Music

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” (Plato)

Intent

At Chartham Primary School we aim to provide children with a wide range of experiences and opportunities which ignite their curiosity, inspire creativity and encourage well-being and confidence. Music is a powerful tool in achieving these aims.

Within our broad and balanced curriculum, opportunities to sing and learn instruments underpin learning and development not only within music as a subject but also through a cross-curricular approach. We want our children to value music throughout their learning, for example,  using songs to learn times tables in mathematics and to learn factual information in our Creative Curriculum. We hope to foster a lifelong love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. By listening and responding to different musical styles, finding their voices as singers and performers and as composers, all will enable them to become confident, reflective musicians.

Implementation

We are in the process of reforming our music curriculum and plans are in place to use a published curriculum alongside our own bespoke lessons. From September 2023 we are using the Sing Up! music curriculum across the school. This will be further developed this year to create a music curriculum for Chartham Primary School which reflects the children we serve and the values we are seeking to live out.

This is how we currently implement our music curriculum:

• Weekly timetabled music lesson across the school using the Sing Up! curriculum.

• Weekly whole class ukulele lessons in year 3 provided by Kent Music.

In addition, there will be opportunities for children to engage with further musical activities in and outside the classroom. We have specialist music teachers who visit the school and there are opportunities for children to perform throughout the year in productions, assemblies and showcases. We also have a range of extra-curricular clubs, KS1 and KS2 ukulele club and a KS2 choir. Each year children from years 4-6 have the opportunity to take part in Young Voices, a national event with concerts around the UK. 

Young Voices

Each year a group of children from Year 4,5 and 6 participate in the Young Voices concert at the O2 in London. The children prepare a range of songs between September and January and perform alongside thousands of other children with an amazing live band. There are also professional musicians, such as Nandi Bushall, Heather Small and McGrammar, who perform as part of the concert. It is an exciting opportunity for our children to experience live music and performance. 

KS1 Ukulele Club

 Ukulele club at Chartham begins in year 1. Children play a range of singing games to develop foundational music skills such as beat, tempo, pitch and rhythm. Alongside this they begin to learn to play the ukulele. The skills learned in KS1 Ukulele Club are built upon in KS2

Visiting Musicians

We are very fortunate to have a range of musicians who have come to the school to showcase a range of instruments and musical styles. Our children have thoroughly enjoyed this enriching experience. If you are a musician and would like to come and perform for our children please let the office know.