Music at Randwick
'Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination and life to everything.'
Plato
Music is an integral part of the curriculum at Randwick C of E Primary School, and above all we make music an enjoyable learning experience in both our curriculum and our extra-curricular activities. We encourage all our children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up their confidence, as they journey through the key stages.
We recognise that singing is a great starting point for musical learning and the development of many skills, whilst being a hugely enjoyable activity for our pupils and teachers. We have a strong and positive bond within our school and join the community together, through singing and playing together, listening to music during worship, performances, musical visits and special events in the calendar.
Our teaching develops the children’s ability to sing in tune and with each other, and through singing they learn about the structure and organisation of music. As we teach them to listen and to appreciate the many different forms of music, they learn the musical language to express how music represents feelings and emotions.
At Randwick, our children develop a love of music through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. We develop a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge and experiences to involve themselves in music in a variety of different contexts. During their time at Randwick, our children will have a wide range of musical opportunities to participate in such as, Young Voices Choir and Concert, daily singing in worship, a variety of performances in and out of school and playing instruments as part of music teaching in KS1 and 2. Music specialists offer one to one tuition on drums, keyboard and guitar throughout the year in school and the children perform in worship weekly.
Music at Randwick is carefully planned for progression and continuity. Our music scheme of work is Charanga, as it complements the curriculum and scaffolds the learning opportunities throughout the key stages. The units of work ensure students sing, listen, compose, play, perform and evaluate, which are returned to and developed in a spiral pattern of learning. This is embedded in classroom activities as well as concerts and performances and through the learning of instruments. The elements of music are taught in classroom lessons allowing children to use the language of music to analyse and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and evaluated.
To find out more about Charanga and how it is used to support the delivery of Music at Randwick C of E Primary, please follow this link:
All children are actively encouraged and given the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument, from tuned and un-tuned classroom instruments, to whole class instrumental tuition and individual instrumental lessons with visiting peripatetic staff. All children experience being part of an ensemble; working, composing and performing together. The use of technology and the understanding of appropriate notation will be an integral part of this learning.
To ensure all of our children reach their potential in music, the subject is supported by enhancement activities, trips, visitors and extra-curricular clubs.
National Curriculum - Music key stages 1 to 2 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Whole Class Music Sessions
At Randwick we enjoy whole class music sessions in Kestrels class, where we get to learn the recorder together with the support of Gloucestershire Music for a series of 10 sessions. These sessions are led by highly skilled specialist tutors and provide weekly CPD for our teachers, who are able to shadow the teaching. This year our Sprrowhawks class will also benefit from some specialist taught digital music sessions in the Spring term.
Musician of the Week
Each week at our celebration worship, we invite the children to be our 'Musician of the Week'. This can be an individual, a small group, one of our extra-curricular clubs eg, recorder club or songwriters club. The 'Musician of the week' performs in front of the whole school and the parents at the beginning and end of our worship. This provides the children with an opportunitiy to build their confidence, share their talents and passions in front of a live audience, whilst also inspiring others.
Young Voices Choir
Each year, Key Stage 2 have the opportunity to take part in the Young Voices concert. This is a concert held every year where children and teachers unite in an electrifying choir experience. We spend time rehearsing and performing songs and dances to participate in an unforgettable concert, where the children discover their voices, gain confidence and create lasting memories. It is a highlight of our year!