Music Curriculum Rationale

At Martock Primary School, our music curriculum aims to provide a high-quality, engaging, and progressive music education for all pupils. We have chosen to use the Charanga music scheme as the foundation for our music curriculum as it aligns closely with the National Curriculum for music and provides a spiral curriculum that allows pupils to build on their musical knowledge and skills throughout their primary education.

The Charanga scheme offers a comprehensive model music curriculum that covers the key aspects of the National Curriculum for music, including performing, composing, listening, and appraising. It provides opportunities for pupils to engage with a wide range of musical styles and genres, including Western classical music, popular music, and music from diverse cultures around the world. This breadth of musical experiences is particularly important for our school, where we aim to celebrate diversity and ensure that everyone feels included.

The spiral curriculum approach of Charanga ensures that pupils are continually revisiting and building upon their prior learning, leading to deeper, more secure musical understanding and mastery. This aligns well with our school's focus on ensuring that pupils know more, remember more, and can do more across the curriculum. By revisiting key musical concepts and skills throughout their primary education, our pupils will develop a strong foundation in music that will enable them to progress and achieve their full potential.

Charanga also provides high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) for our staff, which is crucial given the Ofsted feedback that our early years staff do not have the subject knowledge needed to effectively teach music. The assessment tools within Charanga will also support our teachers in accurately identifying and addressing any gaps in pupils' musical knowledge and skills, particularly for our SEND pupils, who require carefully matched and scaffolded learning experiences.

Whole School Aims

Our music curriculum aligns closely with the school's vision and values. By providing all pupils with engaging and enriching musical experiences, we aim to give them the chance to "flourish in a nurturing environment with excellent opportunities" and to "experience success and make a positive difference to the world around them." The emphasis on collaboration, respect, and inclusion within the Charanga scheme supports our school's values of kindness, perseverance, respect, and collaboration.

Subject Vision

At Martock Primary School, we believe that music is a fundamental part of a well-rounded education. Through our music curriculum, we aim to foster a love and appreciation of music in all our pupils, enabling them to develop their musical skills, knowledge, and understanding. We want our pupils to be confident, creative, and expressive musicians who can use music to communicate, collaborate, and connect with others.

Our music curriculum is designed to support the school's overall improvement priorities, particularly in relation to improving the progress, outcomes, and independence of our SEND pupils. By carefully scaffolding the musical learning experiences and providing appropriate support and challenge, we aim to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, can access and succeed in our music lessons.

Communication with Stakeholders

To ensure the successful implementation of our music curriculum, we will communicate our rationale and vision to all stakeholders, including staff, pupils, parents, and governors. This will involve:

• Providing detailed information about the Charanga scheme and how it aligns with the National Curriculum and our school's priorities in staff meetings and INSET days.These documents are available on our website.
• Sharing our music curriculum rationale and vision with pupils during assemblies and music lessons, encouraging them to engage with and contribute to the development of music in our school.
• Communicating our music curriculum rationale and vision to parents through newsletters, the school website, and parent information evenings, emphasising the importance of music education and the opportunities available for their children.
• Regularly updating our governing body on the implementation and impact of our music curriculum, seeking their input and support to ensure that the necessary improvements are made with urgency.

Addressing Inspection Feedback

Our music curriculum rationale directly addresses the key areas for improvement identified in the Ofsted feedback. By using the Charanga scheme, we are ensuring that our staff have access to high-quality CPD and resources to develop their subject knowledge and pedagogical skills.

The spiral curriculum approach of Charanga will also help us to address the issue of pupils not building on their prior knowledge, as the scheme is designed to systematically develop pupils' musical understanding over time. Additionally, the assessment tools within Charanga will support our teachers in accurately matching and scaffolding learning for our SEND pupils, helping them to develop the independence they need for future learning.

By prioritising the development of our music curriculum and using a research-based scheme like Charanga, we are confident that we can make the necessary improvements to provide a high-quality, coherent, and progressive music education for all our pupils.