Music
Intent:
At Cavendish Primary School our children are musicians and music is integral to the life of a Cavendish child! We aim to provide a vibrant musical experience for all children that will enhance opportunities to create, play, perform and enjoy music. We are committed to ensuring that children at Cavendish understand the impact music has in the wider community and importance of music to their own and other’s lives. We believe our music curriculum helps our children to grow in confidence, gain a sense of achievement and allows them to express their ideas and feelings through the medium of sound. Extra-curricular activities such as private lessons to learn any string or brass instrument are available as well as private singing and ukulele lessons too. These are all provided by the Hounslow Music Service and can be taken individually or in small groups.
Implementation:
Our music curriculum allows children to listen, play, perform, sing and evaluate. We embed this throughout our music lessons as well as during our weekly singing assemblies, various performances and the learning of instruments.
Through the musical program Charanga, teachers are able to produce inclusive lessons for all children to access the musical curriculum in a fun and engaging way, further promoting a love of music. Teachers deliver music following the Charanga programme, designed specifically for the teaching of music in primary schools. Charanga lessons are planned in sequences to provide children with the opportunities to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding. In addition to this, Charanga provides a progressive curriculum throughout the whole school to allow skills and new learning to build strategically each year.
At Cavendish, our children learn how to play the recorder and ukulele in addition to other percussion instruments such as the xylophone. This leads onto further learning opportunities such as learning how to read basic music notation and how to compose. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument. At Cavendish Primary School children are provided with opportunities beyond the National Curriculum to further and support their understanding. These include listening to visitors with a musical talent, visiting concerts and watching our school productions.
Impact:
The impact of our music curriculum will allow all pupils to make good progress over time. As a result, most children leaving Cavendish will have achieved age related expectations for music by the time they leave our school. Through trips, visits, pupil voice, and an engaging, practical curriculum, our children will be enthusiastic music learners who can enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as a listener, creator or performer.
