Intent

Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for individual expression and it can play an important part in the personal development of pupils. At St Anselm’s, our aim is to ensure that Music is fully embedded in every aspect of school life and our aspiration is that every child adopts a lifelong love of music. It is our intent that the children should perform, listen to, review and evaluate music; be taught how to sing; create and compose music and understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can be a highly academic and demanding subject.  We believe that a music education not only allows children to develop their musical skills, but it also has a positive impact on other areas of the curriculum, particularly maths, reading, speaking, writing, science and history. Music also works co-operatively alongside the other subjects within the creative arts. Music education can lead to better brain development, increases in human connection, and even stress relief. It also provides pupils with opportunities to develop personal skills of Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication.

Implementation

At Anselm’s School, we use the ‘Charanga Music’ scheme of work. ‘Charanga’ is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based approach to support children’s learning in music. A steady progression plan has been built into ‘Charanga’, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. By using ‘Charanga’ as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that they are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum: ‘Charanga’ includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places. These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre.

‘Charanga’ provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.

Impact

We ensure that all pupils:

• are given opportunities to enjoy music in different ways, including listening, creating and performing;
• can sing as part of a group with a degree of rhythm, pitch, tone and dynamic;
• listen and respond to music from a wide range of genres and cultures;
• learn how to play a solo instrument and how to read both graphic and staff notation;
• create their own music, using a variety of instruments and technology
• will have the skills to evaluate their own and others’ performances and suggest ways to improve

The Music Curriculum at St Anselm’s ensures that the children are actively involved in a wide range of musical experiences. These experiences help to improve the pupils’ academic achievement, build communication skills, foster creativity, develop teamwork and increase engagement in school. Music is not simply a school subject that terminates when the child reaches 11 years old, it is a fundamental characteristic of the human species, and a good musical education impacts on the lives of our pupils as they make their way in the wider world.