Vision and Intent

At Kanes Hill Primary School we aim for all our pupils to develop a life-long love of music, in a school with a musical atmosphere through a wide range of quality musical experiences which engage and inspire them. At the heart of the music curriculum are creativity, curiosity and excitement and children who are developing increased self-confidence, self-esteem and collaborative skills. We aim to build a curriculum with musical sound at the cornerstone with a progressive pathway for every child. Music opportunities will support children’s mental health and allow them time to express their emotions.

Children will perform, listen and analyse critically, sing, improvise and compose music and understand the musical elements as building blocks within music. 

What do we include in our provision at Kanes Hill?

In the classroom

Beyond the classroom

Our plan for delivering high-quality music education and supporting children’s progress

Where are we now?

What will we do next?

Curriculum

(setting the foundation)

High quality music provision

High-quality weekly music lessons

Music Specialist employed by the school for 3 days a week.

Planning is based on procedural, declarative and tacit knowledge with a spiral curriculum with small, incremental steps in learning.

Music is inclusive for all learners.

Music is taught consistently for every year group every week across the year and is within every timetable.

In Early Year music is delivered through holistic practice as an integral part of early development and that musical development matters. Music is planned for across the four musical areas: Hearing & Listening, Vocalising & Singing, Moving & Dancing, Exploring & Playing.  Invitations to engage with sound are planned for every day and singing is integrated throughout the day. Each week there is a focused taught music session.

KS1 music turns musical play into playing musically.

Pupils in KS1 are taught by class teachers so aspects of learning can be revisited throughout the week. Planning is written by the music specialist and class teachers are supported with coaching throughout each unit.  This forms part of the monitoring process.

KS2 music continues to build learning in small, incremental steps. Pupils develop their playing with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression. Listening develops aural memory and children develop an understanding of the history of music by using the learning timeline to place and sequence pieces, spotting links between them and seeing the history of music develop.

Pupils in KS2 have music lessons for an hour a week with the music specialist using the music room (as part of PPA provision?) Year 4 are the exception to this as they take part in our In2music project. (See First access below) Learning in y5 & y6 includes units using own instruments eg Blues, Jazz.

Music tech is taught in bespoke units in Y5 & Y6. IPads are borrowed from SMH and children develop garageband skills across both units.

Websites such as playxlyo.com are used to support learning across the school and iPads are used as an instrument as appropriate to support inclusion and access for pupils.

AirServer new on iPad (09/22) being trialed by SL.

Continue to develop planning to suit needs of pupils.

Use pupil voice to develop planning.

Support EY staff to plan topics across the four musical areas on new grid.

Develop EY practice to include musical questioning.

Create a knowledge progression for music tech. Implement use across the school.

Use music tech appropriately for pupils in EY to make their own choices about independent listening.

Increase use of recordings for reflection and self-evaluation.

Staff cpd and training on use of iPad/recording and what to use for it.

Create, share and embed list of questions to use for reflecting critically on learning.

First access

Our first access project takes place in Y4 and is a year-long project supported by three instrumental specialist teachers from Southampton Music Services. In preparation for the project children in Y2 learn to play the recorder and children in Y3 learn to play the ukulele. This supports development onto woodwind and string instruments and supports preparation for staff notation.

In Y4 children and parents are invited to the opening of the project where they hear the instrumental team and school music specialist perform as an ensemble. Each instrument in the ensemble is highlighted and shared on their own for children to hear as well as hear as the soloist in the ensemble. Following discussions with parents, children are then invited to try out each instrument for 2 weeks, giving them time to reflect and try again to overcome initial challenges.  They then choose the instrument they would like to learn for the rest of the year with the instrumental specialist.

Parents are invited in to share lessons with their children and attend performances throughout the year.

Instruments are provided for free without insurance costs to remove any barriers and children are encouraged to play at home. As the project progresses (covering the Y4 skills progression document) children move towards reading and playing staff notation through each terms project (Animals, Music for Movement, Ensemble)

Children attend Southern Pro Musica Concert in January to listen again to an orchestra and focus on the role of their instrument within it. They look for performance tips before giving their first concert to parents. As part of concerts children play in instrumental groups as well as part of an ensemble playing in unison and in parts eg ostinato lines, drones before building to arranged pieces in the summer term.

In2music is funded by the school through SMS. SMS provide instruments and insurance costs as part of the project.

Southern Pro Musica provide 75% of travel costs to concert with hardship funding grant. Concert tickets are purchased by parents and fundraising is used as needed.

Look for opportunities to attend city ensemble events again as in pre-covid times.

Vocal provision -

30 minute weekly separate key stage singing assemblies led by music specialist. Focus on enjoyment and being part of a massed choir rooted in skills development.

Teachers attend session – cpd through modelling and coaching. During the year teachers are asked to lead singing assemblies for their own development.

School has platinum Sing Up Award and all staff have access to SingUp resources.

Singing is used to support developing class ethos and to support learning across the curriculum

School sing at times of celebration and massed events.

Including a greater number of songs in different languages

Listening Curriculum – Co-curricular?

4 year listening curriculum planned to expose children to a wide range of genres, historical periods, music from different places and different instrumental sounds.

Each half term there is a theme/ genre/instrumental family focus. One piece of music is identified and used for the week as children enter school so can be heard across the school. A listening sign is displayed in each classroom showing the area of focus – including images, location in the world/place in time etc. This piece is used in assemblies as appropriate and response tasks are used in class as appropriate.

Continue to decolonise and ensure equal balance between male/female and diverse range of composers/musicians

Performance opportunities

Music outcomes are often shared and performed either live to parents, slt, other pupils or recorded and shared with families via ‘music news’ on the website. Eg Blues piece performed to SLT, Y2 Sounds like Thornhill outcome shared with families, y4 concerts to families.

Music/Drama performances – EY Christmas Story for Families, Y1/2 - Christmas nativity to parents, Y3 – Christingle service for families, Y5 – Christmas performance with families, Y6 Leavers production.

Little Voices, Young Voices – performances throughout the year eg singing with local care home, performing at local Music festival, singing at church fate, performing at O2 in largest children’s choir.

Music room resources

Large bespoke room designated for musical learning.

High quality instruments (tuned and untuned) displayed with names and images to support knowledge for children and staff.  Enough resources for children to make own choices for sound and play own tuned instruments to develop skills.

Displays to support learning – clear elements board with appropriate language, skills board to identify learning for session, rhythm display with school terminology, staff notation with pitch names, graphic notation ideas, ukulele chord diagrams.

Our learning timeline – a display board to add musicians and composers in their correct place throughout time. Allows chn to make links between musicians/composers and see the development of music throughout time.

Reading corner to encourage reading around subjects.

Soundproofing?!

Continue annual health and safety check and re-stock as needed.

EY consumable instrumental resources annual purchase.

Communicating with parents

Music at Kanes Hill on school website https://khps.ilpartnership.org/Music/ sets out Intent, implementation and impact and curriculum coverage.

Parents are kept up to date with daily news by:

Music news on school website. https://khps.ilpartnership.org/music/news/

Facebook/twitter updates.

Fortnightly school newsletter

Visits into school to share with learning and learning outcomes.

Transition

Pre-school

Links made again with Kanes Hill Pre-School following npme offering support if desired. Suggested working from Musical Development Matters document in line with school EY planning with a focus in the short term on Vocalising & Singing, using World Nursery Rhyme week as a launch with parents involved.

Transition: plan singing sessions together with chn and EY team.

Secondary

Pass on information about instrumental learners.

Use Woodlands performance hall for final concerts.

Have worked together on arts awards, enrichment projects.

Contact secondary schools again. Look at possible performance opportunities for their students/staff.

Discuss transition unit

Annual action plan

Each year areas identified to move music on and maintain high priority.

See in subject leader folder online

Co-curricular

Beyond the classroom

Instrumental learning

Free instrumental group lessons for all children who wish to continue.

Taught by three specialist teachers through Southampton Music Services.

Inclusive provision with instrument adaptations, 1:1 learning as appropriate. Some children learn piano supported by music specialist using Piano Maestros app

Performance opportunities – perform to KS1 during singing assemblies

Christmas lunch – group performances

Summer Concert – group/individual performances as well as orchestra performances

Continue to signpost ensemble opportunities outside school community

Embed sign up for weekly performance in singing. Extend to Celebration assembly?

Sign up for practice slots to encourage attendance – before school?/break times?

Change language around this to playing/rehearsal time

Vocal

Little Voices – after school choir for children in Y1, Y2 & Y3. Inclusive and open to all, adult provision offered for any pupils who need 1:1 support.

Young Voices – after school choir for children in Y4, Y5 & Y6. Inclusive and open to all, adult provision offered for any pupils who need 1:1 support.

Singing on the playground

Re-start performances out of school.

Ensemble

Ukulele jam – after school ukulele club for children in Y4, Y5 & Y6.

Find uke players to perform with eg. Mr Woodcock.

Orchestra – in school ensemble sessions for all pupils in Y5 & Y6, 2 sessions in Autumn 1, Spring 1 & Summer 1.

Y2 Recorder club – small group carry on from in class recorder teaching

Identify a member of staff able to lead recorder club for pupils from Y2

Progression strategy

Buildup of skills prior to first access instrumental learning. Includes recorder teaching (Y2 in preparation for woodwind) and Ukulele (Y3 in preparation for string). Includes rhythm notation teaching (Y2 & Y3) and beginning of staff notation referring to pitch (Y1 – boomwhackers, Y2 – fanfares using 3 pitch lines, Y3 – pentatonic scale – brick notation)

Instrumental learning inclusive for ALL pupils. Adaptions made where needed.

In school ensemble opportunities mapped out as part of provision. Children identified for external groups and parents signposted.

Instrumental learning shared with secondary schools.

School & city vocal progression routes shared with parents.

Enrichment

Live performances

Cultural capital experienced through:

Hearing live music in Concert Halls: Y2 attend children’s concert by SYSC orchestra (2022 – Heroes and Villains) , Y4 attend Southern Pro Musica children's concert, Y6 – alternative opportunities eg History of Hip Hop, Electronic Dance Performance

Opportunity to perform in a range of venues – eg Y1 Big Sing at Itchen College, local care homes, Red Funnel Ferries, to join city choir and perform in opening of City Jubilee Celebrations and national venues such as Young Voices at O2, London.

Christingle in church at Christmas – all to share in,

Y3 put on service for families

Opportunities to be musical with families eg creating music for the jubilee with musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Access to online pantomime

EY nursery rhyme week

Linking to other learning eg Y2 soundscape as part of Thornhill unit.

Continue strong working relationship with Southampton Music Hub

Career pathways

Continue to identify music careers through learning in classroom and external experiences.

Signpost parents to opportunities outside of school.

Leadership

Where are we now?

What will we do next?

Executive Principle/ Governors

Incredibly supportive exec principle who believes in power and value of music education.

Free instrumental provision and music specialist teacher and included in annual budgets by exec principle.

Identify member of academy board council with responsibility for music

Subject Leader

Experienced subject leader and music specialist. Access to CPD throughout the year: national - Music & Drama Expo, Music Mark events (Ofsted sessions, challenge sessions eg Why Music), podcasts, SMH music panel meetings and LOTs of independent reading of research and thinking.  Lead sessions for local Music Hub, SD Music trainees at Southampton University and Associate Lecturer at University of Winchester for undergraduate students. Support other schools in trust with musical thinking and training for their teachers.

Teachers

Supportive teachers who understand and believe in the importance of music. Inquisitive and always ask for support in ensure the best for their pupils.

Continue with CPD training and half termly support in KS1/EY

Pupils

Pupils who LOVE music, who value enrichment opportunities and love musical learning.

They say:

‘Music is fun. I liked using my own instrument in the piece. It was amazing that we could play the jazz piece as a class.’

‘Music is fun. It’s about understanding and learning and playing instruments’

‘Music is loud because we all play together.’

‘Music helps you learn a lot. It needs lots of people and includes lots of people.’

‘Music is exhausting because we play so many things!’

‘Music is good because it makes you feel like you’re in a different world’

‘Music is the secret of life’

‘Music is amazing because we can make fabulous sounds’

‘Music is enjoying myself and showing my passion’

‘Music is an opportunity for creativity and expression and changes my mood’

‘Music is very fun because you learn to play lots of new instruments.

‘Music is my world. Our lessons are always fast and pacey!’

It makes me feel: happy, calm, excited, energised, calm, shiny, WOO, enjoyable, nostalgic, energetic, alive, shiny and essential.

Pupil leadership team to evaluate and inform planning, support with practice slots.

Singing leaders to lead singing on the playground and support in singing assembly?

Communities & Partnership

Where are we now?

What will we do next?

Southampton Music Hub – very strong working relationship. Take advantage of free opportunities and work together.

Sessions with peri team and families in Y4 to triangulate and show all important in journey.

School community – support musical events.

Continue to work closely with St Monica Primary School.

PTA – supportive of events, providing some funding towards travel.

Maintain relationship with SMH

Find opportunities to perform within the community, invite community members in to perform to our children.

Re-start music transition sessions as part of school transition

Parents in to support with topics – eg rap/edm

Continue to signpost external family events to support parents with musical learning.

Library – get in digital piano with headphones to be used at weekends/after school

Explore the possibility of: Come and play evenings? Ex pupils/staff, current as an outreach event. Employ J Hanchett to lead.