Intent

At Sneyd Academy, we want to build a music curriculum which develops and inspires a lifelong love of music and increase the children’s talent as musicians, their self-confidence, creativity, resilience and pride in their achievements. We follow the guidelines as set out in the EYFS Music Development Matters document and the National Curriculum for Music programme of study.

 

We aim to provide exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge in Music whilst ensuring a high quality of teaching from Nursery through to Year 6, preparing children for continued learning in High School.

 

We provide children with numerous opportunities to perform during assemblies, concerts and wider community events.

 

For more information, please see our Sneyd Academy Music Development Plan 24-25

 

The Curriculum

It has also been proven that music plays a key role in brain development. This is because it helps with the nurturing of language, motor skills, emotional intelligence and collaboration skills. Here at Sneyd Academy, we want all children to have access to these opportunities and so music is at the heart of the school and the wider community. Music is an important part of the National Curriculum and children access 1 hour of music learning every week; a 30-minute classroom-based lesson and a 30-minute Singing Together session with the other classes in their phase, in which children learn lots of different songs that may be sung in concerts, assemblies and church services. Children are introduced to a plethora of musical history and genres such as jazz and rock, and learn about composers such as Edvard Grieg and Camille Saint-Saens. At Sneyd Academy, we recognise the value of music in developing the whole pupil and improving cognitive ability, as well as being a tool for developing listening skills, language acquisition, confidence and improving attention span and want to promote a love of music throughout the school.

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure 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
  • 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.

Here at Sneyd Academy, we are very lucky to have a peripatetic music teacher, Mr Anderson, who works for the City Music Service and comes into school every week to teach our music lessons. Alongside teaching music lessons, he also leads the after-school Songbirds choir (Years 1-3) and the Sneyd Sensations choir (Years 4-6) with the support of school staff.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Music is an essential part of EYFS at Sneyd Academy; the children have the opportunity to explore sounds, make instruments and create music, they have access to a range of instruments to explore within continuous provision. The children all receive weekly music sessions using the Soundpots programme. We offer the children a wide range of songs to help them to learn and sing.   By the end of Reception, we expect the children to explore and engage in music making, dance and performing and sing a range of songs and Nursery Rhymes.

KS1

At Sneyd Academy, pupils:

  • Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
  • Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
  • Learn about composers and musicians such as Camille Saint-Saens and The Beatles
  • Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music
  • Learn about structure and duration within music.

 

KS2

At Sneyd Academy, pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

Pupils should be taught to:

  • Play and perform using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
  • Perform in both solo and ensemble contexts
  • Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
  • Learn about different structures within composition, for example, call and response
  • Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
  • Recognise and name notes on a stave
  • Use and understand musical notations
  • Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
  • Develop an understanding of the history of music.

 

 

Musical Resources

All children have access to a range of tuned and untuned instruments at Sneyd Academy; they are taught to play and perform in both solo and ensemble contexts and listen with attention to the different sounds that instruments produce.

Years 1 & 2 – Percussion Instruments

Year 3 – Glockenspiels

Year 4 – Boom whackers & Recorders

Year 5 – Recorders

Year 6 – Ukulele

 

 

Enrichment

At Sneyd Academy, we love to provide children with the opportunity to perform for their parents and demonstrate their musical abilities. The children demonstrate our school value of ‘Pride’ every time they perform.

  • Nursery – Nursery Rhyme Concert
  • Reception – The Christmas Concert
  • Year 1 – Christmas Nativity
  • Year 2 – Harvest Performance
  • Year 3 – Rainforest the Musical
  • Year 4 – Community Carol Concert at St Andrews Church
  • Year 5 – Recorder Festival at Victoria Hall
  • Year 6 – Leavers’ Show

 

 

Clubs

Our Music curriculum is further supported by the after-school clubs available to children in KS1 and KS2 which are both ran by our peripatetic music teacher, Mr Anderson. Songbirds is available for Year 1 to 3 children and Sneyd Sensations is open to Year 4 to 6 children. The children love singing and playing games within these sessions. The children learn a set repertoire of songs for a Christmas concert and a Summer concert, which are then performed at the Victoria Hall, alongside other schools from across the city. During the performances, children have the opportunity to listen to one of the City Music ensembles perform, which gives them access to further musical provision.

In addition to this a Djembe Drumming Club is offered to Year 4 and Year 5 pupils in the Autumn term.

Pupil Voice

“I loved learning a call and response song in music lessons and then marching on the field performing our song!” Amara, Y3

“I enjoy working with Mr Anderson and Singing Together with the Year 4 classes” Harper, Y3

The school is a happy and positive community.

| Ofsted 2019

Why Sneyd Academy?

Our aim is to enthuse our children to ‘Learn, Achieve, Believe’ in all that they do.

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Our Curriculum

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum as well as excellence in maths and English. We bring in expertise for pupils in music and PE and achieve well in these subjects.

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