Intent

Music is a universal language that can bring people together, and it can foster a sense of community within the classroom. By participating in musical activities, children can develop a lifelong love for music and experience the joy of creating and sharing music with others.

Music lessons at Tylers Green Middle school allow the pupils to express themselves as composers, performers, improvisers and communicators. We aim to inspire a love of music that not only develops a subject-specific skill set that exploring the interrelated dimensions offers, but also challenges children to consider their understanding of history, art, technology and culture. Our curriculum endeavours to expose pupils to the works of great musicians and composers (historical and current), and to develop an appreciation of quality listening and appraising. We are passionate that music belongs to every pupil of every ability.

Implementation

Our pupils have a weekly hour-long music lesson; this is delivered by our passionate and incredibly talented specialist music teacher. Across their four years at TGMS, pupils experience a wide range of instruments and music, delivered in innovative and engaging ways. All pupils participate in a weekly singing assembly and they have the opportunity to join the choir club, should they wish, which performs in front of the school and wider community at various events.

Our musical opportunities – whether it be through curriculum time, instrumental lessons, whole-school singing or extra-curricular activities – nurture pupils’ talent and creativity but, most importantly, teach our children to use their voices, take part and celebrate their unique gifts.

Impact

Assessment in music is an ongoing process. Our music teacher and class teachers will make informal judgements about pupil’s progress and attainment as they observe them throughout lessons and mark their written work.

At the end of each term, teachers will decide on a pupil’s level of attainment. They can be judged as the following:

• Working below the age-related expectations (Emerging)
• Working towards the age-related expectations (Developing)
• Working at the age-related expectations (Secure)
• Working above the age-related expectations (Above)

These judgements will be made in line with the National Curriculum. Progress is closely monitored by the subject leader and senior leadership team. Monitoring includes lesson observations, learning walks, book and planning scrutiny. Other methods that we use are pupil voice interviews, staff meetings for teacher CPD and disseminating best practices.

The findings of this monitoring will be used to inform the next steps for the children and the implementation of music across the school as a whole.