At Heptonstall School we are proud to work in partnership with Calderdale Music Service.
Intent
Our new and developing primary curriculum aligns with the ‘HEART’ principles at its core – Honest, Expert, Achieving, Reliable, and Together – whilst also matching the ambition of the National Curriculum (NC) and Model Music Curriculum (MMC).
We celebrate differences and encourage all our pupils to develop an active relationship with, and love of, music.
Our curriculum will leave pupils with a deep understanding of the inter-related dimensions of music, as well as the procedural knowledge to demonstrate this understanding through performance and the declarative knowledge to discuss, engage with and create music. All of our children will have the opportunity to see themselves represented in our curriculum and should also experience the diverse range of cultures in Calderdale and the wider world.
We place singing and movement at the heart of our curriculum and use this as the bedrock for KS1. Through a range of songs and games, we aim to nurture children’s natural love of singing. We start building an awareness of pulse, beat and rhythm from the start of our curriculum. This develops as children move on to a series of topics which combine progressively more challenging melodic and chordal ideas and explore music from around the world.
By the end of our curriculum, children will be able to:
- Confidently and accurately use a range of technical vocabulary
- Sing and perform with control and expression on a limited number of
Instruments
- Play with the musical ideas they have acquired through improvisation and composition
- Discuss musical features from a variety of geographical & historical origins
Inclusion
We recognise that children do not always start from the same place and we acknowledge and make adjustments for this where required – seeking to support those who need it most. We ensure equality of opportunity by considering different needs and capabilities without discrimination when delivering the curriculum, with Calderdale’s expert Music Leaders using
adaptive strategies to ensure the lessons are accessible to all children and young people.
Impact
The impact of the Calderdale Music Curriculum can be monitored through ongoing formative assessment. Following the Calderdale Music Curriculum will result in children leaving Heptonstall school ready and equipped to access music in KS3 and beyond.
The impact of our curriculum will be shown through our students’ ability to:
- develop a deep understanding and love of music from a wide range of cultures and traditions that will grow throughout their lives
- identify and articulate their own musical preferences
- sing and play musical instruments with musical understanding and control.
- feel the communal bonding experience of playing and singing with others, being part of something greater than themselves
- experience the joy and satisfaction of creating their own music
- 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
- 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 from around the world
At Heptonstall we are proud to have received the Music Mark recognition for ‘Dedication and Improvement’.
