Music
Music Curriculum Intent
At Stillness Infant School our children will learn that music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. Music lessons engage and inspire children to develop a love of music and develop their talent as musicians, and in turn increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As an art form, it improves concentration, teamwork, and self-discipline. As children progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to listen to, and appraise with discrimination the best in the musical canon.
- Music at Stillness is an enjoyable and inclusive learning experience. We ensure all children, whatever their musical abilities or needs, have opportunities to develop their musical and performing skills, using a variety of musical experiences, through which we aim to build up their confidence. In addition to these curriculum opportunities children can choose from a variety of individual and group instrument lessons, including our Rock Steady rock band.
- Our children explore different aspects of music through voice and instruments. We ensure a wide exposure to different genres of music reflecting our diverse community, e.g. Reggae, Blues, World Music and Classical, with lots of practical opportunities to explore and develop as musicians and singers; they enjoy music from Africa, Brazil, India and Europe.
- Our progressive and sequential Charanga scheme is matched to our half term topics to re-enforce the teaching, for example in Y1 ‘Unique UK’, children learn about music related to the four countries of the UK. Links are made to the BBC Ten Pieces program and Artists, for example, Kandinsky, enabling learning to be revisited and deepened.
- Children develop descriptive language skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent different feelings, emotions and narratives. We also teach Subject Specific technical vocabulary such as volume, pitch, beat and rhythm and encourage children to discuss music using these terms.
- We value additional broad musical experiences across the school which some children would not engage in at home. All children perform in concerts throughout the year as a whole school and with other schools e.g. the London Symphony Orchestra’s Young people’s music program, visits to the Barbican, and We Sing, You Sing’ concert. Our visiting workshops are often based on musical experiences, for example, our Chinese New Year celebration dance workshop.
- We encourage children’s reading skills, teaching new songs using digital technology. This enables children to become more fluent readers across curriculum areas, for example, in Science, reading words about the weather and seasonal activities for our summer concert songs.
Music Curriculum Implementation
The Charanga scheme of work is used in Reception and in KS1 to ensure a wide exposure to different genres of music, with lots of practical opportunities to explore and develop as musicians and singers. This a Progressive Sequential scheme and where possible it is matched to half term topic work to re-enforce the teaching. Within this scheme we also use the BBC’s Ten Pieces program.
Links are made with other curriculum areas, for example in Art when studying the artist Kandinsky.
The school also has whole class ensemble teaching in Years 1 and 2 where children are taught a specific musical instrument for a school year. In Year 1, the pupils are learning percussion instruments and glockenspiel , progressing in Y2 to recorder and glockenspiel. These lessons incorporate learning musical notation, singing, as well as playing an instrument. Opportunities are taken to perform in class, in whole assemblies and also to parents and the wider community.
Additional broad experiences are offered in music across the school: all children perform at year group concerts throughout the year, and KS1 children are involved in the London Symphony Orchestra’s Young people’s music program, with visits to the Barbican.
Year 2 participate in’ We Sing, You Sing’ coaching sessions, culminating in a concert at the Fairfield Hall with other schools, in addition the Year 2 children participate in music performances organised by Lewisham Music Trust (Turning of the Year Concert a Blackheath halls)
In addition to these curriculum opportunities children can choose from a variety of individual and group instrument lessons, including Rock Steady rock band, and ukulele.
Our Music Curriculum Impact
All children are assessed according to age related expectations in line with curriculum requirements.
All children will enjoy hearing and making music.
All children will learn about different genres of music and be able to express how they make them feel.
All children will to learn to perform alongside their peers with increasing confidence.
Turning of the year.
Our Year 2 children joined with 6 other infant schools and performed at Blackheath Halls. We really enjoyed learning the joint songs and our own song went down a treat with the audience
Sir Scallywag
In February Year 1 are joining other schools at the Royal Festival Hall for a concert by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
We will have been learning the songs for Sir Scallywag and listening to the Set pieces which include music from the Royal Fireworks ( Handel ) and The William Tell Overture ( Rossini ).
London Symphony Orchestra
In May Year 2 will be travelling to the Barbican to be part of the Discovery programme.
We know the title of the day ” The Orchestra as a Puzzle?” but more details will follow.
The last time we participated in this was three years ago and the day was amazing with lots of preparation work and learning beforehand culminating in an inclusive and enjoyable experience.
Trinity Laban presents a rousing call to climate action involving hundreds of young people, combining dance, music, and spoken word.
Co-created by composer Eska Mtungwazi, Young Person’s poet laureate Cecilia Knapp, choreographer Sarah Golding, and young people from across the borough, this cross-artform project will appear in Lewisham in 2022. Across the first six months of the year, primary schools from across the borough will learn specially-created choral music, supported by Trinity Laban and Lewisham Music. Dance will be co-created and performed by young people aged 11-18 years old from Lewisham secondary schools and housing associations, as well as dancers from Trinity Laban’s youth dance programmes. They will be joined by Trinity Laban musicians and local young spoken word artists to develop and perform work that layers choral and instrumental music, dance, spoken word and protest.
The project, which is designed to bring people together from all across the community, will highlight global, as well as local, climate concerns and issues, as well as look to the future and a journey towards hope.
Stillness Infants is joining this amazing cross artform project this Spring. A vocal coach from Trinity Laban will be working with our children on this amazing project which will culminate in a huge outdoor performance on Saturday 18th June at Mountsfield Park!
Interpreting the music in class before our exciting concert at the Royal Festival Halls next week.
Year 2 enjoying their Glockenspiel lessons. We are learning to accompany the songs we are using in our music sessions. We use visual cues and are starting to read musical notation.
We also learn recorder in Year 2. It’s a bit squeaky to start but we soon get the hang of covering the holes properly. We learn to play along with the songs we learn to sing and then we can perform them.
