Styal Primary School
Music Curriculum
The Power of Music
We aim for our teaching and learning of music to be creative, collaborative and celebratory. Singing, instrument playing, musical performances, the love of listening and appraising music all go towards making a memorable music curriculum.
At Styal Primary School, we follow Charanga music units. Each unit comprises the strands of musical learning which correspond to the national curriculum for Music.
1. Listening and appraising
2. Musical activities - warm up games, singing, playing instruments, improvisation, composition
3. Performing
The units enable the children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.
Styal Primary School follows a two year rolling programme.
The structure of our lessons follows the same sequence:
a. Listen and appraise
b. Musical activities
c. Perform / share
Our Listening List and Music Timeline
At Styal, we encourage listening to a wide range of musical genres. We have our own Listening List to help us to actively promote a full range of music in assemblies.In this way, this assembly music provides a secure starting point from which to explore further repertoire in Music lessons. Children are supported with the use of our Music Timeline display in the corridor of the main building. We aim to share the joy of music and open our minds to music from around the world and different time periods.
Extra Musical Activities
Our Music curriculum is interspersed with extra musical activities such as Christmas performances, the local Music Festival, end of year productions and carol singing for the community.
Wider Opportunities
Wider Opportunities are provided to Year 5 / 6 in Spring term where children are taught a musical instrument by specialist music teachers from Love Music Trust.
Choir
At Styal Primary School, we promote singing's benefits. Firstly, it is a fun, inclusive activity. Singing also helps to lower stress, enhance memory and improve mental health.
From 2022 - 23, our choir will be run by Manchester University where vocal coaches support our children in our after school club. This also benefits our community as the focus of the choir is to perform at the Christmas light switch-on as well as singing 'Carols on the Cobbles' and singing for residents in the hall at the Christmas Coffee Morning. Therefore, the benefits of singing reaches beyond the children in school.