Music Intent
At St Gregory’s, we aim to make music enjoyable. We encourage all children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up their love of music, self- confidence and sense of achievement. As children progress through the school they will increasingly understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated through the interrelated dimensions of music: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and musical notation.Our aim is to provide a curriculum that will allow our children to:
- Be engaged, motivated and inspired to develop a love of music.
- Develop their talent as musicians.
- Increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement in music.
- Develop their musical potential by presenting music as an enjoyable and positive experience.
- Develop creativity, self-expression and confidence through composing and performing.
Implementation
Our curriculum is centred around Charanga, a music based scheme in which the children learn to sing and play instruments. Instrumental learning (the recorder) is taught explicitly and progressively using the charanga units of work. However, we do not follow the scheme strictly as we endeavour to link our music teaching to what is being taught across the curriculum.
Across the school, we choose pieces of music from the Charanga Listening Centre to encourage active listening to music from different genres and eras. The listening centre also provides music which is selected for use in a variety of lessons and activities to create, mood, atmosphere and to aid concentration.
The children also have an opportunity to develop an understanding of pulse, rhythm and notation. The programme also incorporates the use of technologies such as ‘Gargae Band’, enabling children to compose their own pieces. Additionally, each class has their own composer or musician to explore.