will follow the Year 4 programme. Teachers can use the objectives of the programme one year up or down to provide differentiation as needed, whilst keeping the main content and choice of music as per the planning to ensure that content is not repeated unless it needs to be.
Impact
At the beginning of each unit, teachers record a baseline video to show what the children can do before they are taught the content, and at the end of the unit their performance is videoed to show what they can do. When these videos are compared, they show clear progression over the course of six weeks. Teachers then assess the children’s understanding according to set objectives. We can then use these assessments to build on their learning, address any misconceptions and fill any gaps in understanding.
Link to the National Curriculum for Music - click here
