Music

Intent

At Wheatfields Infants' and Nursery School, we aim to build the foundations for a life-long love of music through our Music Curriculum and the provision of a range of musical opportunities and experiences for our pupils.

We strive to be a musical school which has music at the heart of school ethos.Through music we seek to create, a school that is happy, inclusive, vibrant and positive! We nurture and celebrate the achievements of our pupils and seek to develop the confidence of our children through a love of music. We maintain strong musical links between with our local community and the Music Hub to provide enriching musical experiences for our children.

Implementation

In Nursery and Reception, our children are encouraged to play with the instruments and explore the sounds they make. They learn about the beat and practise clapping and beating patterns of rhythm. They listen to a wide range of music and are encouraged to respond to the music through dance, discussion or performance. Singing is an integral part of every day and the children are encouraged to sing familiar songs such as nursery rhymes and learn and perform new songs.

In Key Stage 1, we follow the Charanga Musical School Scheme. The children are given the opportunity to listen and respond to a wide ranging variety of music from classical and jazz to pop, hip hop and reggae. We have class sets of glockenspiels and the children are taught to play their instruments alongside learning to sing the songs. The children are given opportunities to improvise, compose and perform music both in small groups in class and on a larger stage at class assemblies and year group performances.

Singing is the golden thread which weaves throughout our curriculum. Children partake in weekly singing assemblies through which they develop the necessary understanding and skills when learning how to sing. They enjoy engaging in singing as part of a large group and explore a broad repertoire of songs. In addition, many of our children are part of the school choir which has members from Reception through to Year 2. The choir work towards a performance opportunity each term either in whole school assemblies or for a special event in the calendar. Furthermore, the after school club, Sing with a Smile, meet each week to enjoy singing together and movement to music.

Instrumental lessons take place each week in school and are offered to Year 2 children. A external music specialist from the Hertfordshire Music Service teaches the recorder and the ukulele to children in small groups.

Visit from the Charity Electric Umbrella

In March, we enjoyed a fantastic, whole-school visit and performance from the Electric Umbrella. The performance was co-presented by a team of learning disabled and professional musicians and challenged the staff and children to think differently about learning disabled people and explored how we can celebrate difference and help to build a world that is more inclusive. The interactive performances were so inspirational and included a range of live music. The children have been singing the songs ever since!

The themes included: