“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Victor Hugo

• Music at Downsview

• Downsview Choir

Intent- Why do we teach Music?

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity – it is a key part of our lives and therefore we recognise its value at Downsview. We believe it offers children something that is emotional, imaginative and fun.

Other reasons for teaching music are:

• To develop creativity: It builds imagination and self-confidence.
• To improve academics: Music helps the body and the mind work together. Research has shown that it develops areas of the brain that pertain to language and reasoning. Learning songs can improve children’s memory skills.
• To develop children socially, culturally and spiritually: Music teaches children a variety of cultures and helps people to connect. Children are naturally very social, and it's important to encourage them to build relationships by providing them experiences to share with each other. Music can also play a part in spiritual development and therefore music is an integral part of Downsview; during Assemblies we expose children to a range of beautiful songs, which are uplifting and an opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the wonder of music.

Implementation- What do we teach?

The music curriculum ensures children listen, sing, dance, compose, notate, play, perform and evaluate. Our intention is that this becomes embedded not only in music lessons but also in singing assemblies, class assemblies, classroom activities, extra-curricular clubs (choir, drama, dance, Perform), Years 3 & 5 drumming, various productions, concerts and performances within school and the wider community. A wide range of instruments are on offer- taught by visiting music teachers. Djembe drum and Samba are taught to Year 3 and 5 throughout the year. This teaches them to read and understand musical notations, learn to perform as a group, follow a ‘conductor’ when playing and explore different genres of music. Children should also have opportunities to compose or perform using body percussion and vocal sounds, developing an understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument. We aim to expose the children to a wide range of genres, cultures, contexts and styles through music appreciation.

Our curriculum is created to ensure clear achievable steps of progression from Early Years to Year 6. This is achieved through the use of Kapow.

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
EYFS	Exploring Sounds	Celebration Music	Music and Movement	Musical Stories	Transport	Big Band
Year 1	Pulse and Rhythm: All About Me	Classical Music: Dynamics and Tempo - Animals	Musical Vocabulary: Under the Sea	Timbre and Rhythmic Patterns: Fairy Tales	Pitch and Tempo: Superheroes	Vocal and Body Sounds: By the Sea
Year 2	West African Call and Response Song	Orchestral Instruments: Traditional Stories	Musical Me	Dynamics, Timbre, Tempo and Motifs: Space	On This Island: British Songs and Sounds	Myths and Legends
Year 3	Ballads	Creating Compositions in Response to an Animations: Mountains	Developing Singing Technique: The Vikings	Pentatonic Melodies and Composition: Chinese New Year	Jazz	Traditional Instruments and Improvisation: India
Year 4	Body and Tuned Percussion: Rainforests	Rock and Roll	Changes in Pitch, Tempo and Dynamics: Rivers	Haiku, Music and Performance: Hanami	Samba and Carnival Sounds and Instruments	Adapting and Transposing Motifs: Romans
Year 5	Composition Notation: Ancient Egypt	Blues	South and West Africa	Composition to Represent the Festival of Colour: Holi Festival	Looping and Remixing	Musical Theatre
Year 6	Dynamics, Pitch and Tempo: Fingal’s Cave	Songs of WW2	Film Music	Theme and Variations: Pop Art	Baroque	Composing and Performing a Leavers’ Song

In Years 3 and 5 we also learn how to read music, follow a conductor and play the Djembe drum- alongside Samba. Here are photos and videos of Year 5 performing during their weekly lessons. 

5 Hoy performing the Djembe drum and Samba accompaniment

 

We also offer 1:1 or small group Violin lessons, organised and led by Croydon Music and Arts. We are also hoping to offer Guitar and Piano lessons very soon, watch this space! If you would like to find out more information about lessons fees, please visit the website below.

 

Impact- Our expectations

Pupils will be able to perform in front of an audience with raised confidence and skill

Children will have enhanced singing skills; harmonies and rounds etc

Teachers will be able to teach engaging music lessons

Children will leave school, knowing the 6 elements of music

Teacher’s assessments will highlight levels of children and progress being made termly through quality teaching and learning