Maple Messenger – Winter Edition 2024
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Music at Maple Court Academy
Subject Leader: Mrs Hof
Intent
At Maple Court Academy, we believe Music allows children to develop artistic, creative and performance skills and these are taught both in use of the voice and instruments, individually and in ensembles.
The opportunities given to children here at Maple Court Academy will enable children to develop their self-confidence, personal achievements, collaborative skills and self-reflections. Our aspiration is that children will leave our school with a range of musical knowledge and skills that will enable them to enjoy music in whichever capacity they choose – as a listener, creator or performer.
Music is taught weekly for all children. Children develop musical knowledge and skills in half termly units of work which focuses on skills and core knowledge of reading, writing, listening and performing music through a variety of different genres and countries.
The Subject Leader
I would like to introduce myself I am Mrs Hof, the music subject leader here at Maple Court Academy. I am a woodwind specialist and have studied music from when I was in year 5 at primary school. I continued my musical journey throughout school and into university in which I achieved a BA hons in Music and English. I then went on to Huddersfield university and completed my teaching degree in secondary education with music. I have been the head of department of music at a secondary school for 13 years before coming to Maple Court.
Music is at the heart of all that we do at Maple Court and our children all enjoy music whether it be during an assembly or our music lessons. Our rationale for music ensures that we provide all children with opportunities to sing and play a variety of instruments. We recognise the value of music in developing the whole pupil as well as the value of improving the cognitive ability of our children. For a long time, music has been perceived to be an effective tool for developing pupil confidence, listening skills, language acquisition and improving attention span, and this is something we value at Maple Court.
Within the academy, I am the driving force behind our music productions, concerts, musical trips and singing assemblies. The main priority for me as the subject leader is to ensure that all children are given the opportunity to learn an instrument/sing and to develop their musicianship skills to become confident and resilient learners in music.
The Curriculum
There are three main areas in which all the lessons across Maple Court will underpin everything that we learn. These are:
Music appreciation:
Children will listen to and discuss a wide variety of music from different genres, helping them develop their musical vocabulary and their understanding of music history, as well as their general ability to review, discuss and debate.
Composition:
- Children will experiment with sounds, and improvise and compose music for a range of purposes, on their own and with others
- Children are taught to use music technology appropriately to help develop musical ideas. They use apps such as Soundtrap and Mixcraft to develop their creativity and working on composing their own music.
Performance:
- Children will learn to sing and use their voices expressively and creatively in unison, solo, rounds and simple harmonies, with increasing confidence and control. We have weekly whole school singing practice and we use the SingUp and Sparkyard programme during assemblies to collaboratively sing as a school.
- Children will learn to play different instruments and work on end of topic performances as solos and/or ensembles. Children will then develop their skills on these instruments by revisiting them in other year groups and then develop these skills to lead up to the next instrument. For example in year 2 children will learn the ocarina which these skills will then lead them onto recorder in year 3.
Key Stage 1Â
Pupils should be taught to:
- use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
- play tuned and un-tuned instruments musically
- listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
- experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Key Stage 2Â
Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
Pupils should be taught to:
- play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
- improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
- use and understand staff and other musical notations
- appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
- develop an understanding of the history of music.
EYFS
In EYFS, the children participate in weekly Soundpots sessions which is a programme of creative music making for young children. Where appropriate, the Soundpots sessions are linked to our topics being explored within the classroom and allow the children to further explore traditions around the world through music and dance. With a mixture of adult and child led activities, musical skills will be nurtured in all children. There will be a focus on developing the understanding of rhythm, pulse, pitch, listening and playing together. The sessions provide many opportunities for interaction, creative play, listening and focusing attention, awareness of rhythm and rhyme and developing self-confidence. All of these skills are vital in supporting a child with their communication and language development. By the end of EYFS, the children will have;
- Developed a repertoire of songs
- Be able to develop their own movements to match a piece of music
- Be able to use a range of resources (scarves, scrunchies, lycra, instruments etc.) to match the rhythm of a piece of music
Musical Resources
The school has a variety of tuned and un-tuned instruments. Children can individually and collaboratively compose pieces of music using a range of percussion instruments such as tambourines and drums. We use the website Sing Up to learn songs linked to our topics. This allows the children to deepen their knowledge learnt in their history and geography lessons. In year 3, we have a full set of recorders to use during their music lessons and in Year 4 we have a full class Samba kit. We have an accessible piano used during our whole school assemblies and singing practice. To enhance our school performances and celebrations, the hall is equipped with a high-quality sound system and microphones.
Music at Maple Court outside the classroom.
Outside of the classroom we have whole school singing practice led by myself weekly for KS1 and KS2. We learn songs and take part in church services throughout the year, Christmas concerts and Christmas productions/nativities, Summer concerts, and whole school assemblies. We have a singing group for KS1 and KS2 in which they perform to the local community throughout the year as well as performing in concerts representing Maple Court alongside other Primary schools. As we develop music and musical instruments at Maple we will continue to increase clubs and offer these to pupils to develop their musical skills outside of the classroom.
Assessment for learning:
During music lessons at Maple Court, children are able to showcase their musical ability both independently and within ensembles. Teachers provide children with verbal feedback when they have completed a performance to enhance their future progress through observations in lessons. Children also assess their peers as they progress throughout the school, using their prior knowledge of musical vocabulary. Pupils in key stage two are encouraged to assess their own performances to understand how they can improve their own work. Performances are recorded and kept as a record to show how their skills have developed throughout the year.
