Furness Primary School

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning” - Plato

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. 

At Furness, we aim to foster an enjoyment and appreciation of music to include the development of an understanding of the elements of music: pitch, dynamics, duration, tempo, timbre, texture and structure. Furthermore, we aim to encourage self-expression through music and to develop an awareness of music from different cultures including an awareness of a variety of musical styles.

Intent

The intent of Music at Furness falls in line with aims of the National Curriculum

• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• Learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

In Key stage 1 the children are taught to:

• Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
• Play tuned and untuned instruments musically
• Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
• Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

In Key Stage 2 the children are taught to:

• Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
• Pupils should be taught to:

- Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression

- Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music

- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

- Use and understand staff and other musical notations

- Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians

- Develop an understanding of the history of music.

Implementation

The Music curriculum at Furness is tailored to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum whilst ensuring a clear progression of knowledge and skills. Music is taught in a spiral curriculum with increasing challenge and complexity as the children move through the Key Stages. The curriculum acknowledges and celebrates the diverse range of backgrounds that make up the school community.