Music
Music at Catton Grove: Our Intent
Music produces a kind of pleasure, which human nature cannot do without(Confucius).
Here at Catton Grove, music runs through our veins! Each and every day is an opportunity to discover, to experiment, and to enjoy music in all its forms. We are all musicians...this is a key principle of ours - not just to play music, but to become musicians. Through exploring the work of musicians from all over the world, all walks of life and from many different eras, we create a natural, inspirational curiosity. We encourage all our pupils' understanding, enjoyment and appreciation of music through an active involvement in the key concepts of listening, composing, improvising and performing. We are aiming to put Catton Grove on the musical map... when pupils leave our school, we want the reputation of music at Catton Grove to follow them... and to open even more doors for them in the future.
We address the curriculum through a progressive spiral of musical skills and knowledge. This means that the skills in, for example, piano that are taught in Year 3 are built upon and expanded in Year 4, and so on. A rich, varied singing spine means that each year group expertly learns at least one song per half term, inspired by the philosophy of our whole school 'reading spine'. We value what singing brings: community, well-being, expression. We truly believe that everyone has a singing voice. Throughout our curriculum, the child's voice is valued and nurtured; this applies to their singing voice too!
We intend to install the building blocks of music at an early stage... sparking that musical curiosity and fostering a love of music early on. With this in mind, our Nursery pupils are in receipt of the same quality music sessions as the rest of the school; their musical journey begins as soon as they set foot on the 'stage' that is Catton Grove Primary School!
Whilst some pupils may think the only career in music is being a super-star singer on the world's biggest stage, we strongly intend to broaden our pupils' understanding so that careers in producing, technical work, marketing, promotion, radio, musical theatre and many more are valued and pursued. There are many roles and opportunities within the musical world and we want our pupils to be aware and to recognise the different paths they can travel down to achieve their musical goals.
Music is for everyone, regardless of ethnic origin, gender origin, class, aptitude or disability. While we are aware that some pupils are not afforded those regular, wider musical opportunities, we ensure that their cultural capital is nourished as a key value that underpins not just our music curriculum, but our whole intent as a school. The music spiral curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that all pupils' needs are met, allowing them to build on previous skills and knowledge, and increase their confidence and enthusiasm.
We believe that everyone can enjoy and love music, even if they don't know it yet... we intend to unlock... and unleash... that passion for music! Music accompanies us everywhere in our everyday lives... each and every one of us has our own 'soundtrack'. At this school, we are helping the pupils to write the first few songs of their lives, consisting of the music that they both create and appreciate.
Music is the literature of the heart...it commences where speech ends. (Alfonse de Lamartine)
Music/Policy Curriculum Overview