Music & Performing Arts
Intent
Music involves creativity, sensitivity and collaboration, but it also engages cognitive processes linked to mathematical understanding and problem-solving. Music requires focus and dedication but can also bring great joy. Our intent is to give every child the opportunity to begin a lifelong musical journey at Jubilee Wood.
Our music curriculum has been carefully developed to build up from the basics, to allow children to learn to play a range of musical instruments and sing with confidence. It incorporates music from different times and places, giving a sense of inclusivity while opening a wide world of possibilities.
Implementation
The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils
- Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
- Be taught to sing, create and compose music
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.
Early Years
In early years, children learn to sing songs with actions and to recognise and repeat rhythms. They are introduced to musical ideas such as faster and slower, louder and softer and play percussion instruments.
Key Stage One
In Key Stage One, class teachers teach weekly lessons from Music Express. Children learn basic ideas of music through singing songs with actions, developing percussion accompaniments and composing their own simple pieces. They listen and respond to well known orchestral pieces, and music from around the world and begin to learn about music notation. In the summer term, both Year One and Year Two begin learning to play the recorder.
Key Stage Two
In Key Stage Two our specialist music teacher, Mr Webb, teaches all classes every week. The children develop their understanding of music elements and notation, exploring a wide range of musical styles with a lot of songs and games. They learn to write songs and compose pieces with different structures, using instruments in most lessons. Children continue to learn recorder in each year group, as well as ukulele, guitar and keyboard across the key stage.
Singing
At Jubilee Wood we love to sing! Songs are used in lessons to help children learn, and weekly singing assemblies are held in Key Stage One and upper and lower Key Stage Two and include warm ups and games, a wide repertoire of songs, partner songs and rounds and links to the curriculum. Our choir after school club is very well attended and we take part in the wonderful Young Voices every year, sending our choir to sing in a concert with around 5,000 other children. We also take part in community events and the Milton Keynes Music Singing Festival, as well as our end of year choir concert.
Musical Instrument Lessons
At Jubilee Wood we have an increasing number of children who choose to take lessons on violin or guitar with a specialist music teacher. These children attend weekly lessons and work towards performances and assessments for grades.
Performance
All children at Jubilee Wood have regular opportunities to perform to parents. Each class performs a ‘Class Assembly’ once per year, where they show what they have been learning. These performances always include a song with actions and often showcase what the children have been learning in their music lessons.
The children in Key Stage One perform their musical nativity each year. Year Two children take on speaking and acting roles, with some small group and solo singing, and Year One provide the choir with actions for the songs.
In Key Stage Two, the Autumn Term performance is a poetry recital, where each class makes their poem come alive with voice and actions. The school choir perform at the poetry recital too.
At the end of the year, Year Six put on a wonderful musical with costumes, acting and singing, which involves all the pupils in the year group.
Impact
Pupils at Jubilee Wood
- Enjoy and have enthusiasm for listening to and playing music
- Can express their creativity through music
- Can sing confidently and with increasing skill as they move through the school
- Can talk about music using an effective music vocabulary and recognise elements of music
- Are familiar with different genres and styles of music and can talk about well know pieces
- Can compose their own music with different structures
- Can follow simple staff notation by the end of Key Stage Two
- Can play more than one musical instrument by the end of Key Stage Two
- Are excited to take their learning in music further.
Any parents interested in their child learning an instrument in a small group setting should contact the school office for further details.
