Being Musicians
At the Weald we wish for all children to engage in high quality regular music experiences enabling them to enjoy the creative experience, whilst developing their love and understanding of musical elements. Through the curriculum, all pupils will understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated. Enquiry lessons with music as a focus aim to encourage the unique creativity that can be enhanced via music through collaboration in groups and on an individual level. Celebrating musical accomplishments through regular ‘showcases’ will give children the opportunity to play in front of an audience whilst promoting a love of music to the wider school community.
Skill development planned for includes:
Performing, listening to and reviewing and evaluating music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians; active listening; performing and composing. These skills are planned within the two-year enquiry cycle. The implementation comes in the form of a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the planned sessions, whether it be through singing assemblies, enquiry lessons or through class discussions about the composer of the half term, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. The school’s active relationship with Surrey Arts enables all children throughout the year, the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.
The Music Champion is responsible for regular curriculum review through professional discussions with teachers and regular dialogue with children across the school. Pupil voice, staff surveys and monitoring will inform and shape future curriculum design. By revisiting and recalling previously learned knowledge, children will have the skills to access and engage fully with the curriculum planning.
An annual Summer Music Concert, with the wider school community invited, will give individuals a chance to showcase their musical development whilst raising the profile of music on a regular basis; this will serve to highlight the impact of music teaching on the lives of children whilst giving the opportunity to all children to be involved in musical appreciation and exposed to high quality music, which is at the core of the school’s philosophy. Through interviews with children, we will be able to assess children’s awareness of key composers throughout history and their levels of development from the experiences they have been part of.
Here are some useful links:
Surrey Arts run a Rock Band and Brass Band Club every Tuesday and Friday lunchtime with children learning many different instruments.
On a Thursday lunchtime we have our SING Club run by Mrs Mee. Our SING Club took part in the Young Voices choir at the O2 Arena in January. They sung with nearly 8,000 other pupils, performing a variety of music such as folk, pop, rock and classical.
All our clubs can be found here