Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.

Music at Stanton-in-Peak Primary School

At Stanton-in-Peak Primary School we believe that music is a vital part of the curriculum from EYFS to year 6. It not only provides an important outlet for creativity but also helps and improves listening skills, concentration, self-confidence, cooperation and sensitivity towards others. We aim to make music an inspiring and enjoyable learning experience which develops the children’s musical skills as well as providing them with wider opportunities.

All children participate in a variety of musical experiences designed to develop a life-long love of music and its many benefits. Our teaching focuses on the development of core skills which the children will build on throughout their time with us. We also aim to encourage a positive attitude and to appreciate different forms of music across different time periods, cultures and traditions. This supports children to understand the cultural capital of being open minded in their listening as well as knowledgeable about a breadth of musical genres in the world today. The children learn to appreciate how music supports other areas of the curriculum such as dance and drama. Our children develop descriptive language skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent different feelings, emotions and narratives. We aim for children to leave our school with a positive attitude towards music, a strong range of skills and to be fully equipped to continue their musical journey.

Implementation

The teaching of music at Stanton is multi-faceted, ensuring children are given ample opportunity to sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate, and that the skills and knowledge they develop in each of these areas is built on every year. The ways in which we teach music are as follows:

Wider opportunities – For a term in lower and upper KS2, children receive instruction in playing an instrument and reading musical notation, culminating in a performance to parents. As part of these lessons, children also explore composition on the instrument they are learning.

Performances – EYFS and KS1 children deliver a Christmas performance annually and KS2 children put on a performance in the summer term. Additionally, children sing in front of their parents in church at several services throughout the year.

Assemblies – Every Tuesday, children practise singing together during our singing assembly. In many assemblies, children hear music from musical styles and their understanding of the history of music.

Choir - We have a school choir where children have the opportunity to sing in a group and learn a variety of other skills.

Class lessons – Children participate in weekly lessons which follow the Charanga model music curriculum Continuous provision – Children in Reception have access to musical instruments as part of their continuous provision and are encouraged to explore these. Instrument lessons – We invite peripatetic teachers into school to teach children different instruments including violin and guitar.

Music progression photos at Stanton-in-Peak C of E Primary School

This term our juniors will be learning the ukulele. They will explore rhythm, pitch and notation before rehearsing for a performance!

Junior cornet performance