Music

Music Curriculum
Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At Montem Academy, we are committed to providing a curriculum which is broad and balanced, and provides our pupils with opportunities to gain essential knowledge, skills and understanding which will enable them to flourish and reach their full potential academically, physically and artistically.

Our intention is to provide our pupils with the opportunities to develop an appreciation of different forms of music and to be able to discuss, express and evaluate the impact music has on them.

We aim is to ensure that pupils who are musically gifted or have  a passion for music are provided with opportunities to develop their abilities and skills; and are provided with a range of platforms on which they can showcase their talents.

Implementation

Music is highly valued at Montem Academy, as we ensure that all of our KS1 & KS2 pupils are continuously exposed to quality first teaching. 

• Our approach is to provide all pupils with the opportunity to excel and express themselves musically by delivering an extensive programme of high quality music provisions.
• Our wide and expansive range of musical instruments and equipment allows pupils to experience well-resourced music lessons following the national curriculum, whole class instrumental lessons and after school choir and instrumental clubs.
• We also recognise talent, and offer 1:1 tuition to gifted and talented pupils.

Each Key Stage within the school focuses on age appropriate skills and uses a range of strategies and interventions to support the pupils.
We maintain a core focus on rhythm, patterns and structure throughout the KS1 and KS2 syllabi, with different age-appropriate focal points alongside this to build a wider understanding of fundamental musical concepts, as described in the National Curriculum, including:

• Pitch
• Duration
• Music Notation
• Performance
• Musical features
• Composition

Concepts are explored, recapped and consolidated not only from lesson-to-lesson, but also from year-to-year; we ensure that learning is continuous. In addition to this, we also inject project work, where we might study a particular artist, genre or cross-curricular theme. For example:

• The Planets, Gustav Holst
• Space Clusters (a composition exercise based on a “space” theme)
• Samba
• Orchestras
• Animals
• We’re Going On A Bear Hunt
• Water Music

In Key Stage 1 the children are introduced to sound, duration, pitch, beat and rhythm, instruments and symbols, singing together, and timbre, tempo and dynamics throughout the year.

In Key Stage 2 the children learn and embed their knowledge on pitch, scales, rhythmic patterns and layers, pentatonic scales, melodies, ostinatos, cyclic patters, the leitmotif, rounds, body percussion, triple time, music notation, temp, performing together, painting with sounds, lyrics, melody, structure of songs and musical processes
 

Impact
Throughout every session, children are formatively assessed using some of the following techniques:

• Group questioning
• Individual questioning
• Asking a child to explain a concept back
• Asking a child to assist a peer
• Observations
• Group tasks
• Performance 

We carefully monitor each child to identify any gaps in knowledge, to assess against the learning objective, and to assess whether certain pupils need additional support to understand the basics, or if they need support in accessing further learning for gifted and talented. We also use this information to evaluate whether our lessons are pitched to the right level, and adjust tasks and differentiate accordingly to help students maximise their potential.
 
On identifying children who find music a little more challenging, we aim to give them 1:1 or small group focus in the first instance but, where this is not possible, might pair them with a HA/G&T student for peer-to-peer coaching.
 
Throughout the entire process we nurture a safe environment (both physically and emotionally) where it is okay to make mistakes, ask questions and try new things