Intent

 

 

At St Margaret’s, we believe that music is a universal language that inspires creativity, self-expression, and emotional connection. Our music curriculum aims to spark a lifelong love of music, nurturing every child’s talent and enabling them to grow in confidence, imagination, and achievement.

 

Through our curriculum, we aim to:

 

• Inspire a deep appreciation for music by exposing pupils to a wide variety of styles, genres, and traditions from around the world.
• Develop children’s vocal confidence, encouraging them to sing expressively and perform with enjoyment.
• Foster creativity by enabling pupils to compose, improvise, and collaborate in creating their own music.
• Provide opportunities to learn musical instruments, encouraging experimentation and curiosity with different sounds and techniques.
• Build understanding of musical structure and language, introducing key terminology, notation, and concepts at developmentally appropriate levels.
• Encourage critical engagement with music through listening, performing, reviewing, and evaluating works from a range of cultures, periods, and composers.
• Support emotional and social development by allowing children to explore how music can express feelings, tell stories, and strengthen wellbeing and community.

 

Implementation

 

 

At St Margaret’s, music is taught through the dynamic and interactive Kapow Primary Music Scheme, which provides a structured and inspiring approach to musical learning. The scheme supports teachers with high-quality resources and digital tools that promote engagement, creativity, and skill development in line with the National Curriculum.

 

Throughout their music lessons, pupils actively participate in performing, listening, composing, and appraising music. They explore a diverse range of instruments, rhythms, and sounds, developing an understanding of how music is created and performed. Children are encouraged to experiment with improvisation and composition, linking their learning to wider classroom themes when appropriate.

 

A weekly whole school singing assembly forms a vital part of our music provision. Songs are often chosen to reflect themes promoting emotional wellbeing, teamwork, and self-confidence through shared singing experiences. Singing together builds a strong sense of community across the school. Performance is central to our approach at St Margaret’s. All pupils take part in festive performances at Christmas and end-of-year shows in the summer term. Families are warmly invited to attend, celebrating the achievements and creativity of our young performers. All children in KS2 are given the oppurtunity to join a school choir. Across their time at St Margarets every child will be given the oppurtunity to make and perform music, showcasing their voices and other musical talents to a crowd and experience what it is like to have their time on stage.

Soundmakers is delivered by the Brighton and Hove Music and Arts (BHMA).  At St Margaret's we offer the project to children in Year 4 and they are given the opportunity to access a programme of whole-class instrumental learning.  

Delivered by music leaders from BHMA working in partnership with the class teacher, Soundmakers offers an engaging and enjoyable musical experience which enables children to learn together as band, developing musical concepts through the practical application of instrumental/vocal skills while working together towards a celebration performance.

 

Impact

 

Through our carefully designed and implemented curriculum, pupils at St Margaret’s will:

Listen attentively and respond thoughtfully to music from a wide range of cultures, genres, and historical periods.

Evaluate and appraise music with increasing independence, demonstrating an understanding of key musical elements and techniques.

By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils will be able to perform simple pieces with growing control and accuracy, play a variety of classroom instruments confidently, recognise and recall different sounds and musical features and sing tunefully and with expression.

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be able to perform and play music with skill, expression, and confidence, show versatility and control when playing a range of instruments, compose and improvise their own music creatively, both individually and collaboratively, listen with discrimination, demonstrating an understanding of musical styles, traditions, and forms, appreciate and discuss music from different cultures, historical periods, and composers and understand the evolution of music through time and the role it plays in society and culture.

Ultimately, pupils leave St Margaret’s with a strong foundation of musical knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm—equipped to continue exploring and enjoying music throughout their lives