Music Lead: Sherril Atkins

Music at Trent Young's

At Trent Young’s, we believe that music is a vital and enriching part of a child's education. Our primary music curriculum is designed to foster a deep love and appreciation for music while developing the knowledge, skills, and creativity of our students. Through a broad and balanced music program, we aim to nurture their musical talents, enhance their self-expression, and provide them with a solid foundation for lifelong musical engagement.

Our Curriculum Intent

Through our primary music curriculum, we aspire to instil a lifelong love for music, empower our students to become confident and creative musicians, and cultivate an enduring appreciation for the power and beauty of music in their lives through

• Developing Musical Skills: We strive to equip our students with a range of musical skills, including singing, playing instruments, reading notation, composing, and improvising. We encourage active music-making through a variety of practical activities, ensemble playing, and performance opportunities;
• Fostering Musical Knowledge: We aim to develop a solid understanding of music theory, including elements such as duration/rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. Our curriculum introduces students to a diverse range of musical genres, styles, and traditions, fostering cultural awareness and appreciation;
• Inspiring Creativity: We believe that music is a powerful medium for self-expression and creativity. Our curriculum encourages students to explore their musical ideas, compose their own music, and develop their improvisational skills. We provide a supportive environment that values and celebrates individuality and originality;
• Promoting Cultural Understanding: Through the study of music from different cultures and historical periods, we aim to broaden our students' perspectives and promote understanding and respect for diversity. We celebrate the richness of musical traditions from around the world, promoting global citizenship and cultural awareness;
• Encouraging Personal and Social Development: Music provides numerous opportunities for personal growth, teamwork, and collaboration. Our curriculum fosters important skills such as active listening, communication, cooperation, and discipline. We encourage students to participate in group performances, enabling them to develop confidence, resilience, and a sense of achievement.

Our Curriculum Implementation

The New Model Curriculum for Music together with the DSAT Music Curriculum Document were our starting points for creating our music curriculum. We have chosen to use Kapow to support the delivery of the curriculum and to further develop the teachers’ own musical knowledge.

The key concepts  of performing, listening, composing and the history of music (the latter for KS2 only) are woven together with the disciplinary concepts of pitch, duration/rhythm, dynamics, tempo, timber, texture, structure and notation. Each five-lesson unit combines these strands, so that over the course, the children are taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control. They learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music, and use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.

Children in Year 4 receive a term of instrumental lessons to develop their expertise in using a tuned instrument and reading formal notation.

The music curriculum follows the spiral curriculum model, where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Along with developing skills and knowledge, children also progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks better.

Children continue their learning in singing through weekly ‘Worship through song’; taking part in performances; and they have the opportunity to perform at other points during the year, for example with our local schools, and at Salisbury Cathedral with our DSAT schools, which give them opportunities to perform to large audiences and in a variety of venues.

Our Curriculum Impact

As a result of this planned curriculum, we aim for children leaving our school to

• be confident performers, composers and listeners who are able to express themselves musically;
• show an appreciation and respect for a wide range for musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical contexts in which it is developed;
• understand a variety of ways (including some understanding of formal notation) in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities;
• demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own personal musical preferences;
• meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for music.

Curriculum Drivers:

More in-depth documentation is available on request for our music curriculum.