The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music

• Be taught to sing, create and compose music

• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.

At Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, we ensure children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. Our objective at Corpus Christi is to develop a curiosity and enthusiasm 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.

The music curriculum is delivered to all year groups by either a specialist music teacher or the class teacher, all of whom have been trained in using Charanga. The Charanga scheme of work is followed across the school. Throughout the scheme, pupils are immersed in a wide variety of musical genres. They are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole-body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. This provides them with the opportunity to become increasingly more confident in their musical ability.

To ensure all pupils get a chance to perform within an ensemble, some of the musical opportunities in school include class music lessons, Key Stage singing assemblies, whole class clarinet lessons (Year 4) and ukulele lessons (Year 3) as a part of our Wider Opportunities sessions, optional peripatetic music tuition, School Choir, Rock Steady, the annual Cluster Concert and the Infant Singing Festival.

As children move through the school, they will begin to explore, engage and then express themselves through music. Through doing this, they will develop skills that will inspire them to think critically and creatively, not just in the music classroom, but across all aspects of their 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.