Overview
Our music curriculum is highly valued and carefully sequenced to ensure that all pupils develop as confident, knowledgeable and expressive musicians. Weekly lessons enable children to listen, sing, perform and compose, building a rich understanding of music and what it means to be a musician.
Learning is structured around the elements of music, which are introduced progressively and revisited regularly so that pupils deepen their understanding over time. These elements are always applied in meaningful, authentic contexts through singing, playing and composing.
Practice and performance are central to our approach. Pupils rehearse skills over time to secure learning in long-term memory and to develop confidence. Regular performance opportunities include fortnightly celebration assemblies and an annual music festival, allowing pupils to perform with purpose for a range of audiences.
Pupils begin their musical journey through singing and percussion, developing pitch and instrumental skills in Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, pupils learn to play the clarinet and keyboard, leaving school as increasingly proficient performers. Singing and listening are enriched through the Department for Education Model Music Curriculum, with pupils learning to describe and appraise music using the language of the elements.
Specialist teaching from the Sheffield Music Hub enhances provision across the school, ensuring pupils benefit from expert instruction in singing, woodwind and keyboard and experience high-quality music education throughout their time with us.
Reception
- Exploring sound through voice, body percussion and instruments
- Pulse, tempo and pitch
- Singing simple songs and rhymes
- Responding to music through movement
- Listening and talking about music using simple musical language
Year 1
- Singing and keeping a steady pulse
- Tempo, pitch and dynamics
- Untuned and tuned percussion
- Simple rhythmic and melodic patterns
- Listening to and responding to music through stories
- Introduction to musical genres (e.g. swing and big band)
Year 2
- Developing control of pitch and melody
- Timbre and instrument families
- Playing glockenspiel and xylophone
- Graphic notation
- Performing as part of a group and solo
- Listening to classical music and early popular styles (e.g. rock and roll)
Year 3
- Introduction to staff notation
- Recorder: reading and playing simple melodies
- Tempo, dynamics, pitch and timbre
- Singing with expression and accuracy
- Composing using graphic and simple staff notation
- Listening to classical, soul and world music
Year 4
- Secure reading of staff notation
- Ukulele: strumming patterns and chord changes
- Structure in music (verse, chorus, ABA)
- Crescendo and diminuendo
- Singing from memory with accurate pitch
- Listening to reggae, classical, film music and world music traditions
Year 5
- Texture and structure in music
- Ukulele chord progressions and accompaniment
- Singing in parts with control and expression
- Improvisation and composition
- Jazz and blues styles
- Listening across different historical periods and cultures
Year 6
- Advanced use of pitch, texture and structure
- Keyboard: melodies, chords and accompaniment
- Singing in harmony and adapting vocal tone
- Hip hop and contemporary styles
- Evaluating and justifying musical choices
- Preparing for secondary music through confident performance and notation fluency