Music

‘Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.’ Plato.

Music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children and at Hook Junior School we believe that all children should have the right to access a varied musical education. It is a vehicle for personal expression, and it can play an important part in the personal development of people. Music reflects the culture and society we live in, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject whilst building self-confidence. It also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to understand the history behind music and famous composers. Overall, music should be enjoyed and should give pupils opportunities to be proud of their achievements.

Music Intent

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations

At Hook Junior School we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to inspire and instil confidence of all children

Music Implementation

At Hook Junior School we encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. Singing is an integral part of our school life and our teaching focuses on developing the children's ability to sing in tune, developing their expression and ability to listen to others. All children take part in weekly singing assemblies with songs linked to calendar events worldwide and build upon techniques learnt in class such as singing as part of a round, in a polyphonic overlap or in simple harmony.

Across year groups, pupils’ understanding of music will be developed through units of work which bring together the requirements of performing, composing, listening and appraising. Children are taught to make music together with tuned and un-tuned instruments and to compose their own pieces. They are also taught to sing and play in time, controlling the sound and pace. Additionally, they are taught different ways to represent sounds graphically and symbolically. In Year 3 the instrumental focus will be playing the recorder, in Year 4 they will learn the glockenspiel, year 5 focus on the ukulele and in Year 6 the learning will centre around learning the keyboard.

Our teaching focuses on:

• Developing an ability to sing in tune and with other people
• Developing an ability to recognise pulse and pitch
• Developing an ability to play instruments with control and sensitivity working with others to make music
• Developing an ability to recognise how individuals combine together to make sounds
• Develop knowledge of musical notation and how to compose simple musical melodies

Music Curriculum Impact

At Hook Junior School, we assess children's knowledge and understanding by questioning, listening and observation of performance in class as an on-going process. Evidence may be recorded in music booklets or through sound or video recordings Assessment will be carried out by Mrs Francis, our music teacher, who teaches across the school. Assessment will be ongoing throughout the term, as outlined in the Assessment Policy. At the end of a unit of work, the teacher makes a summative judgement. Mrs Francis will assess children's work in music by making informal judgements as she observes them during lessons. On completion of a piece of work, the teacher assesses the work and gives oral or written feedback, as necessary, to inform future progress. All pupils are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own work.

Extra-Curricular and Opportunities for Music

• Singing assembly — Once a week, a whole school assembly meets to learns hymns and songs for assembly and special occasions linked to R.E. and P.S.H.E
• Listening and Appraising — 4 times a week the whole school meets for whole school assemblies. As the children enter and leave the hall, they have the opportunity to listen to a new piece of music from different cultures and periods of history. This is timetabled over a 2 year rotation so that they get the opportunity to experience a whole range of music from 1400-present day and from countries and cultures around the world.
• School productions — Each year group has the opportunity each year to host a production to showcase their talents in drama and music, as well as links to other curriculum subjects. Year 3 host an Easter service at our local church, Year 4 host the Christmas production, Year 5 perform an assembly based around their topic of space and Year 6 conclude the academic year with a summer production.
• Performances – in addition to the performance mentioned above, children have the opportunity to audition to play their instruments to the children as they enter and exit the hall during Friday’s celebration assembly. Students partaking in peripatetic lessons or music clubs also regularly perform in assembly to showcase their work. Twice during our academic year all of our musicians and performers get together to create a spectacular show. In December they partake in ‘Carols Around the Tree’ to celebrate Christmas and then again in the Summer for ‘Strawberry Teas’ to thank all the adults who support us here at Hook.
• We provide a wide range of music clubs – choir, orchestra, fuse drumming, recorders and musical theatre are just some of the clubs that regularly run throughout the academic year.
• Peripatetic music lessons in flute, guitar, ukulele, piano, violin and brass are currently offered (at additional cost).
• Concerts and performances - at Hook Junior School, we believe that performance is vital within the music curriculum; each child either independently, as part of a group or with the whole class will be given the opportunity to perform to their peers, other classes or the whole school during assemblies. Additionally, where possible, parents and carers are invited to either watch live or share a recording of pieces of music throughout each unit of work.
• Visitors – All children will have the opportunity to listen to and work with music specialists throughout their time at Hook Juniors. We have in recent years been visited by a recorder specialist who performed for year 3, The Winchfield Trust who have conducted a variety of drumming workshops with year 4-6 and a Samba drummer who performed with Year 3. Year 5 also get the opportunity to attend the Primary Proms at the Anvil.