" Music can change the world because it can change people" (Bono)

We value music as a powerful form of communication and we hope to develop and foster a sense of school community and connectedness through music. Our aim is to provide a high-quality music education, which promotes joy and celebration, experimentation, critical thinking, risk taking, curiosity and imagination.

Music is all around us and we aim to use it as vehicle to:

• enable children to relax;
• develop critical thinking;
• build self-confidence by learning how to play an instrument;
• foster a sense of achievement;
• help to develop memory, language and reasoning; and promote a sense of belonging. 

How do we teach Music?

Throughout the school we use Charanga, as our music scheme to teach music. This is in line with the DfE Model Music Curriculum (2021). Each music lesson consists of 4 elements that contribute towards the steadily increasing development of musicianship:

• Singing

• Listening

• Composing

• Performing/Instrumental Performance

To develop children’s ability and confidence to sing and perform, whole school singing assemblies take place fortnightly, which are led by the Music Lead. In EYFS and the Lower Phase, children explore using their voices by singing songs, chants and rhymes. They enjoy experimenting with different sounds, listening to and discussing music. There are also regular opportunities for children to explore making music using tuned and untuned musical instruments. 

 In the Upper Phase, the children build upon the skills learnt in previous years and therefore gain more confidence and control when singing and playing instruments. The children develop skills of accuracy, fluency, control and expression.  They are introduced to musical notation including staff and this is developed in Upper Key Stage 2. In Year 3, all children learn how to play the recorder and in Year 5, all children have a term of specialist tuition to learn a tuned instrument, from a teacher from Berkshire Music Trust.  

Parents also have the opportunity to pay for private music lessons for their child during school hours, with a private piano teacher. During the school year, there are opportunities for children who have private music lessons to showcase their talents to an audience. All children have the opportunity to sing in class assemblies to parents throughout the year. The School Choir is run weekly and there are many opportunities for the Choir to perform in school and in community events.

In 2024-2025, the School Choir are joining the Young Voices Choir at the O2 and will sing with thousands of other children from a number of Primary Schools across the country. In the Summer term, there is a whole-school Talent Show, where children have the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity to large audience.

In order to develop a culture of musical appreciation and understanding, children have the opportunity to listen to music from ‘Musician of the Month’ during assemblies, and discuss the genre and musician. This music has been carefully chosen to ensure that it is linked to the Equality Act and there is a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music, which is carefully drawn from different traditions, composers and musicians. 

By the time children leave Year 6, they will be able to:

• sing in harmony and with musical delivery,
• listen critically and gain a deeper understanding of how music is constructed and the impact it can have on the listener,
• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of great composers and musicians,
• have experienced learning how to play a tuned musical instrument,
• 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,
• use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes,
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music,
• use and understand staff and other musical notations.

Musician of the Month

Each month we celebrate a different musician, find out about them and enjoy listening to some of their music. The musician is displayed on our school music board, details of the musician are emailed home to parents and also updated below. The musician's music is played as children enter and exit assemblies during the month.   

November's Musician of the Month is Ethel Smyth

This month, we are celebrating the incredible life and music of an extraordinary woman named Ethel Smyth, who was a pioneering English composer and suffragette. Her work spanned various genres and she played a vital role in the women's suffrage movement, using music as a tool for social change. 

Ethel Smyth was born on April 22, 1858, in England. She grew up in Surrey, at a time when the overriding expectation of women was that their primary role was to be wives and mothers. Ethel, however, was determined to follow her passion for music.She loved music from a young age and learned to play several instruments. Her music was full of emotion and was inspired by nature and the world around her.

Ethel Smyth's compositions were a harmonious blend of passion and creativity. Her music evoked strong emotions, ranging from tender melodies to bold and energetic passages. Drawing from nature and personal experiences, her compositions were rich in depth, capturing the essence of the human spirit. Ethel Smyth was not only a talented composer but also a passionate suffragette. She believed that women should have the right to vote and be treated equally. She even spent time in prison for her activism, where she composed a song called "March of the Women," which became a powerful anthem for the suffrage movement.

Ethel Smyth's music continues to inspire people around the world. Her determination and courage paved the way for future generations of female composers. In 2018, a statue of Ethel Smyth was unveiled in England, honouring her contributions to music and women's rights.