Music at Elm Hall Primary School
My name is Michelle Mansfield and I am the Music Lead at Elm Hall. At Elm Hall Primary, we believe that music is a powerful, inimitable form of communication which has the ability to transform the way children, and adults, feel, think and act. It transcends different cultures, abilities and generations and establishes a sense of unity and community. Listening to, creating and sharing music, fulfils an intuitive desire for self-expression and imagination which stimulates responses both on an emotional and intellectual level.
As pupils progress, they should be able to develop their appreciation of a wide variety of muscial genres and understand the context in which they were written and performed - this afford them opportunities to apply their historical skills as they discuss the impact music has had in shaping our society today.
Our intent is for children to develop a lifelong passion for music which contributes to their personal, social and emotional development and in turn allows them to flourish in all areas of the curiculum and out in the wider world.
Our Learning Aims
At Elm Hall, we aim to encourage all children to:
- Develop musical skills and concepts through listening, appraising, performing and composing
- Develop social skills through co-operation with others in the shared experience of music making.
- Develop an understanding of musical traditions and developments in a variety of cultures.
- Develop an understanding of musical history and developments across genres from the UK and in the wider world.
- Be motivated to enjoy and succeed in music.
What Do We Learn?
Early Years: Music in Reception is taught as an integral part of child-initiated and adult-led activities. The children are afforded opportunities to discover, experiment and experience music in both indoor and outdoor environments. Our Reception class are currently involved in an Essex Music Services, 2-year, learning programme in conjunction with The Paul Hamlyn Fund Project. This project asserts that arts can, and should, play an integral role in “enriching young people’s learning and educational experiences”. Throughout the 2-year programme, the arts will be used to “engage and inspire young people, support key educational outcomes and develop skills that prepare young people for life beyond school”. A peripatetic music teacher plans and delivers lessons on a two-weekly rota while the LSA/teacher observe and then teach the same lesson intermittently. Importantly for our children, they have opportunities to listen, respond and perform to a rich and diverse variety of music which in turn develops the children’s communication, creativity and problem-solving skills. In addition to the enjoyment and enrichment that music offers, it also promotes an increase in their engagement in school and their learning.
Key Stage 1: In KS1, children begin the Charanga Musical School Scheme. Focus is on learning to play the glockenspiel/keyboard as their chosen instrument to promote progression across the key stage. Specific notes are taught in each of the year groups with Year 2 revising and progressing from the Year 1 curriculum. At the beginning of the term, the children will begin their musical journey with the specific glockenspiel unit in order to gain the necessary skills to progress throughout the year.
Since this year, all of the chidlren in Years 1 and 2 are taught through a combined approach of the Paul Hamlyn Project and Charanga as we have a trained member of staff who delivers the sessions and continues to build on the skills the children have been taught from EYFS.
Key Stage 2: In KS2, children continue with the Charanga Musical School Scheme. Focus shifts to the recorder as the primary instrument for progression in skills. Now familiar with the notes taught previously (in KS1), the children will begin each year with the specifically designated recorder unit for their year group. Each year builds upon the skills of the last and ensures that the children are able to progress in all intruments previously taught and culminates in Year 6 with the focus on playing music with all notes across the octave.
Meet Our Subject Ambassadors!
Year 4-Louitsiana and Kennedy
Year 5-Stuart
Year 6 - Annalise