Music

Subject Lead: Mrs C Keen

At Leasowes, our Music curriculum aims to inspire creativity and self-expression, encouraging our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others through music. We hope to foster a lifelong love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. Through the key features of listening and responding to different musical styles and composers and finding their voices as singers, performers and as composers using a variety of instruments, children are enabled to become confident, reflective musicians. The golden thread that runs through all our learning is for children to develop the quality of the sound they are producing, underpinned by the Interrelated Dimensions of music which are taught and embedded in all year groups from Reception to Y6:

*pulse *rhythm *pitch *tempo *dynamics * texture * timbre *structure *notation

Music at Leasowes aims to reflect the culture and society that we live in, and music also plays an important part in helping children to feel part of a community. Therefore, we provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music both in class and to an audience through assemblies, concerts and performances. Lessons enable children to develop their skills, appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to make judgements about the quality of music they hear, which then informs their own performance of music and the sound quality produced. 

‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity.’

(National Curriculum)

Music teaching delivers the requirements of the National Curriculum through half termly units supported by the Charanga scheme of work, ensuring consistency, progression and coherence throughout the school but also incorporating other high-quality music schemes and resources in order to make our curriculum ambitious. Our curriculum is also ambitious because we believe it is important that all children learn to play a musical instrument and this is a key feature of the design of our music curriculum. 

At Leasowes, we want to provide our children with an understanding and appreciation for music which stays with them for life.  In lessons, children study a wide range of musical styles from a range of musical periods and are also introduced to a variety of composers and musical styles during ‘Life Beyond Leasowes Assemblies’ and whole school assemblies. 

Singing is firmly embedded in our curriculum through classroom singing in lessons, Music and Melody assemblies and singing at special occasions through the year. Performance plays a great part in our musical culture at Leasowes, creating the balance between the knowledge and the skills our children have learned and the opportunity to share those with an audience.

Enrichment opportunities play a great part in our musical culture at Leasowes. Our School Choir perform at Young Voices in Birmingham each year and take part in local performances such as the Pyramid concerts with Walton High School. This year we are developing some ensemble groups to bring musicians together and children also have opportunity to perform to different year groups to showcase their instrumental learning on recorders, ukuleles, violins and brass. 

Personal development runs through everything we do in our Music curriculum; children can express themselves and their identity through music whether they are singing, composing or performing; they can develop confidence and self-esteem when trying a new instrument or creating music with others; and they can develop their own appreciation of music and learn to express their viewpoints and preferences about the music they listen to.