Music

Curriculum Lead - Mrs Granton

Intent

At New Pasture Lane Primary School, we believe every child is entitled to a creative, high-quality music education that engages, inspires and fosters a lifelong love of music. Our curriculum is designed to develop pupils’ musical knowledge, skills and understanding, enabling them to appreciate how music is created, performed, produced and communicated.

Through carefully sequenced learning, pupils are given opportunities to perform, listen to, compose and evaluate music from a wide range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions. We aim to nurture self-confidence, creativity and a strong sense of achievement through regular singing, instrumental work and composition.

Our progressive curriculum builds upon prior learning and ensures knowledge and skills are transferable across the wider curriculum. Music contributes significantly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by providing insight into diverse cultures, historical contexts and the meaning behind compositions and musical genres.

We are committed to inclusion. Careful consideration is given to ensuring all pupils — including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND — can fully access and succeed within the music curriculum. Personalised strategies are used in line with our inclusion policy. We actively promote resilience, responsibility and respect as key attributes that support children in reaching their full potential.

Music, by its nature, is a creative and expressive discipline. Through our ambitious curriculum, we seek to inspire curiosity and fascination about music locally, nationally and globally, including connections to our local area and city.

End Points

By the end of EYFS, pupils will:

Sing confidently and create simple musical representations of their ideas, thoughts and feelings
Experiment with ways of changing sounds and compositions
Talk about their strengths and identify areas for improvement respectfully

By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils will:

Use their voices creatively and expressively
Play tuned and untuned instruments musically
Listen to and appraise high-quality live and recorded music
Create simple compositions using the inter-related dimensions of music
Speak confidently about their learning and musical inspiration

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will:

Retain and apply key musical knowledge and skills, including local musical connections
Compose, perform and improvise with increasing confidence
Read and use basic musical notation
Develop an understanding of the history of music

Curriculum Structure

Our music objectives are derived from the National Curriculum and are organised into five key areas:

Singing – developing pitch, melody, rhythm and vocal control individually and in groups
Listening – responding to music, expressing opinions, identifying instruments, structure and musical features
Composing – improvising, composing and notating music using standard and non-standard notation
Performing – rehearsing, presenting and evaluating individual and group performances
Musicianship – understanding pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture and structure

Teaching Sequence

A typical unit of work includes:

Listening and Appraising

Familiarisation with the piece or genre
Responding to music and giving opinions
Identifying key elements and subject-specific vocabulary
Placing music within its historical context and comparing with other works

Musical Activities

Warm-up games
Singing activities
Instrumental work
Improvisation
Composition

Performing

Individual and group rehearsal
Performance opportunities

Implementation

At New Pasture Lane School, we use the Charanga music scheme as the foundation for planning. The scheme aligns with the Model Music Curriculum and provides high-quality songs, resources and structured progression to ensure challenge and depth.

Music is taught progressively across year groups through a detailed knowledge and skills progression document. This ensures prior learning is revisited, consolidated and embedded.

We enhance our curriculum through resources endorsed by the Hull Music Hub, providing pupils — particularly disadvantaged pupils — with access to classical composers, local musical heritage and music beyond their everyday experience.

Subject-specific vocabulary is displayed and revisited regularly in classrooms to support retention and confident use in both verbal and written responses.

Reading strengthens music learning through song lyrics, listening activities, composer studies and reading musical notation. Where appropriate, meaningful cross-curricular links are planned through a themed approach to deepen understanding and vocabulary acquisition.

Assessment is ongoing and informed through observation, performance outcomes and ‘3 Key Questions’, which assess pupils’ understanding, interpretation and application of musical knowledge.

In EYFS, children follow Development Matters, incorporating music within continuous provision to support Expressive Arts and Design, ensuring children become confident and imaginative in their creative expression.

Impact

The impact of our music curriculum is demonstrated through:

Video recordings of performances and practical lessons
Confident use of musical vocabulary
Progressive development of skills across year groups

Evidence shows clear progression over time, with prior knowledge embedded and built upon year after year. Pupils develop resilience, confidence and the ability to overcome challenges through rehearsal and performance.

Our pupils understand how music contributes to well-being, self-expression and personal development. They leave New Pasture Lane School equipped with musical knowledge, confidence and appreciation that will continue to inspire them beyond the classroom.