Music

At HLC Primary, our music curriculum is delivered by both classroom teachers and music specialists. Music is taught by classroom teachers using the SingUp! scheme of learning, which provides all teachers with a solid foundation to deliver a creative and engaging programme of high-quality classroom music lessons. This curriculum covers a broad and diverse range of repertoire, approaches and musical traditional. Lessons are planned with reference to the relevant threshold concepts: ‘Singing, playing, improvising, composing, listening and appraising,’. Threshold concepts will be repeated and revisited, applied to a variety of different musical situations when addressing the breadth of the curriculum, to develop a greater depth of learning.

Pupils will perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great classical composers and modern musicians during their weekly lessons. Pupils will also learn to sing and to use their voices, especially as we believe that the voice is the most accessible universal instrument. Children will learn to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence. Pupils will 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 the Early Years, we provide a combination of adult-led, teacher modelled music sessions focussing on rhythm and rhyme as we believe that this is key to our children’s language acquisition and phonic development. We also provide a wealth of stimulating musical resources within our environment that staff use to provoke musical learning through skilful interactions and questioning. We strongly believe that music should be taught from a young age and ensure that it is taught in a logical and sequential manner. The children in the early years take part in specific teaching through the SingUp! curriculum as well carefully  planned activities provided in continuous provision. Many different experiences are provided throughout the year which allow children to experience different cultures through music and dance, for example a Chinese New Year workshop. They also explore nursery rhymes and use instruments to tell familiae stories.