Intent
At Idle CE (A) Primary School, our curriculum intent is rooted within our school vision of Jesus’ promise of “life in all its fullness” (John 10.10). Children cannot develop or aspire to things that they have never encountered and our curriculum extends beyond the academic and is structured to engage our children in memorable experiences.
Through our music curriculum, our intent for all pupils is:
- to have a brilliant music education, identifying and removing barriers including those of pupils in low-income households and those with SEND.
- to promote a broad musical culture, providing pupils with ‘cultural capital’ which broadens their horizons by developing an understanding of
- people and cultures around the world through music.
- to have opportunities to learn to play different instruments, to sing and to create and perform their own music.
- to have the opportunities to express themselves, explore creativity, work hard, persevere and shine.
- to have the opportunity to progress musically, exploring their interests and talents.
- This intent draws inspiration from the National Plan for Music Education (June 2022).
Implementation
In order to enable pupils to access Jesus’ promise of “life in all its fullness” (John 10.10), we will ensure we are equipping our children with the necessary skills to find out, know more and remember more through our rich musical curriculum alongside wider musical culture and opportunities.
We do this through:
- A broad musical curriculum, based on the Model Music Curriculum, underpinned by a secure skill progression that enables pupils to encounter, develop, revisit and apply musical skills, progressively building on these over time.
- Dedicated curriculum time of at least one hour per week (Key Stages 1 and 2) supported by co-curricular music opportunities.
- A strong grounding in music opportunities within Early Years.
- A dedicated music lead with the skills, expertise and experience to drive the subject across school and liaise with the local Music Hub.
- Working alongside the local Music Hub (Bradford Music and Arts) to provide specialist tuition as part of the WCET programme throughout Key Stage 2 as part of the overall music curriculum.
- Instrumental hire provided free of charge, including instruments to take home and practice in UKS2 (cornet, ukulele, trombone, euphonium), to remove economic barriers to learning to play an instrument.
- Co-curricular musical opportunities for all additional to both within and additional to the school day including: weekly Singing Worship; lunchtime music clubs and; the ‘Sing Thing’ after-school singing club/choir.
- Opportunities to engage with peripatetic instrumental lessons via the Music Hub within the school day. These can be part-financed for those pupils from low-income families or those with SEND.
- Specialist SEND provision within KS2 to address barriers to pupils accessing whole-class music tuition.
- Ongoing staff CPD to develop appropriate skills and develop use of resources to support effective music delivery.
- Opportunities to listen to performed music and take part in music making with others, both within school and as part of the wider Music Hub offer.
Impact
We aspire for our curriculum to be empowering and for Jesus’ promise of “life in all its fullness” (John 10.10) to be accessible to all. As musicians at Idle CE(A) Primary, pupils will have the opportunities to express themselves, explore creativity, work hard, persevere and shine.
We empower our pupils as musicians to:
- Develop singing and instrumental skills and have the opportunity to progress further following their interests and talents through individual or group peripatetic music lessons which can be partially or fully-funded as well as sign-posting pupils to opportunities to take part in music making outside of school.
- Understand and appreciate a wide variety of musical styles and genres, including live and recorded music, developing an aural bank of music along with knowledge of its cultural context.
- Create and hear their own music.
- Perform for others and with others, both in school and as part of wider community events.
- Celebrate their musical successes, both in school and within the wider community.