Music

At Wrangle Primary Academy, the intent of our Music curriculum is for children to gain a musical knowledge and curiosity of how historical, social and cultural origins of music contribute to the diversity of musical styles. Children will learn how to perform, listen and reflect on different types of music and use different instruments to create and produce their own pieces expressing thoughts, feelings and emotions. Our aspirational curriculum allows children to experience a breadth of classic and modern day musicians and composers. Our curriculum aims to encourage children to develop their resilience and perseverance through learning from mistakes (their own and those of others) and evaluating and improving their work. We want our children to be excited about music and become immersed in the musical composition process.

At Wrangle, we follow the Charanga scheme of music which ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as our weekly Singing assembly, various concerts and performances and the learning of instruments. Through the musical program Charanga, teachers are able to produce inclusive lessons for all children to access the musical curriculum in a fun and engaging way, further promoting a love of learning. Teachers deliver music following the Charanga programme, designed specifically for the teaching of music in primary schools. Charanga lessons are planned in sequences to provide children with the opportunities to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding. The elements of music are taught in classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. Each unit is organised in the following way:

• Steps 1-6 feature three different songs with connected musical activities.
• In Year 1, there is a new song each week.
• In Years 2-6, Steps 1, 3 and 5 include a Listen and Respond activity related to the song being learnt. Steps 2 and 4 include a different Listen and Respond for enrichment.

• Step 6 repeats one of the Listen and Respond activities for assessment purposes.
• Step 6 is an ‘Assessment Checkpoint’ week. Teachers have the option of delivering a standard music lesson or having the children complete some, or all, of the assessment tasks.

In the classroom, children learn how to play the recorder, the glockenspiel and a variety of percussion instruments. Playing various instruments enables children to use a range of methods to create notes, as well as how to read basic music notation. They also learn how to compose, focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.