Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact

Curriculum Intent

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
• Be taught to sing, create and compose music
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

At Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Primary,

 our intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. Our objective at our school is to develop a curiosity for the subject and an understanding of the value and importance of all types of music to their own and other people’s lives and well-being. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts, thereby developing a life-long love of music.

Curriculum Implementation
As a school, we use Kapow's Primary Music scheme to support our teaching and learning of music. Units of lessons develop pupils’ knowledge and skills across the areas of listening, composing, performing and the interrelated dimensions of music (pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, textures and structure). The scheme uses a spiral curriculum, where previously taught skills and knowledge are built upon as the child progresses through the school. 

The music curriculum ensures students sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom teaching as well as the weekly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances, the learning of instruments, musician visitors and the option to join our extra-curricular musical activities. The elements of music are taught in the classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. Children learn to understand the different principles of creating notes, as well as how to read basic music notation. They also learn how to compose focussing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music.  

Curriculum Impact
Through a child’s journey at Our Lady Queen of Peace, their musical skills and understanding are built year on year. From singing simple songs from memory and performing simple rhythm patterns in KS1, to more advanced techniques skills, and understanding in lower KS2. This develops further in upper KS2 where the children are able to play an instrument confidently, and have the ability to read and follow a simple musical score. Throughout their time at Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary, the child’s enjoyment of music is a key element, running alongside the ‘taught’ musical skills and objectives.

Children develop an enormously rich musical palette as well as self-confidence; interactions with and awareness of others; the ability to share their own thoughts, opinions and ideas; and self-reflection.

Through music they develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world.

Children are able to enjoy music, in as many ways as they choose - either as listener, creator or performer. Children learn to foster their instrumental flare and use this as a form of expression. They take the skills they have learned and use them, should they ever develop an interest in music in their future lives.

Live music 

Today we were lucky enough to experience some live music as we celebrated our Coronation picnic as a school. Listening to the acoustic guitar added a real chilled atmosphere to our afternoon.