At King’s Cliffe Endowed Primary School, music gives children opportunities to listen, create, perform and respond to music.

From Foundation to Year 6, children develop their musical knowledge and skills progressively through singing, playing instruments, composing and improvising, listening and appraising. They are encouraged to enjoy making music together, develop confidence as performers and increasingly use musical language to describe and discuss what they hear.

Listening and Appraising

Children experience music through active listening from the beginning of their time at KCEPS.

In Foundation, children explore how music can make them feel and respond to music through movement, marching and dancing. As they progress, they learn to identify the pulse, discuss the words and messages within songs and listen carefully to the ideas and opinions of others.

Older children develop their ability to compare music, discuss its structure and use an increasingly broad musical vocabulary to explain what they hear and how music makes them feel.

Composing and Improvising

Children are given opportunities to create their own music, developing from simple exploration and improvisation towards increasingly purposeful composition.

Younger children explore sounds, rhythms, patterns and pitch, before beginning to create simple melodies. As their musical understanding develops, children make choices about pulse, rhythm, pitch, dynamics and tempo and consider how these elements contribute to the music they create.

By Key Stage 2, children compose melodies using an increasing range of notes, consider the structure of their compositions and begin to record their musical ideas using appropriate forms of notation. The progression through composition and improvisation is set out on page 2 of our curriculum overview.

Singing

Singing is an important part of children's musical development.

Children begin by joining in with familiar songs and nursery rhymes, developing their awareness of rhythm, pitch and pulse. They progressively learn to sing with greater control, developing good singing posture and an awareness of how their voices work individually and as part of a group.

As they move through Key Stage 2, children develop confidence in singing in unison and begin to explore singing in different parts, listening carefully to one another and following a musical leader.

Playing Musical Instruments

Children develop their instrumental skills progressively, learning to play with increasing accuracy, control and musical awareness.

They learn to treat instruments carefully, follow musical instructions and play individual parts within a wider performance. As they progress, children learn and rehearse increasingly challenging instrumental parts, play in time with others and develop the skills needed to perform as part of an ensemble.

At KCEPS, children in Years 3 and 5 also take part in dedicated instrumental courses. Year 3 provision varies between Samba drumming, ukulele and recorder, while Year 5 children learn brass. These courses run for ten weeks and culminate in a performance in which children can share their learning.

We also work with an external provider to offer opportunities for children to receive ukulele, guitar and piano tuition.

Performing and Evaluating

Performance provides children with an opportunity to bring together the musical skills they have developed.

Children progress from recording and talking about their performances towards making choices about what to perform and how to present it to an audience. They increasingly consider expression, communication and presentation and learn to reflect upon their own performances.

By the end of Key Stage 2, children are expected to discuss their performances musically, identify what went well and consider how their performance could be improved further.

Music Beyond the Classroom

We value opportunities for children to perform for others and celebrate their achievements.

KCEPS takes part in the Oundle Festival of Music and Drama, where children have opportunities to perform in group verse-speaking, reading and poetry categories. Our pupils have enjoyed considerable success at the festival over a number of years.

End-of-course performances and other opportunities to perform allow children to share their developing skills with others and experience the enjoyment and confidence that can come from performing for an audience.

Music Curriculum Overview

Our Music Curriculum Overview shows how children's musical knowledge and skills develop progressively from Foundation to Year 6, including listening and appraising, composing and improvising, singing, instrumental performance and evaluating performances.

Please view our Music Curriculum Overview below to see the progression of learning across the school.

Music Development

Our Music Development Plan sets out how we continue to develop music across the school, including curriculum music, instrumental opportunities and musical experiences beyond the classroom.

Our current Music Development Plan and Music Action Plan can be viewed below.