Our vision at Chopwell primary school is that we provide every child with a solid foundation in musical skills and that we seek to build every child’s love of music through high quality musical experiences both within and outside school. Our aim is for ALL children to enjoy music.

Learning music develops all aspects of a child’s learning from the physical action of using an instrument to the mathematical skills needed to keep a pulse. At Chopwell we provide every child with a weekly music lesson where children will learn different aspects of music including, listening and appraising, composing, singing, performing and more.

We want to give the children here at Chopwell the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. We have made strong links with Gateshead Music service which has enabled us to receive whole class instrumental teaching on a two yearly cycle for both Y3 and Y4.

We have varied the instruments so that they learn Ukulele in one year and Samba and Djembe drumming in the other.

Here at Chopwell we want to provide the children with as many different musical experiences (see below) we can as our aim is for every child to leave Chopwell with an understanding and love of music which they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Musical experiences

Big Sing at the SAGE Gateshead

School Music performances – Music through time

Pantomime visits

Christmas performances

Community singing at the Christmas Tree Lighting

Choir performances outside of school

Music specialists to work with EYFS

To support implementation of the new (2014) National Curriculum, we have invested in a scheme of work called Charanga.  This scheme of work promotes an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning.  The interrelated dimensions of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and notation) thread through the units of work to encourage the development of musical skills as learning progresses through listening and appraising, participation in activities like creating, exploring, composing and improvising and, of course, performing.  To supplement our use of Charanga, some year groups will also undertake whole-class music tuition from our peripatetic music teachers.

Music in the EYFS (Taken from EYFS guidance)

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

ELG: Being Imaginative and Expressive

Children at the expected level of development will: - Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher; - Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs; Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.

In EYFS the children ........

   Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs

   Build a repertoire of songs and rhymes through opportunities to sing on a regular basis

   Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with musical elements

   Begin to tap out simple rhythms

   Access a range of percussion instruments indoors and outdoors, and are taught their names

   Explore sounds around them

   Explore how sounds can be changed and begin to learn appropriate vocabulary eg, loud/quiet, fast/slow, high/low.

   Listen to a range of music by different composers

   Discuss music and how it makes them feel

   Move in response to music