Our Musical journey through school begins with recognising and making sounds in Nursery. In Reception until Y3, children are taught using the Kapow scheme of work for Music. From Year Four until Year Six, children are fortunate enough to take part in whole class music tuition, ensuring that our children all learn to play a range of instruments:

Year Four - Ukulele

Year Five - Samba Percussion

Year Six - Brass Instruments

In additiona 1:1 lessons can be porvided to children in a arange of instruments including violin, piano, guitar and more.

The Music Curriculum at Batley Parish

Intent

In line with the Batley Parish Curriculum Statement, it is our aim to provide all children with high quality learning in each curriculum area. We have chosen to follow the Kapow Music scheme of work as this provides a clear teaching and learning structure and offers professional development for each lesson for the non-specialist teacher. However, in Year Four, Year Five and Year Six, children take part in whole class musical tuition for the full year as follows: Y4 ukulele, Y5 samba percussion, Y6 brass. In addition, children have the opportunity to take part in daily singing in collective worship and children in KS2 are given the opportunity to take part in Young Voices and sing in a choir.

The intention of the Kapow Primary music scheme is first and foremost to help children to feel that they are musical, and to develop a life-long love of music. We focus on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers, and listeners. Our curriculum introduces children to music from all around the world and across generations, teaching children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities.

Children will develop the musical skills of singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, improvising and composing music, and listening and responding to music. They will develop an understanding of the history and cultural context of the music that they listen to and learn how music can be written down. Through music, our curriculum helps children develop transferable skills such as team-working, leadership, creative thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and presentation and performance skills. These skills are vital to children’s development as learners and have a wider application in their general lives outside and beyond school.

Kapow Primary’s Music scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets outlined in the national curriculum and the aims of the scheme align with those in the national curriculum.

Implementation

Kapow Primary’s Music scheme takes a holistic approach to music, in which the individual strands below are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences:

• Performing
• Listening
• Composing
• The history of music
• The inter-related dimensions of music

Each five-lesson unit combines these strands within a cross-curricular topic designed to capture pupils’ imagination and encourage them to explore music enthusiastically. Over the course of the scheme, children will be taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control.

They will learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music - pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics - and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.

The whole class tuition lessons in Y4, Y5 and Y6 complement the Kapow Primary scheme of work and allow lower key stage pupils to develop their expertise in using a tuned and untuned instruments well beyond the recommended 1 term suggested by the model music curriculum. Our tutors ensure that children continue to develop the skills of performance, listening and composing, enhance their understanding of the history of music and the inter-related dimensions of music.

Our National Curriculum mapping document shows which of our units cover each of the national curriculum attainment targets as well as each of these strands within it. Our Progression of Skills and Knowledge shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop year on year to ensure attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

The Kapow Primary scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks better, as well as developing understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff, and other musical notations, as well as the interrelated dimensions of music and more.

In each lesson, pupils will actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and their understanding of how    music works. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as improvisation and teacher-led performances. Lessons are ‘hands-on’ and incorporate movement and dance elements, as well as making cross curricular links with other areas of learning.

Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit up to Y4 support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust music curriculum. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD, aiding teachers in their own acquisition of musical skills and knowledge. Further CPD opportunities can also be found via webinars with our music subject specialists. Kapow has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the music curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.

Children are able to make musical performances in school through singing in nativities, assemblies and services. Additional opportunities are made available for whole class tuition groups to perform their instruments together in special events, for example the Queen’s Jubilee Picnic.

There is a full class set of ukuleles and brass instruments on loan from Musica Kirklees. In addition, a class set of percussion instruments and a class set of glockenspiels and recorders are in stock. Music stands are also available for whole class or individual use.

The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme and whole class music tuition can be monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes

Guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and at the end of each unit there is often a performance element where teachers can make a summative assessment of pupils’ learning. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils by providing a highly visual record of the key learning from the unit, encouraging recall of practical skills, key knowledge and vocabulary.

After the implementation of Kapow Primary Music, pupils should leave primary school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary  education and to be able to enjoy and appreciate music throughout their lives.

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Music scheme of work is that  children will:

• Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express  themselves musically at and beyond school.
• Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider  cultural, social, and historical contexts in which it is developed.
• Understand the ways in which music can be written down to support  performing and composing activities.
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify  their own personal musical preferences.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for  Music.

Knowledge Organisers support learning in Music in each of the units of work on KS1 and Y3. Please see below.