Music @ St. Bart’s

St. Bartholomew’s Music provision aims to encourage awareness, enjoyment and appreciation of Music in all its forms. Children will be provided with the opportunity to develop their imagination and creativity. Children of all abilities will develop positive attitudes and will experience success and satisfaction in Music. Throughout school, all children are given the opportunities to perform, compose, listen and appraise. Through fun and inspiring Music lessons children will aspire to achieve their full potential and be the best learner they can be. All children will be given the skills to flourish across all aspects of the Music curriculum and become successful learners. We apply our ‘Fun and Achieve’ philosophy to all our musical endeavours and the children understand that this is how progress is made. We use adaptive practises to ensure our music curriculum and extra-curricular activities are accessible to all because we understand that music has a positive impact on all who are lucky enough to experience it.

At St. Bartholomew’s we value music as a powerful and unique art form. Music is a key element of school, bringing together our children as a family. Our musical intent is supported and informed by current national guidance on best practice, in-service training, staff discussion and professional judgement.

We have designed our Music curriculum so that our learners:

• Develop a passion for music, in which pupils learn to appreciate music and develop a life-long love of music.
• Develop their skills, knowledge and understanding, to enable them to become confident performers, composers and listeners
• Are introduced to a variety of genres of music from around the world and across generations and how we use music as a medium to explore and appreciate British and other cultures
• Develop their musical skills through singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, composing music and responding to music that they listen to
• Develop transferrable skills which are key in their development as learners and have a wider application in their lives both inside and outside of school e.g.: team-working, leadership, creative thinking, decision-making and performance skills

In order to become musicians, the children begin building their skills and knowledge through song and experimenting with sound. As they progress through the school, they develop their listening, performing and composing, learning to use formal written notation and musical language.

Our music curriculum is taught progressively so that it begins in the Early Years, where the children’s musical awareness is developed to support their imagination and creativity. This early love of music is then developed throughout the school, whereupon, children are encouraged to perform, rehearse, sing and explore their own musicality.

In EYFS – Year 3, our curriculum is delivered by class teachers using the ‘Charanga’ scheme of work. Music is taught weekly through various classroom activities as well as being embedded through singing assemblies and various concerts and performances with the opportunity to learn instruments in Years 4-6.

Charanga’s English Model Music Curriculum Scheme is aligned with the National Curriculum for Music and the non-statutory Model Music Curriculum Guidance published by the DfE in 2021. This Scheme provides clearly-sequenced units and lessons with week-by-week support for each year group. The Scheme follows a spiral approach to musical learning, with children revisiting, building and extending their knowledge and skills incrementally. In this manner, their learning is consolidated and augmented, increasing musical confidence and enabling them to go further. Children experience playing the glockenspiel and a variety of percussion instruments.

In Years 4, 5 and 6, children experience weekly music lessons delivered by a music professional from Bolton Music Service through the wider opportunities scheme. Children continue to build on the knowledge and skills they have learned from Charanga whilst having the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.

Year 4 – Djembe Drums

Year 5 – Steel Pans

Year 6 – Brass

We also provide many opportunities for children to showcase and further their musical learning at St. Bartholomew’s. Choir is a popular extra-curricular club which is held weekly. Choir performances include singing in the local community at Christmas e.g. the rotary club and library. Our children are also invited to join the Young Voices choir and perform at the Co-Op Live arena alongside many other schools. Many of our children learn to play an instrument, attending peripatetic lessons within the school day, offered by the Bolton Music Service. These children proudly showcase their talent and learning each summer term during a music celebration assembly for children and parents.

The impact of the Music curriculum at St. Bartholomew’s can be seen through:

• Our children are engaged and excited by our music curriculum.  The skills that they are taught equip them with a range of skills to enable them to appreciate music throughout their lives
• Our children have become confident performers, composers and listeners, who are able to express themselves musically at school and beyond
• Our children show an appreciation and respect for a range of music from a variety of genres across a variety of generations
• Our children demonstrate and express their enthusiasm for music
• Our children progress throughout the music curriculum which enables them to meet the expectations outlined at the end of each key stage for the national curriculum

Music Overview

Music Overview – More Detail