Music

Music is at the heart of many Christian education settings across the country. Here at Churchfield, we endeavour to give all children the opportunity to flourish into young people who can appreciate and play music. 

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon. National Curriculum Music (2014) 
  
The publication of the Model Music Curriculum (MMC) guidance is a positive step in raising the profile of music education in this country.  Charanga is totally aligned to the National Curriculum for Music. When using the Charanga Scheme and its progressive week-by-week lessons, we are guaranteed to be meeting all the statutory requirements of it in full – both now and in the future. 

Intent

Our intent with our Music curriculum is to give all children practical experiences so that they can enjoy all aspects of Music. Music is used to enhance learning in other curriculum areas, eg. times table raps/songs to embed knowledge; French songs to increase cultural awareness and develop vocabulary, etc.

Implementation

The teaching of the music curriculum is carried out through the use of “Charanga” a full scheme of learning for schools. This scheme covers all aspects of the music national curriculum from EYFS to Year 6. Charanga offers not only theory lessons about music, notation and vocabulary, it also allows for children to get creative, play, compose and perform using musical instruments and their voices.  

 
The activities and games cover the musical dimensions, (formerly elements – pulse, rhythm, pitch etc) through singing and playing instruments, listening and creating music – all intrinsically linked through a central song or piece. 
They don't just learn about the music but are able to use their new skills to perform their chosen piece. 

 
Music has a strong cross curricular links. As children go through the academy, music can be linked with their dance lessons and history and geography topic, as children learn about music around the world and through history. Every week children gather together as a whole school to learn how to sing hymns ready for church. The songs are linked to our value of the half term and shared with Reverend Helen to be talked about in Church as a part of our weekly worship, 

We are confident that the design of Charanga provides clear progression in all four strands of Music. This progression enables formative assessment to further develop teaching and learning in Music. Charanga also gives clear indications of how to differentiate in lessons to challenge the more able. We endeavor to ensure that Music is not seen as a stand-alone subject but is incorporated into many other areas of our curriculum. 

Impact

Whilst in school, children have access to a varied programme, which allows students 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 student may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world.  

The impact of our Music curriculum is that when children leave Churchfield CE Academy, they will have a love of music and increased levels of self-confidence. They will be inspired by different genres of music, analyse music and compose a variety of music. 

​ 

SEND and Music

The Charanga scheme provides a range of resources to aid SEND pupils in their leaning and makes link with computing in its use of IPads. During lockdown we also used signed songs. Students learn about turn-taking, anticipation, working with others, respect and appreciation of others, making choices and building self-esteem. 

 “Music is a unique form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. Music forms part of an individual’s identity and positive interaction with music can develop pupils’ competence as learners and increase their self-esteem. Music brings together intellect and feeling and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development. As an integral part of culture, past and present, music helps pupils understand themselves, relate to others and develop their cultural understanding, forging important links between home, school and the wider world. “Music education encourages active involvement in different forms of music-making, both individual and communal, helping to develop a sense of group identity and togetherness. Music can influence pupils’ development in and out of school by fostering personal development and maturity, creating a sense of achievement and self-worth, and increasing pupils’ ability to work with others in a group context. “Music learning develops pupils’ critical skills: their ability to listen, to appreciate a wide variety of music, and to make judgements about musical quality. It also increases self-discipline, creativity, aesthetic sensitivity and fulfilment.” National Curriculum, QCA, 2009  

To overcome potential barriers to learning in music, some pupils may need: " help in managing the written communication aspects of music − such as the use of symbols − by using larger print, colour codes, multi-sensory reinforcement, and a greater emphasis on aural memory skills " encouragement to use their voices expressively and to use different forms of communication − such as gesture − to compensate for difficulties when singing and speaking " opportunities to learn about music through physical contact with an instrument and/or sound source where they are unable to hear sounds clearly or at all. 

Charanga Whole School Overview

*Completed over a two year rolling programme