Curriculum Music

At Woodlea, we use The Charanga Musical School Scheme. This provides teachers with week-by-week lesson support for each year group in the school. It is ideal for specialist and non-specialist teachers and provides lesson plans, assessment, clear progression, and engaging and exciting whiteboard resources to support every lesson. The Scheme supports all the requirements of the national curriculum. In line with the curriculum for music and guidance from Ofsted, this Scheme moves away from the previous levels and learning objective/outcome concepts to an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. Ofsted have stated that “We will not always know the learning outcomes” so segregated learning objectives at the start of each lesson are not appropriate. Instead the interrelated dimensions of music weave through the units to encourage the development of musical skills as the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities (including creating and exploring) and performing.

Implementation

Each Unit of Work comprises the strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:

• Listening and Appraising
• Musical Activities
• Warm-up Games
• Optional Flexible Games
• Singing
• Playing instruments
• Improvisation
• Composition
• Performing

Charanga Musical School Units of Work enable children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.

Musical teaching and learning is not neat or linear. The strands of musical learning, presented within the lessons and the on-screen resources, are part of the learning spiral. Over time, children can both develop new musical skills and concepts, and revisit established musical skills and concepts. Repeating a musical skill doesn’t necessarily mean their progress is slowing down or their development is moving backwards! It's just shifting within the spiral. Mastery means both a deeper understanding of musical skills and concepts and learning something new.

Each lesson in the Scheme is designed to last for 1 hour:

Listen and Appraise – 15 mins

Musical Activities – 35 mins

Perform/Share – 10 mins

Impact

We believe that by our children becoming knowledgeable musicians, they will be able to articulate their opinions and preferences with confidence. Children will develop their own creativity as well as team work skills when performing as an ensemble.

The work produced by our children and the discussions they have, should demonstrate that they are equipped with the musical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the secondary curriculum and for life as an adult beyond Woodlea. As the children experience the diversity of human creativity, and understand more about themselves as individuals, what they have learnt can influence their own decisions and personal choices surrounding their own creative endeavours.

Co-curricular music

Woodlea offers access to an excellent school choir. This choir performs at school events and also local schools’ celebrations. This runs once a week after school and is a free club to attend. It is open to Key Stage 2 pupils.

We also offer a variety of music lessons by peripatetic music teachers. This will be the second academic year have been offered and includes flute, clarinet, piano and saxophone.

Woodlea Primary has formed a working relationship with Backbeat Collective who provide 1:1 and group music lessons. These include guitar and vocal coaching. Instruments are provided for the children free of charge and lessons cost between £7- £15 depending on the group size.

We offer music tuition for all children in year 4, free of charge, to learn either a woodwind or a brass instrument. This is through Grayshott Concerts who also provide all the instruments. This includes toot, dood, p-bone and trumpet.

Rocksteady work with Woodlea School to provide group music lessons for children Y1- 6. This costs around £30 per month and includes instrument provision.

Musical experiences

All children at Woodlea take part in weekly singing assemblies run by the Music Lead. These begin with a vocal warm up, and then children are taught to sing in unison, parts and in a round.

At Christmas every child takes part in a performance, nativity for EYFS-Y2 and carol concerts for KS2.

At the end of the academic year, Y6 put on a musical production.

Woodlea are working to increase the range of enrichment experiences/trips (some of which may be virtual), so that the children experience life outside their local community.

Choir attend the Bordon Schools Together concert at Oakmoor.

Woodlea has taken part in the BackBeat Collective Rising Music Festival. The whole school took part in a music video and Year 6 have written and performed their own song for the festival.