Intent
Our intent is that at Our Lady and St Chad music is to inspire students who are enriched by sharing musical experiences.
Students should gain a firm understanding of what music is through performing, composing and listening across a variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres.
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.
Self-confidence is crucial to students and in an engaging and safe learning environment students can gain a feeling of fellowship through shared creation and appreciation of music.
We aim to show that music can be a conduit in promoting the schools core values in the way it can enhance both physical and mental wellbeing, in the way it is created and received.
We provide progression pathways via GCSE and A Level qualifications which can let students develop both academically and vocationally in music which allows students achieve their potential.
Implementation
Students in KS3 at Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy engage in Music through a carousel which allows students classroom lessons for half the year. GCSE students have twice weekly lessons and this increases to four lessons at Post 16. Lessons are a balance of performing, composing and listening and involve a variety of stimulus material.
The music curriculum ensures students listen, perform, compose and analyse. This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as collective worship, various concerts and performances (both in and out of school), and the option to learn a range of instruments.
In KS3 the curriculum is designed to give students the chance to explore a wide range of different musical genres building knowledge, and their listening, composing and performing skills and confidence.
In Year 7 students learn about the wider Domains of Knowledge and topics covering African music, four chord pop songs, and programmatic music.
In Year 8 students continue their musical exploration studying theme and variations, Mozart and Beethoven, Minimalism and Club Dance and Reggae.
The KS3 journey is completed with units on Rap and Hip Hop and Electronic Dance Music.
KS4 Music follows the GCSE route and the OCR 9-1 Music course. This continues to be based on the concepts of Performance, Composition and Listening.
Key stages four and five allows students to develop their knowledge and skills further with in depth studies across the concepts of performance, composition and listening. Students have cover a wide range of music styles and genres from across the world and expand their musical experience becoming confident performers and assured composers. Students cover topics from the Classical Concerto to pop ballads, from JS Bach to Kate Bush.
Wolverhampton Music Service (WMS) are employed to provide high-quality, expert tuition for our instrumental learners across a wide range of instruments. WMS provide the instruments used in these lessons. We give students to opportunity to continue their lessons from Primary school or start afresh in Year7. Students have the choice of brass, guitar, string, vocal and woodwind lessons.
Every child is given the opportunity to perform to each other in class, but also to members of the wider community and their families.
The inter-related dimensions or elements of music are taught in classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed.
In the classroom students learn about the sounds that instruments make from Western classical, traditional world and contemporary pop instruments. In doing so, they become familiar with the method of creating notes, as well as how to read and use standard music notation.
They also learn how to improvise and compose, focussing on different styles of music, which in turn feeds their contextual understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music.
Impact
Students at Our Lady St Chad Catholic Academy through music will have been able to engage with a wide variety of music from across genres and history. Through performance, composing and listening they will have been able to grow in confidence and become articulate in the language of music.
GCSE and A Level learners, in particular, will become critical thinkers who are able to analyse music and its context in detail. The true impact of our Music curriculum is to see our learners achieve their musical potential. We have a curriculum that will allow students to study music at a college, conservatory or university or go on to a non-musical career with improved communication and confidence and the tools to enjoy engaging with music throughout their lives
Progression Map
Please view the additional documents in school:
- Curriculum on a page
- Knowledge Organisers
