Music
Subject Leader: Mrs I McKeever
Subject Vision
At Milton Primary Academy, our music curriculum equips our pupils with the knowledge and understanding to listen, sing, compose and perform to music. As the children progress through our academy, we aim for them to develop an understanding of how music can vary and the different elements used to create a piece of music. We believe that children should also know how music shapes our history and that it has strong links with the culture and creativity of our nation. Our vision is to develop and stimulate the children’s interest in music, allowing them to express themselves in a variety of ways.
Curriculum
At Milton Primary Academy, we aim to provide a music curriculum that is creative, inclusive, challenging and inspired by the real-world. The music areas of study are set out in the Foundation Stage Curriculum and the National Curriculum.
KS1 and KS2
Our curriculum is informed by the Department for Education’s ‘Model Music Curriculum’ (2021), alongside the National Curriculum, and this aims for pupils to be taught across four core areas. When taught together, the core areas contribute towards the development of musicianship. The four core areas are:
- Singing: Pupils will model good vocal production with a well-developed sense of pitch, rhythm and dynamics. Pupils will have the opportunity to experiment with their voices in order to impact a piece of music.
- Listening: Listening to music is fundamental to musical understanding. By learning to listen critically, pupils will not only expand their musical horizons but also gain a deeper understanding of how music is constructed and the impact it can have on the listener. Listening to a broad range of music also helps develop other areas of musical activity, including composing and performing. Pupils will listen to music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians.
- Composing: The creative process, with its wide horizons and possibility, gives pupils an opportunity to contribute to musical culture in unique and valuable ways. As pupils travel through the Key Stages, they will develop the craft of creating melodies and fashioning these into short pieces.
- Performing: Performing creates opportunities to celebrate, share and experience music. It also gives opportunities to develop stagecraft, consider their musical programme, encourages peer feedback and seeks out opportunities for collaboration.
Assessment
At Milton Primary Academy we all agree that the effective assessment of children’s learning helps us to ensure that each child makes good or better progress. Children at our academy are assessed in two ways:
Formative Assessment (AFL): During the teaching of each National Curriculum objective, children’s subject knowledge and musical ability will be assessed formatively by their class teacher on a lesson-by-lesson basis. Teachers will consider the music objectives covered during each session and the end-goal that is to be achieved; in doing so they will then make judgements that are subsequently used to inform future teaching based on the children’s musical competency relating to the piece of music performed or explored.
Summative Assessment: At the end of each unit of learning, teachers also make a summative judgement relating to the children’s knowledge and understanding of musical context and composition, in line with the objectives set out in the National Curriculum. This information is then recorded on an online database, allowing our academy leaders to track and monitor the progress and attainment of individuals as they make their way through the school.