'Music has a healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours' Elton John

Intent

At Oldfield Park Infant School, we strongly feel that music goes hand-in-hand with the children's preparation for future endeavours. Music is a powerful form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. It brings together intellect and feeling and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development. Through music, we are able to explore diverse cultures, past and present, to help our pupils understand themselves and relate to others, forging important links between the home, school and the wider world. One of our priorities is supporting the children with various opportunities to nurture their enjoyment, confidence and ability in music. 

Through the power of music, we want to inspire children to be confident in using/ developing their musical abilities. Music feeds our creative cravings, helping broaden our imaginations and express ourselves in new ways. We want the children to explore this practically as well as developing the theoretical knowledge. Music education requires students to recognise and repeat pitch, tone or enunciation of words.  We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in music, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the Curriculum. 

Implementation

These aims are at the heart of our music lessons and the wider curriculum. We have an exciting and practical Music Curriculum and framework, that provides many purposeful opportunities for:

• Listening and appraising,

• Musical Activities — creating and exploring

• Singing and Performing

We use a wide variety of musical instruments and genres to motivate and inspire our children. Teachers also ensure that cross-curricular links with topic work are woven into the programme of study.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and National Curriculum for Music at KS1 aims to ensure that all pupils:

At EYFS -

• Begins to build a repertoire of songs and dances.

• I can remember a number of different songs and dances.

• Explores the different sounds of instruments.

• I can explore the different sounds of instruments. 

• Children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them.

At KS1

• Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.

• Play tuned and untuned instruments musically.

• Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music.

• Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Impact

The impact of music will be seen through the children's opportunity to:

• Experience tasks that are appropriate to their level, in order to build up their self-confidence, and undertake a balanced programme of work, which extends their previous achievements in singing, composing, listening and appraising music.

• Explore a variety of sound sources to generate music and develop skills using voices, bodies, tuned and un-tuned percussion and pitched instruments in individual, group and class activities.

• Learn and perform a wide repertoire of songs and pieces in a variety of styles and genres from different periods and cultures.

• Develop skills in listening, responding and appraising their own and others music, from a variety of purposes, periods and cultures.

• Develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of musical elements of rhythm, pulse (beat) and pitch

We hope that as children move on from Oldfield Park Infant School they leave with a passion for music and can use their wealth of musical knowledge and skills to confidently progress with their musical discovery. 

OPIS Music Policy and Curriculum Map

Below you will find a copy of our school's Music Policy and Curriculum Map: