Music

Vision

Music is a powerful form of communication and has a profound impact on the performer, composer and listener. Music provides learners with a sense of freedom and confidence to experiment, explore and create, to feed their musical and expressive curiosity and imagination.

At Moss Hall we...

  • inspire creativity, self-expression and encourage our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others
  • foster a lifelong love of music by exposing our children to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music
  • listen and respond to different musical styles, find our voices as singers, performers and composers which in turn will enable them to become confident and reflective musicians

Aims

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils...

  • perform, listen, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers, fostering a lifelong love of music
  • 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
  • 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
  • are taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory

Singing

At Moss Hall we...

  • ensure that singing is an essential part of our weekly music lesson
  • sing together in weekly singing assemblies feeling a sense of belonging and community
  • sing a wide range of songs from different times and places
  • sing together in unison, partner songs, rounds, canons and harmonies
  • give opportunities for children to sing in small groups and as a soloist
  • offer a choir to challenge and have a range of performance opportunities in school assemblies and to a wider audience

 

Instruments

At Moss Hall we...

  • ensure that instruments are an integral part of our weekly music lessons ranging from classroom percussion to instruments from home
  • teach children how to use instruments with the correct techniques to produce a high-quality sound and to name them accurately
  • ensure that children have the opportunity to experiment and perform as soloists, small groups and as a whole class
  • offer opportunities to play the recorders, whole class trumpet, djembes and steel pans and as part of a rock band in addition to classroom percussion 
  • use technology to enhance the children’s learning using Apps such as Garage Band, Loopseque and iMovie on iPads
  • offer an orchestra to challenge and have a range of performance opportunities in school assemblies and to a wider audience

 

Performance

At Moss Hall we...

  • offer a plethora of performance opportunities for our children including - class assemblies, SingUp Day, Harvest Festival, Christmas Shows and Winter Fair. As well as annual year group shows, Barnet Schools Music Festival, an introduction to the instruments for Year 2 and an annual Music Concert
  • record performances in lessons to celebrate in the weekly newsletter
  • provide a range of performances from ‘in school’ to peers, teachers and parents and to the wider community

 

 

Musicians

At Moss Hall we…

  • provide children with the opportunity to hear high-quality live performances, either within school or in local concert settings. Examples include the LSO, English Pocket Opera and London Sinfonietta
  • enable children to further develop their shared knowledge of important moments in the evolution of music and of key musicians through a half termly focussed study across the school entitled ‘Music of the Moment’
  • plan for the history of music to be explored in music lessons, placing music in historical, social and political contexts

 

 

Composing and Improvising

At Moss Hall we…

  • create music through improvisation, exploring how to write music for a specific purpose
  • learn about how to structure our musical ideas such as ‘Ternary Form’ and ‘The Twelve Bar Blues’
  • introduce notation, initially using graphic score, but moving on to staff notation including note values and the treble clef stave
  • use a variety of starting points for composition including art, stories, characters and the environment
  • compose for a purpose including ‘Ringtones’, ‘Programme Music’, ‘Jingles’ and ‘Protest Songs’

 

Assessment 

At Moss Hall we…

  • regularly record children’s learning using photos and videos
  • give children the opportunity to evaluate their performances and the performances of others using these recordings
  • provide formative assessment within lessons so that children receive continuous verbal feedback
  • check-in on the children’s learning through half termly pupil voice interviews
  • attend regular CPD so that our teachers meet with Barnet colleagues to ensure accurate, challenging expectations
Music Progression Map