Music Policy

Clydach Junior School

A Curriculum Policy for Music

Introduction
This policy outlines provision for music in our school.

The school policy for this provision reflects the consensus of opinion of the whole teaching staff. It has been drawn up as a result of staff discussion and has the agreement of the Governing Body and teachers.

The implementation of this policy is the responsibility of all staff.

Philosophy
Children from the earliest years in school should be encouraged to become involved in active, spontaneous and enjoyable experiences with sound.

At nursery/infant level, the children should experience a range of activities that make music an every day occurrence, a part of the corporate life of the school. From this, children at Key Stage 2 should be introduced to activities which gradually develop and extend musical expertise.

Aims
Below are the agreed aims of the staff of Clydach Junior School:-

1. to enable children to acquire and promote musical skills by performing
2. to enable children to foster the capacity of expressing ideas and feelings creatively through music by composing
3. to enable children to develop critical insights and responses to music through listening
4. to encourage children to develop social skills and awareness through group activity
5. to allow children to gain opportunities for personal satisfaction and self-confidence
6. to enable children to be aware of the music of various cultures and especially the culture of Wales
7. to enable children to view music within the context of arts and society generally.

Objectives
To encourage all pupils to respond to a wide variety of sounds through:-
(a) Performing - The degree of performance will be relative to the experience and physical development of individual children – the child as singer / player.
(b) Composing - Teachers should give children the opportunity to create their own music, using sound tables, instruments, clapping for picture stories etc. – the child as creator/ arranger/ composer.
(c) Appraising - Children should be encouraged to listen attentively and respond to the music they have listened to, composed or performed – the child as audience / critic. The development of the aural capacity of the child.

Performing
In Clydach Junior School all children are encouraged to participate in music.

Recorders
All children will learn the descant recorder from Year 3. Some will have begun to learn in Year 2 in Clydach Infants School. Children will need to buy a recorder if they do not already have one of their own. The school holds a stock of recorders at the subsidised price of £4.

In Years 3 & 4 children will be taught the recorder in their class groups. In Y5/6 groups may be differentiated. They will have approximately one lesson every 2 weeks from either their class teacher or from an LSA with skills in playing the recorder, but this will be supplemented with regular music lessons in class with the class teacher where they will also be introduced to a range of tuned and untuned percussion instruments.

At Year 3 & 4 Recorder Boppers Boxes 1 and 2 can be used to introduce or reinforce notes A,B,C,D and G. Fingering positions, blowing or tongueing techniques, the position of each note on the stave and its length, rests and other appropriate notation will be introduced. In Year 4 children will be encouraged to buy an Abracadabra Book 1 which is available from school at the cost of £3. Notes F#, low E and low D will be introduced. Children should by now be able to recognise notes on the stave for themselves although for confidence they may still need or wish to write the note names, in pencil, above the notes in their own books.

Ideally by Years 5/6 children should be familiar with the full range of notes on the descant recorder and should be sight-reading music from Abracadabra Book 2 by the end of the Key Stage. By the end of the Key Stage groups of children should be playing 2 part songs on the recorder while other children sing the song and others play a percussion accompaniment. Obviously with the limited time available in school the child's proficiency will largely depend on the willingness of their parents to buy the recorder and books and the encouragement given to the child to practise at home.

Singing
All children take part in fortnightly singing sessions and sing in assembly. They learn a variety of songs and hymns both traditional and modern in Welsh and English. In Years 4/5/6 the children are given the opportunity to audition for the school choir which usually meets at lunchtime and occasionally after school. In Y5/6 every child has an opportunity to perform in a musical production. This can include songs with two-part harmony and the chance for some children to sing solos, duets or in small groups.

Violins
In Year 4 children have the opportunity to take an aptitude test if they are interested in playing the violin or cello. There are twenty school violins and three cellos which are loaned free of charge to pupils or the County Music Office runs an assisted purchase scheme whereby parents can buy a reasonably priced, recommended violin over the course of the year (approx. £45). Approximately thirty pupils from each of Year 4,5 and 6 are able to take advantage of weekly violin lessons from a visiting peripatetic teacher.

Percussion
The school has a range of percussion instruments which are easily moved to any classroom to accompany class music or recorder lessons or to assist with the composition work for the term.

General
Opportunities for performing to a larger audience than their own class will arise when each class performs its annual assembly for the school and parents. In addition, groups of children play or sing at the Christmas concert, the Harvest Festival Service, at old people's homes, the School Eisteddfod, the Summer Fete, the Christmas production the summer musical picnic etc. Children are also encouraged to join various music clubs in the county to help them develop their musical skills and some will participate in the West Glamorgan Primary School Orchestra.

Composing
Throughout the Key Stage children will be encouraged and helped to improvise, compose and arrange music in response to a range of stimuli such as poems, works of art, stories or other pieces of music.

The children will be shown how to represent sounds on paper so that they can recognise them when 'playing back' the music. They will also gain familiarity with conventional manuscript music from their recorder and other performance work. Children can invent their own symbols for sounds, pitch and dynamics. They should be able to divide their music into sections, either like conventional bars or their own method as long as it remains consistent for the duration of the composition. They should be able to count time and play back their music individually, as part of their group and with their group as part of a whole class performance. They should understand the need for a conductor and find some agreement within their group about notation. They should become familiar with revising their work until they are satisfied with the finished effect.

In Years 3/4 children will use the scheme 'The Three Singing Pigs' as a basis for their compositions. In Years 5/6 pupils follow the scheme 'Three Rapping Rats'. Each term's scheme of work suggests which piece may be the most appropriate. They will then extend their knowledge into the wider topic area e.g. to create 'garden' music, 'spooky' music or 'rainforest' music. Each year they will have the opportunity to use IT software (e.g. Musical Monsters in Y3/4, Print Music etc.) to compose music on conventional staves and add accompanying rhythms (see overleaf). By the end of the Key Stage they should aim to be able to play back their refined compositions on their recorders with percussion accompaniment from a print out of their music.

Appraising
Children will be exposed to a wide variety of music during Key Stage 2.
On arriving for and leaving assembly each day the children will listen to the music of the composer of the month or instrument of the month who/which will be mentioned during assembly each day for the children to become familiar with the name of the composer and the style of music.

In the classroom appropriate music may be played 'in the background' during art, poetry or other creative lessons.

Within each term's topic the scheme of work suggests possible music for listening to in the classroom. Over the 4 years of the Key Stage a range of 'types' of music will be covered. E.g. :-

Singing - pop, folk, traditional, operatic, choral, plainsong, nursery rhyme

Solo instrumental - flute, piano, violin, organ, trumpet, guitar, human voice

Orchestral music - whole orchestra as well as quartets, quintets etc. Classical music from the Elizabethan Age up to the present day.

Music for different moods or occasions e.g. music suitable for weddings, lullabies etc.

Music for different purposes - marching, dancing, meditating.

Music from different traditions - Indian music, Rainforest music etc.

Musical Terms
Children will be introduced, over Key Stage 2, to the required musical terms. Click here to see the Musical Terms.

Resources
The school is quite well equipped with various musical instruments ranging from violins, guitars, recorders, xylophones, chime bars, to various untuned percussion instruments i.e. maracas, tambourines, drum, cymbals etc. Music stands are available and music books - mainly song books. There is a good selection of CDs on the CD shelf.
Click here to see the Resource List.

Assessment and Record Keeping
Assessment should be as simple and straightforward as possible and should be based on teachers' own judgements of pupils' classroom work. Teachers keep their own notes on pupils progress and record informally in Assessment Files and formally in the annual report.

Special Educational Needs
The Music curriculum will be accessible to all pupils regardless of ability. There are no ‘wrong answers in composition or music appreciation. Some pupils may find it difficult to read music but they can be supported by their LSAs and/or have the notes written on the books for them when playing the recorder. The choir is open to all children who can sing.

Cwricwlwm Cymreig
Class teachers are encouraged to play Welsh composers as background music for appreciation e.g. Karl Jenkins who is particularly accessible. We have a weekly “Welsh Assembly” in which Welsh stories, Welsh music etc. are featured. Children will have opportunities to listen to Welsh choirs, Welsh composers and Welsh singers such as Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones, Katherine Jenkins, Tom Jones. In daily Collective Worship and in fortnightly singing lessons pupils will have access to Welsh hymns and songs. We have an annual Eisteddfod.

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Clydach Junior School

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