We are very lucky to have a specialist music teacher who teaches music to all children across the week. The National Curriculum is followed with the additional use of other published schemes and approaches to teaching music.
At The Russell School, we deliver a progressive music curriculum based on the aims of the National Curriculum for music. Through our music education, we create a love of music making and an appreciation of many different genres of music by making music lessons and experiences exciting and enjoyable. Specialist teaching styles and curriculum content aim to enhance engagement of all our children with their diverse range of abilities, interests and cultural heritages. We equip children with an extensive musical vocabulary and we make cross-curricular links with other areas of learning. Class music lessons develop collaborative and transferable learning skills and promote our school ethos of mutual respect. Singing is at the heart of our music curriculum and children participate in singing activities with enthusiasm. We update the curriculum regularly to ensure its relevance within our continually changing cultural and educational landscape.
We provide enriching extra-curricular opportunities and are committed to equal access and inclusion. All children have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and to sing in a choir. Through participating in a wide variety of musical and cultural experiences, we recognise the importance of music in building self-confidence, raising self-esteem, supporting emotional well-being and enabling creative and spiritual expression. We harness opportunities offered by local and national cultural institutions and strive to build positive partnerships that embed our school in a wider cultural community.
All class lessons include a balance of singing, listening, appraising, composing and performing. The children learn about music from different times and genres and lessons often cross into many other curriculum areas.
In Key Stage One, children develop their ability to recognise the difference between pulse and rhythm and to perform with a sense of pulse. They learn how to play a variety of unpitched percussion instruments and begin to play simple tunes on pitched instruments including the keyboard. We play games to develop their ability to discriminate between high, low, short and long sounds and use movement to express their ideas and feelings about music.
When children are in Key Stage Two, all children learn to play more pitched instruments; in Year Three, all children learn to play the recorder and in Year Four, the ukulele is learnt in class. Our Year Four children also have vocal and flute lessons with the Wider Opportunities programme.
Many children also take up instrumental lessons with The Richmond Music Trust and our own freelance teachers. We currently have children learning to play the violin, flute, guitar, drums, piano, trumpet, trombone and cello as well as learning to sing. Opportunities are created throughout the year for children to perform in concerts and assemblies. In recent years, we have been developing music technology lessons for the children in Year Four to Year Six. Our innovative music tech programme is now fully established owing to a recent investment in both equipment and a specialist teacher.
We have two choirs - Key Stage One and Key Stage Two. All children are allowed to join choir and represent the school on many occasions throughout the year including the annual Richmond Singing Festival and the school fairs.
We have an after school orchestra club which all Key Stage Two children are welcome to join and also lunchtime recorder and ukulele clubs. Our children in Year Five sing at the annual Young Voices concert at the O2 Arena and we try to attend the Bright Sparks concerts at The Royal Festival Hall whenever we can.
We are currently developing a band programme for our children in Upper Key Stage Two.
In Key Stage Two, we build on work from Key Stage One, covering the musical elements of:
● pitch – gradations of high/low
● duration – groups of beats, rhythm
● dynamics – gradations of volume
● tempo – different speeds
● timbre – different types of sound
● texture – different ways sounds are combined
● structure – different ways sounds are organised
Progression of Knowledge and Skills in Music
EYFS Knowledge and Skills in Expressive Art and Design