New Longton All Saints’ C. of E. Primary School
Music Curriculum 2015-2016
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Overview
At New Longton, we endorse the belief that music is a universal language that embodies one of the
highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and 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 discrimination to some of the
best examples of a wide ranging musical repertoire.
Aims
Our aims follow the national aims which are to ensure that all pupils:

perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles
and traditions, 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 and have
the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through
the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and
appropriate musical notations.
In Early Years and Key Stage 1, our pupils are taught to use their voices expressively and
creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes. They are encouraged to play tuned
and untuned instruments in a musical manner. They are shown how to listen with concentration
and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music. They are given opportunities
to experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
At Key Stage 2, our pupils are taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and
control. We aim to develop within the children an understanding of musical composition, organising
and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
They are also taught to play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and
playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression. The
children are given opportunities to improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the
inter-related dimensions of music. They are shown how to listen with attention to detail and recall
sounds with increasing aural memory. They begin to use and understand staff and other musical
notations. The children are encouraged to appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality
live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
They are given opportunities to develop an understanding of the history of music.
Scheme of Work
Early Years
Our children are given opportunities to develop their musical skills and understanding in terms of
performing, creating and responding to music on an on-going basis throughout all topics, working
both inside the classroom and in the designated outdoor music area.
KS 1
Year 1
Year 2
Autumn 1
Animal
Songs
Autumn 2
Sound effects
Spring 1
Spring 2
Space sounds; Weather sounds
Space-themed and songs
songs
Chants and
Rhymes
Sea Shanties
Percussion
Summer 1
Action Rhymes
Summer 2
Carnival Music;
Percussion;
Song Lyrics
Playing Tuned
and Untuned
Instruments
Listening
Improvising
Using Voices
KS2
Year 3
Autumn 1
Composition
Year 4
Writing song
lyrics
Year 5
Space inspired
music &
Themes
Year 6
Listening,
Improvising
and
Composing
Autumn 2
Music of the
20th Century
Spring 1
Improvising
Spring 2
Vegetable
orchestra
Singing
Summer 2
Performing
using metal
objects from
instruments
Composing
Lyrics
Traditional and
cultural music
Composing &
singing
Listening,
Performing
and
Composing
Soundscapes
Summer 1
Tudor Music;
Composition
Appraising;
Listening to
Voices
Pulse and
Rhythm
Sound; Digital
Technologies;
Recordings
Assessment
As part of the National Curriculum reform, the previous system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s
attainment has been removed. The removal of levels has allowed us a greater flexibility in the way that
we plan and assess the children’s learning. The programme of study for Music, sets out expectations
for the end of each key stage, and children will be assessed against these objectives as they progress
through each year.