Music at The Pines

I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.

Billy Joel

Vision and Intent

Music is often an integral part of a person’s day to day life. As such, we aim to provide a music curriculum that encourages a love of music and enables children to develop their confidence as musicians, both in the classroom and beyond. 

We aim to:

• Provide children with the opportunity to explore a variety of musical styles, traditions, genres and composers.

• Increase children's confidence as performers, through singing and playing instruments.

• Encourage children to listen and appraise a variety of music.

Our Curriculum Drivers are reflected through our Music curriculum as it:

Enables children to explore THEIR PLACE IN THEIR WORLD by listening to music from a range of cultures and time periods, and by embracing and celebrating diversity.

Enriches children's LANGUAGE AND ORACY by introducing them to new subject-specific vocabulary and encouraging them to express their views and opinions on both their own compositions, and that of other musicians and composers. 

Helps children to develop their LEARNING SKILLS, such as resilience and collaboration, when working on their musical compositions. 

Recognises the positive effect that music can have on individuals and the part it can play in maintaining the HEALTHY BODY AND HEALTHY MIND of pupils at The Pines. 

Implementation:

At The Pines, Music is taught through the use of Charanga, a scheme which promotes frequent revisiting of musical skills and knowledge. Each unit is centred around a focus song, with children given the opportunity to listen and appraise the music, before completing other musical activities linked to it. Alongside Charanga, each year group has a list of composers and musicians to study to ensure that children are exposed to music from a range of musical periods and cultures. Music lessons are organised in a way that best suits the needs of individual year groups. In some cases, music is taught weekly, whereas in others, music teaching is blocked, to enable focused learning over a longer time period. Music is an important part of life at The Pines and pupils at our school are provided with a range of musical experiences. Children participate in weekly singing assemblies, led by school staff, and there are always opportunities to be part of a choir, whether it be for Christmas Carol Concerts at the Bracknell Leisure Centre, or for the Young Voices Concert at the O2 in London. Some children also participate in Rock Steady sessions, where they get to play instruments, or sing, as part of a band. 

Key Documents

Impact

The impact of our Music curriculum is evidenced through the enthusiasm that our pupils demonstrate towards the subject. Children at The Pines respect and appreciate a wide range of musical styles from around the world. During the time at The Pines, they are introduced to a variety of composers from different countries, cultures and time periods. As a result, they have a sound understanding of how music is influenced by the wider social, cultural and historical contexts in which is it developed. Throughout their time at The Pines, pupils have many opportunities to express themselves musically and develop their confidence at performing, whether it be as part of a choir, or through taking part in Rock Steady classes. 

Assessment of the subject takes on a variety of forms. One important aspect is pupil voice, where children are able to express their opinions about the Music and talk about how confident they feel, with regard to the skills and knowledge relevant to their year group. Teachers will also assess a child's confidence through their own observations during lessons. Where children begin to use graphic scores and musical notation, these will also be looked at to help inform assessment. Recordings of pupils singing and performing on instruments is another method of assessment which is used to help teachers identify a child's confidence in Music.