Music
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“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” — Psalm 96:1
At Bosley St Mary's CE Primary School, we believe that music has the power to inspire, connect and enrich lives. Music provides opportunities for children to express themselves, explore their creativity and experience the joy of making music together.
Through our vision of Every Learner Flourishing, we aim to nurture a love of music and ensure that every child develops the confidence, knowledge and skills to participate in musical experiences. We want our children to become enthusiastic performers, thoughtful listeners and creative musicians who appreciate music from different cultures, traditions and periods of history.
How We Teach Music
Our music curriculum is designed to develop children's musical understanding through practical, engaging and progressive learning experiences.
We use Charanga Musical School as the foundation of our curriculum, organised into a two-year rolling programme to meet the needs of our mixed-age classes. Children revisit important musical concepts throughout their time at Bosley, building increasingly sophisticated knowledge and skills.
In Oak Class, we work in partnership with Love Music Trust, which provides specialist whole-class ukulele tuition during the first half of the autumn term. This ensures that every child has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and experience the enjoyment of playing together.
Our Curriculum Approach
Our curriculum develops six interconnected strands of musical learning:
- Listening and Appraising: Exploring and responding to a wide range of music, recognising different styles, instruments and musical features.
- Singing: Developing vocal confidence, accuracy, expression and the ability to sing together.
- Playing Instruments: Learning to play tuned and untuned instruments, developing technical skills, musical understanding and ensemble performance.
- Improvising: Experimenting with sounds, rhythms and melodies to create spontaneous musical ideas.
- Composing: Creating, developing and recording original musical ideas, using increasingly sophisticated techniques and notation.
- Performing: Sharing musical learning with others, developing confidence, cooperation and an understanding of how to communicate with an audience.
- Throughout these strands, children develop their understanding of the interrelated dimensions of music, including pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and notation.
Thinking Like a Musician
We want children to understand that being a musician involves much more than singing or playing the right notes.
Our curriculum encourages children to listen carefully, recognise patterns, experiment with ideas, make creative decisions and reflect on their performances. As they progress through school, children develop the vocabulary and confidence to explain musical choices, evaluate their work and appreciate the creativity of others.
Through regular opportunities to improvise, compose and perform, children learn that music is both a personal expression and a shared experience.
Music and Our Christian Vision
Music plays a special role in our Church of England school community. Singing together in collective worship, celebrating Christian festivals and sharing performances help children experience belonging, joy and spiritual reflection.
Our BEARS values — Believe, Encourage, Achieve, Relate and Serve — are reflected in musical learning as children develop confidence in their abilities, encourage one another, work together and share their talents with others.
Music also provides opportunities to explore feelings, identity, culture and the wider world, helping children develop understanding and respect for different musical traditions and experiences.
Music Beyond the Classroom
Music is woven into the wider life of Bosley St Mary's. Collective worship, Christmas productions and school celebrations provide meaningful opportunities for children to sing, perform and share their achievements with an audience.
Our partnership with Love Music Trust enriches the curriculum through specialist instrumental teaching, while performances and shared musical experiences help strengthen connections between school, families, church and the wider community.
We want children to recognise that music is not simply something they study at school, but something that can bring enjoyment, meaning and connection throughout their lives.
Music for Every Learner
We believe that every child is a musician and deserves the opportunity to experience success and enjoyment in music.
Our inclusive approach ensures that musical activities are adapted to meet different needs, abilities and starting points. Through practical experiences, supportive teaching, appropriate challenge and opportunities for individual expression, every child can participate and make progress.
By the time children leave Bosley St Mary's, we want them to have developed musical confidence, creativity and curiosity, together with a lasting appreciation of the power of music to inspire, communicate and bring people together.