At Village Primary School we offer engaging and enriching lessons across the whole curriculum. As well as working with Miss Sheraton and Mr Gibson to develop our singing and drama skills, we also teach discrete music lessons in school. Music Express is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based, cross-curricular approach to support children’s learning in music and across other subjects through music. A steady progression plan has been built into Music Express, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development.
By using Music Express as the basis of a scheme of work, we can ensure that they are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National Curriculum:
The National Curriculum states ‘That all pupils:
• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians.’
Music Express includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places, including the classical Western canon. These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre.
The National Curriculum states ‘That all pupils:
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence.‘
Music Express provides a classroom-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.
The National Curriculum states ‘That all pupils:
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.’
Music Express builds experience and develops understanding of the dimensions (elements) of music throughout the scheme. Each unit has as its focus one process such as performance or composition, or one dimension, such as pitch, but the learning progresses within the context of all the inter-related processes and dimensions of music. A wide variety of notations, including picture, graphic, rhythm and staff notation are integrated, wherever appropriate, with practical music-making activities throughout the scheme. Notations are used progressively to promote understanding and use of the representation of sound in symbols by all children.