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“Music is learning to listen to and create different sounds using our voices and instruments”

 

At Boldmere, we want our children to have every opportunity to explore their musical creativity and gain personal enjoyment from it.

Intent

Some of our children come to school having had a variety of musical experiences, others have had limited opportunities to explore music. We aim to provide a wealth of music opportunities for all our children through our curriculum and enrichment activities. At Boldmere, we want our children to have every opportunity to explore their musical creativity and gain personal enjoyment from it. We believe that when children explore their creative abilities it can have an enormous impact on their self-esteem and confidence. We believe that music should be part of our everyday practice, through assemblies, playtimes, lessons, routines, extracurricular activities and discrete music sessions. Therefore, the design of our music curriculum provides our children with visual, tactile and sensory experiences that develop a way of understanding and responding to the world around them. Throughout the EYFS and KS1 we hope to engage and inspire our children to develop a life-long appreciation and love of music which they can continue to build upon in KS2.

 

 

Implementation

We follow the national curriculum as a core and use the commercial scheme Charanga for music as part of our own school curriculum. We chose to use Charanga as it provides consistency in the EYFS and KS1 by building upon and revisiting key skills and there is a consistent and smooth transition into the KS2 curriculum. The scheme provides progression and retrieval opportunities, allowing the children to recall prior learning and apply this to new learning situations. Charanga also builds teachers subject knowledge and our teachers feel confident using the scheme. The scheme is also very much enjoyed by our children. The lessons present musical skills in a fun and engaging way and the familiar activities/lesson structures support our SEND learners to focus in on the learning. Alongside this scheme, we use a range of songs from the ‘can you sing it?’ programme by Ex Cathedra. We also use other relevant songs across other curriculum areas such as: continents and oceans song, counting songs, social songs and rhymes, these opportunities allow our children to listen to and engage in music daily. Our school prides itself on providing a range of enrichment and extra-curricular activities, such as violin tuition, workshops, themed days, trips, performances and working in collaboration with other artists. These experiences enable all children to appreciate music, explore their own musical sound and demonstrate their growing creativity.

 

 

What does music look like at Boldmere Infant & Nursery School?

 

Weekly Music Lessons

We use Charanga to support the teaching of our weekly music lessons throughout EYFS and KS1. The units of work enable children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept (such as tempo) through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.

All learning within the Charanga scheme is built around the Interrelated Dimensions of Music, at KS1 these being: pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, structure and notation. These dimensions are at the centre of all the learning throughout EYFS and KS1.

At the end of KS1, children reflect on their previous learning and from this reflection can identify their next steps for future learning in KS2.

 

Take a look at some of our Charanga sessions in action!

EYFS
      

 

          

 

 

KS1 Singing Sessions

Weekly KS1 singing sessions focus on how to use our voices correctly and using this knowledge to learn a range of different songs.

 

 

Performances

Throughout the year all children have opportunities to perform in groups and in front of audiences. This in includes: Christmas, end of year and church performances.

               

 

Enrichment opportunities

Throughout the year we offer a range of enrichment opportunities to enhance our curriculum and provide all children with a variety of musical experiences.

Take a look at what we have been up to!

 

Music Mark Award

 

Useful resources

BBC Nursery Rhymes and Songs (EYFS – Nursery & Reception) - This website has some of the best-known traditional nursery rhymes which links very closely to your child’s development. The rhymes and songs are sung by the BBC children’s TV presenters using music that your children will love.

 

BBC Bring the Noise – Home Learning (EYFS & KS1) - Bring the noise have produced some simple ideas which will help keep your little ones occupied while encouraging them to explore and learn about music.

 

Out of the Ark Music – Assembly Songs (EYFS & KS1) - Out of the Ark Music are releasing seven songs, one for each day, all with challenges and activities related to a range of songs. Your child will know some of these songs as we use them in our singing lessons and assemblies.

 

BBC Primary Music – Video Resources (KS1) - Primary Music takes a cross-curricular approach by exploring lots of different KS1 topics through music. There are opportunities for your child to sing, take part in music activities, appraise music and compose their own music. 

 

BBC Physical Education - Music (KS1)  - Dances for each of the four elements (Earth, fire, air & water). These dances have been choreographed to different pieces of classical music including.

 

The Beat Goes On – Learning body percussion (KS1) -  is a collection of body percussion videos. The founder of this company, Ollie Tunmer (a former cast member of the hit show STOMP) will be streaming a live body percussion workshop every day at 11am on his YouTube channel. No instruments required!