Music at Maple Court Academy

Subject Leader: Mrs Khasriya

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 using the Charanga Music Scheme, which focuses on core elements of the curriculum. We are also assisted by the Stoke City Music Service which enables us to provide the children with opportunities to learn how to play different instruments.

The Subject Leader

I would like to introduce myself I am Mrs Khasriya, the music subject leader here at Maple Court Academy. I work with Mr Simon Chubb from City Music Service who provides high quality teaching who delivers weekly curriculum music lessons to pupils in Key stage 1 and 2.

Music is a universal language, and I believe it embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. I have always been passionate about music, and fortunate to have been given many opportunities to excel in the subject thanks to creative and inspiring music educators teaching me during my school years. My love and passion for all things related to music means that I have the ability to develop, motivate and inspire staff and pupils at Maple Court Academy to be the best musicians that they can possibly be.

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 whole class music lessons. Our rationale for music ensures that we provide the 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 will be the driving force behind our productions and musical events, including partaking in concerts at a local theatre and organising musical visits and lessons from outside organisations and teachers. The main priority for me as the subject leader is to ensure that the love of music that I discovered in primary school is experienced and developed and retained for all of our pupils. In addition, I hope to share with the children how music can be a positive tool to help with their wellbeing and help develop individual confidence within the academy.

The Curriculum

Music appreciation: Children 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 experiment with sounds, and improvise and compose music for a range of purposes, on their own and with others
  • Use of voice: Children learn to sing and use their voices expressively and creatively, with increasing confidence and control. We have weekly whole school singing practice and we use the SingUp programme during assemblies to collaboratively sing as a school.
  • Instrumental skills: Children learn to play different instruments for example children learn how to play the recorder in Year 2 and guitar in Year 5.
  • Use of technology: Children are taught to use technology appropriately to help develop musical ideas. They use app in Charanga such as Musical Toolkit to develop their creativity and working on composing their own music.
  • Use of voice: In music children learn how to sing in unison, round and simple harmonies

Key Stage 1 

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 2 

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.

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 5 we have guitars. 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

Music learning journey, we have whole school singing practice led by City Music Service, studying famous musicians, Christmas concerts, Summer concerts, singing in church, specialist music teaching from year 1-6, soundpots in our Early years classes and recorders in year 3, guitars in year 5. We also provide the children with the opportunity to join Song birds in Key stage 1 and the school choir in Key stage 2 led by City Music Service after school. They join in with performances with other local school in Stoke-on-Trent.

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

Assessment for learning: During music lessons at Maple Court, children are able to showcase their musical ability both independently and within a group. 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. Staff use an online assessment tool at the end of each term to make a judgement about pupils, using the terminology emerging, securing and exceeding.

Pupil voice

‘I like singing in a circle with my class’ – Year 1

‘I love going to singing assembly with Mr Chubb’ – Year 2

‘In music we are learning to play the recorder. A professional recorder player visited our class and played her electric recorder for us… It was brilliant!’ – Year 3

‘In year 5, we were learning guitar notes which made a song, and on the glockenspiel we played learnt the play a melody’ - Year 6

Pupils thrive and learn well at Maple Court Academy.

| Ofsted 2023

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