"Without music life would be a mistake"
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“Music can change the world because it can change people.”
- Bono
Why Music is Important
Making music in the early and primary years increases listening and concentration skills, and enhances a child’s ability to discriminate between sounds. This improves phonetic awareness and helps to develop language and literacy skills.
There is a positive impact on spatial reasoning, which is linked to mathematical thinking and on physical co-ordination, which supports handwriting skills. Music-making in small groups promotes teamwork and the development of leadership skills, as well as being hugely enjoyable. Pupils’ confidence can be enhanced if they have opportunities to perform. Music-making has social and emotional benefits, helping children to improve their mood and relieve stress.
National Curriculum Purpose of Study
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.
What Music Looks Like at Ranworth Primary School
All year groups follow the Charanga scheme of work, except for year four who learn the ukulele with a trained music teacher from Resonate Music Hub. At the end of the year the children perform for the school and their parents.
Weekly singing assemblies allow all children to practise and perform a range of songs. All children learn and perform songs for Christmas performances. Vocabulary will be explicitly taught at the beginning of every lesson.
To facilitate children to know more and remember more key concepts run through the whole of our curriculum and opportunities to revisit previous learning are planned into every lesson.
Inclusion
All music lessons/activities are designed and planned to include all children through a range of approaches. Lessons are planned to facilitate the best possible outcome for all children within the class.
Concepts Running Through Music
- Listen and Appraise – genres, styles, pulse, beat, rhythm, recognising instruments and discussion around the dimensions of music.
- Musical Activities - games around singing, playing, improvising and composing.
- Performing – solo/ensemble performances for an audience and respectful discussion on how to improve each other’s work.