Music

At Willow Tree, we provide a vibrant musical experience for all children to inspire a love of music. 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 make judgements about the quality of music.

Through our music curriculum pupils will:

• Gain enjoyment, self-confidence and a sense of achievement through musical activities.
• Be aware of, understand and respond appropriately to the rich variety of sounds in their environment and particularly to those organised arrangements of sounds called music. 
• Acquire musical skills and understanding of musical concepts through primarily active listening then performing and composing.
• Develop their capacity to express ideas and feelings through the medium of sound. 

Instrumental lessons, provided by the North Yorkshire Music hub, also enhance the curriculum on offer. As part of our commitment to equality and inclusion, the school pays for music tuition for children in receipt of pupil premium.  All children within school will also learn the Glockenspiel and Ukulele as part of the music curriculum. 

Implementation

At Willow Tree, we deliver a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum through Charanga, enabling the children to have broad experience of musical genre and composers. 

Charanga is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based approach to support children’s learning in music. A steady progression plan has been built into Charanga, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. By using Charanga as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that they are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum. Charanga includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places.

These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre. Charanga provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole-body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music.

Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.  During music lessons children will be given opportunities to learn music specific vocabulary in a meaningful context and will be given opportunities to apply skill and collaboration through composition.