Intent
At Swanton Morley, we aim for every child to have access to high-quality, practical and engaging musical experiences. We want all children to develop the self-confidence, skills, knowledge and understanding to develop a lifelong love of music, whilst also providing a secure foundation that enable them to take music further should they wish to. Teachers are as crucial to this aim, and therefore to ensure teacher confidence and consistency across the school, we have chosen to implement the Sing Up Music curriculum. Within each unit and lesson plan, Sing up provide teaching resources and clear delivery guidance that supports teacher’s subject knowledge and gives them confidence to teach music practically.
Implementation
Sing up Music sets out the skills, knowledge and understanding to be gained by pupils at each stage of learning, including the EYFS. The Library of units provided meets the requirements of the National Curriculum for Music, covering a broad range of musical traditions, using authentic songs and materials.
Music is taught weekly with units of work covering listening and appraisal, improvisation and composition and singing and playing. Pupils have an opportunity to learn a wide range of songs from various artists across cultures as well as having ample opportunity to explore musical traditions using improvisation and performance.
Singing is highly valued within the school, with weekly singing assemblies allowing pupils an opportunity to celebrate and worship through song. Pupils sing enthusiastically and enjoy learning new songs as a whole school.
Individual pupils that wish to take up musical instrument tuition are encouraged and the school works closely with iRock to increase engagement with individual and group musical activities.
Impact
Pupils are assessed formatively throughout music lessons with verbal feedback provided to move learning forward wherever possible. Teacher collect evidence through videos of performances/composition and use this to inform their termly summative assessment. Pupils are assessed using a point in time assessment to identify those who are on track or falling behind.