Music at St. Anne's Catholic Primary School
Music Lead: Mrs Houslander

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, listen, and perform.

Our music culture is very active and all our children receive one hour’s tuition every week with a specialist Music teacher.  We strongly believe in the power of singing and our children receive regular opportunities to use their voices during hymn practice sessions and collective worship.

All children have the opportunity to learn instruments within the Music curriculum, but we also provide opportunities for individual lessons during and after the school day. These lessons are provided by
Surrey Arts and parents would need to contact them directly to apply.

Intent

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all children:

• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
• Be taught to sing, create and compose music
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated

Our main aim is that children leave St Anne’s with a wide range of happy and rich memories through their exposure to music.  We are dedicated to creating an enjoyable and engaging experience for all our children. By encouraging the children to participate in a variety of musical experiences, we are actively increasing their creativity, self-confidence and sense of achievement, whilst at the same time, allowing all pupils to develop their love of music.

Children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and genres. We are committed to developing a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in a person’s life.

We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.

Implementation

By using a specialist music practitioner we are able to use several schemes of work including Jolly Music (Cyrilla Rowsell &David Vinden), to help the children meet curriculum needs of singing, listening, playing, performing and evaluating.

The structure music programme is based on the Kodaly method of learning, which focuses on having strong foundational musicianship skills, and training the inner ear.  We also use Music Express and Charanga schemes to provide more creative learning.

The 10 BBC pieces provide an exciting insight to classical music. Regular singing assemblies, various concerts and performances and music take place throughout the school year. These elements of music are taught in the classroom, where children are encouraged to use musical vocabulary correctly, analyse structure, dynamics, style and timbre etc.  

Children also learn key aspects of music through cross-curricular links. They learn how to compose; focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument. Pupils in KS2 have the opportunity to learn the ukulele, recorder and Djembes in a class setting. Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to attend Music technology sessions delivered by Salesian School another Xavier Trust School. Year 2 have the opportunity to develop their Music technology skills within their IT lessons delivered by an IT specialist and Garage Band is accessible for KS2 on the school IPads.

The Choir is an integral part of musical life at St Anne’s. It consists of more than 50 enthusiastic children and open to anyone in KS2 . They take part in Surrey Arts Primary Music Festival as well as several concerts at School.

Impact

Whilst in school, children have access to a varied programme, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection.

Music will also develop their understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – as a listener, creator or performer. They can analyse music and comprehend its parts. They are able to enjoy singing all different genres of music with confidence.

Students are taught to be appreciative and supportive, when listening attentively to other students’ performances. Pupils are encouraged to make their own choices, and express themselves, when composing.