Music

Intent 

At Hook Norton School, our aim is for every child to feel that they are musical and to develop a life-long LOVE of music! We focus on developing a firm understanding of music through listening, singing, playing, composing, improvising, performing and evaluating across a broad range of historical periods, musical genres and cultures. We aim to integrate music into our everyday lives at school and to build transferable skills such as team-work, creative thinking, performance skills and self-confidence.

Implementation

Music is taught in accordance with the National Curriculum and we ensure that all children, of all abilities, have the opportunity to develop musical talents and abilities. Our music curriculum begins within the EYFS setting, where music is an integral part of children’s learning journeys, with teachers planning and responding to children’s needs and interests in order to satisfy the EYFS curriculum objectives.

For the rest of the school, during weekly lessons children LEARN to sing and to play tuned and un-tuned instruments with increasing accuracy, control and expression, to improvise and compose music, to use and understand notation and to perform, both solo and as part of an ensemble. We use a music resource called Kapow, this is highly proficient in ensuring teachers are upskilled and have the resources at hand that they need to teach music well. A ‘Marvellous Music Challenge’ is also integrated into weekly music lessons, whereby children learn a broad range of music vocabulary which progresses throughout the school.

Whole class instrument lessons are also incorporated into our curriculum, as every child in KS2 learns to play the ocarina proficiently (alongside a range of instruments used in our Kapow lessons). Singing lessons, led by a specialist teacher, also take place for every child at least once a fortnight. We also recognise that music making is part of our everyday LIVES here at school: with transition times supported by our songs of the week; brain breaks led by song and dance and we use raps, rhymes, songs, chants to help us to create sticky learning across our curriculum! From rounding raps in Year 5, to phonic rhymes in EYFS to French chants in Year 6, to continent songs in KS1 and times table chants in Year 3 and 4.

Children listen to both recorded and live music from a wide range of genres through weekly lessons; our whole-school Song of the Week (linked to our school values); our class Song of the Week (sharing a range of cultures, genres and ages progressing through the school) and live performances linked to our in-class topics. These also help us to THINK and appraise what we listen to, find out about the history of music, alongside explicit lessons covering genres in LKS2 and chronology in UKS2 and our weekly music lessons which incorporate the history of music within topics.

Here at Hook Norton School we have a Young Voices choir – which is always highly popular- for children in UKS2 with a performance in the Spring Term in Birmingham; Little Voices for those in KS1 with performances at the Summer Fayre and a KS2 choir for all in Years 3-6. DARING to perform is at the heart of musical teaching at Hook Norton and pupils participate in a range of performances during their school ‘career’. These include nativities in KS1, Easter performances in LKS2, a play or pantomime in UKS2 and Leavers in Year 6. All children also take part in Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas, Easter and May Day celebration assemblies. Children also have opportunities to participate in enrichment music workshops at our partnership schools. We use music to show CARE by inviting members of our Hook Norton community to share many of our performances, alongside parents and other children at school.

We are also able to provide opportunities for our children to learn to play a variety of instruments with peripatetic staff, including: clarinet, flute, saxophone, guitar and piano in KS2. These lessons are taught 1:1 or in small groups. Music theory lessons are also offered for those reaching higher grades. This learning is shared with the wider school community through termly performances.

Impact

Whilst in school, children have access to a varied programme of music, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integrated nature of music at Hook Norton School creates an environment from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: a sense of achievement, self-confidence and discovery, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as different ethnicities, religions and cultures from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music as a listener, performer and a composer. Most importantly, we hope our impact will be a life-long love and appreciation of music, which children may decide to pursue further on in their lives.