Music

Music at East Stour

Music plays a very important part in the life of pupils and staff at East Stour. The classes are all named after instruments, mainly orchestral but grouped into the general types – string, wood wind, brass and percussion. Children hear lots of different types of music and are encouraged to enjoy a wide variety of music.

Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging.

Our Vision

At East Stour we aim to 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 understanding to a wide range of styles of music. 

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils: Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and tradition, including the works of the great composers and musicians,  learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately, understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

KS1: Pupils are taught to: Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and thymes Play tuned and untuned instruments musically, listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds! Some questions are: Do you like the song? What can you hear? What is the style of the music? How is the song put together?

KS2: Pupils are taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating idea within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory. Pupils are taught to: play and perform in solo and ensemble context, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression, improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music, listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory, use and understand staff and other musical notations, appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians ,develop an understanding of the history of music.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Aims

We aim to offer all children opportunities to engage in making and responding to music that will help them to:

• Develop their understanding and appreciation of a wide range of different kinds of music.
• Acquire appropriate knowledge, skills and understanding to make and perform music.
• Develop skills and attitudes that can support learning in other areas e.g. listening skills, self-confidence, perseverance and sensitivity.

Objectives

We aim to help children to understand:

• How sounds are made, changed and organised through use of different music elements (pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo) and structures.
• How music is produced, for example, through the use of the voice and musical processes including graphic and western symbols and notations.
• How music is influenced by the time and place, both in the creative process and performance.

EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS

Choir and recorder club is run weekly for KS2 children. The choir take part in many activities including assemblies, Christmas singing in carol services, residential homes and community events, Young Voices, Singing days at Highworth, CATs choir, Challenger games and Kent music events. The recorder club play each week in singing assembly and also have the opportunity to play with others at Highworth and Kent Music events.

Other clubs such as drumming and KS1 choir are offered at times depending on availability of staff and interests.

SINGING ASSEMBLY

Singing assembly takes place weekly and aims to teach techniques of singing, use of expression, round and part singing.

CLASS INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS

As part of the government scheme to give every child the opportunity to learn an instrument, children in Year 4 have weekly violin tuition and children in Year 3 learn to play the recorder.

INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS

Instrumental lessons on guitar, drums, violin, and keyboard are offered at the moment by outside providers – Make Time for Music and Rocksteady. Please ask for further details at the office.

LINKS WITH THE WIDER COMMUNITY

From time to time the children are involved in musical performances in the community. These have included visiting local residential homes to sing to residents, performing at the Community Carol service, singing at the WI Christmas Carol Service, performing at Newtown Fair and carol singing in the Town Centre and at ASDA to raise funds for charity.