“A child’s first experience of music should be a magical one and the start of a journey that, with the right support, can provide unimaginable rewards” (Music Commission Report, March 2019)

Intent

It is our vision that music will play an important role in everyday school life at New Milton Infant School and opportunities for children to experience the joy of making music with others are prioritised. The teaching of music is underpinned by our values which aims to inspire and engage children.  We aim to engage pupils in high quality and varied musical experiences where all pupils, whatever their starting point, are supported to achieve their musical potential.  We strive to provide every child with a solid foundation in key musicianship skills through singing, playing, creating and listening to music together.   Our vision is that all children have the opportunity to see themselves as musicians.  They will be excited by learning new musical skills and exploring their own musicality. Music is an integral part of daily life at New Milton Infant School within the classroom and beyond. Its positive effects upon the well-being of pupils is both recognised and celebrated.

Implementation

Our Music Curriculum 

In Early Years Foundation Stage children are introduced to the skills and techniques that they will continue to develop in Key Stage One, learning through the Expressive Arts and Design element of the Early Years curriculum:

• Listen attentively, move to and talk about music, expressing their feelings and responses.
• Watch and talk about dance and performance art, expressing their feelings and responses.
• Sing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody.
• Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups.

Adults encourage a love of music through modelling and giving children time for musical exploration. Children are provided with a range of different and diverse musical opportunities during adult-led activities and during continuous provision. This also helps children develop their understanding of the world as they explore music from different countries and beliefs.

Children continue their learning journey in Key Stage One, following the National Curriculum for music. Children learn to:

• use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and

rhymes

• play tuned and untuned instruments musically
• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Singing is the best medium for teaching the language of music.

Developing vocal skills and fostering a love of singing is a priority at New Milton Infant School. 

Singing plays an important part in everyday school life and is part of every music lesson.

Practical music-making is at the heart of all music learning.

We know that music is best learnt by ‘doing’ and that practical engagement is essential for meaningful musical experiences.  At New Milton Infant School, children are given lots of opportunities to experiment with instruments and voices and to experience making music with others as composers, improvisers and performers.  The children take pride in sharing their musical learning and achievements with their peers, to the rest of the school and to the wider community.

Good musical progress is dependent on developing a foundation of musical skills.

Musical progression is central to the music curriculum at New Milton Infant School.  Key musicianship skills and concepts are taught, revisited and extended through the school from Early Years Foundation Stage through to Year 2. Children are given opportunities to re-visit and practise established concepts and apply them to new musical situations.  The music curriculum is closely linked with class topics and what the children are learning in their classes.

Listening should be an integral part of every musical activity.

At New Milton Infant School, we recognise the important role music plays in developing children’s listening skills.  In music lessons, children are encouraged to listen to and appraise sounds created by themselves and others and to respond to music from a range of times and places.  Musical listening skills are also developed through specific listening games.

SEND and EAL

Music lessons incorporate a variety of multisensory learning experiences to maximise learning potential for all pupils.  Visual clues such as pictures, puppets and visual gestures are regularly used and there is a strong emphasis on kinaesthetic movement activities in order to reinforce the connection between sound and body.  Instrumental techniques are adapted to suit the needs of different groups of children. We use music as an additional tool to support communication across cultural and linguistic boundaries for our pupils with EAL.

Impact

The children at our school enjoy singing and creating music.  There is a high level of participation and commitment in music clubs and the children take pride in sharing their musical learning with others.  Ongoing assessments and a carefully sequentially planned curriculum ensures all children are supported to experience the best possible musical growth and development from their individual starting points. Pupils’ progress in music is assessed throughout each unit and these combined assessments contribute to an overall view of how well children are achieving in music. This assessment is communicated to parents each year in the mid-year report.

This assessment is communicated to parents each year in the mid-year report. Children who regularly reach greater depth in expectations in music are encouraged to take a lead in musical activities, particularly in year two.

Once children have mastered the foundational knowledge in Music, they will begin to show the application of this in a more in-depth and independent way. At New Milton Infant School, we take a holistic approach to support all children to show mastery of learning at their own level. Children's knowledge and skills have progressed from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to the end of Key Stage 1, equipping them to perform and compose confidently into Key Stage 2 and beyond.