INTENT

At Wickham Market Primary school, our music curriculum intent is to inspire children to have a love of music and to feel that they are musical.

Our goal is for all pupils to:

•  Develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners.
• Respect and appreciate the music of an array of traditions and communities through experience of music from around the world and across generations.
• Develop the musical skills of singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, improvising and composing music, and listening and responding to music.
• Develop an understanding of the history and cultural context of the music that they listen to and learn how music can be written down.
• Through music, develop transferable skills such as team-working, leadership, creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and presentation and performance skills.
• Have opportunities to perform to an audience, building confidence and self-esteem, in school and out.

IMPLEMENTATION

Our school uses the Kapow Music scheme, an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to music delivered through weekly lessons. This scheme focuses on listening and evaluating; creating sound; notation; improvising and composing and performing. Children are taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control. They learn to recognise, demonstrate and name the interrelated dimensions of music - pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics - and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.

The Kapow scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing simple tasks better, as well as developing understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff, and other musical notations and the interrelated dimensions of music.

Extra-curricular music and experiences include:

• Weekly whole class (Year 5) instrumental lessons provided by Suffolk County Music
• Participation in concert hall performances with Snape Maltings
• School performances and productions
• Visits to live theatre shows and musical performances
• Opportunities to perform with the school choir in school and locally

IMPACT

Through our curriculum, we aim to foster pupils' creativity, enabling them to express themselves and build character. In each lesson, pupils actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. An enjoyment of diverse musical experiences is encouraged and the positive impact music can have on mental health is emphasised. Our goal is to provide access to music for everyone, promoting a variety of styles and genres to broaden pupils’ musical horizons. Ultimately, we want pupils to enjoy music in any form they choose - whether as listeners, performers, or creators – and to develop a life-long love of music.