Thornham St James C.E. Primary School
This document outlines the knowledge, language and concepts that should be taught in Music.
It includes:
• A summary of the Music knowledge and principles that underpin our approach
• Long Term Sequence (journey)
• Progression of Music including alignment with the National Curriculum, whilst taking an holistic approach, in which individual strands of music are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experience.
It is influenced by documents and research, including: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-music
Intent
At Thornham, we are musicians! We believe that Music should be an enjoyable experience for pupils and teachers. Children participate in a range of musical experiences, to help learn about themselves and develop their skills and knowledge in different context, as well as building up their confidence and resilience at the same time. Through music our curriculum supports children to develop transferable skills such as team-working, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving, decision making and as children’s confidence builds, they enjoy the performance aspects of music.
Our Music curriculum precisely follows the intended learning and ambition of the National Curriculum, to ensure that pupils require to become confident performers, composers, and listeners. It is our intention that through studying music, pupils will have the opportunity to enjoy, succeed and excel in music and develop a life-long love of music.
Implementation
We implement our intent discretely using KAPOW programme of study. The KAPOW Curriculum is a comprehensive collection of materials produced to support teaching, facilitating the delivery of the entire English Music curriculum.
The Kapow Primary scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. Children progress in terms of tackling more complex tasks and doing more simple tasks better, as well as developing understanding and knowledge of the history of music, staff, and other musical notations, the interrelated dimensions of music and more. In each lesson, pupils will actively participate in musical activities drawn from a range of styles and traditions, developing their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as improvisation and teacher-led performances. Lessons are ‘hands-on’ and incorporate movement and dance elements, as well as making cross curricular links with other areas of learning.
Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust music curriculum. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD, aiding teachers in their own acquisition of musical skills and knowledge. Further CPD opportunities can also be found via webinars with our music subject specialists. Kapow has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the music curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
The KAPOW Curriculum has been designed to reduce teacher workload. To ensure this, the KAPOW curriculum includes all the resources a teacher needs, covering every aspect from planning, to progression mapping, to supporting materials.
Lesson Structure
Our Computing lessons follow a structured format designed to promote depth of understanding and application of knowledge:
- Anchor: Pupils revisit prior knowledge, connecting it to new content. Teachers introduce new concepts, addressing common misconceptions.
- Model: Worked examples demonstrate what success looks like in practice.
- Guided: Pupils engage with new ideas, practicing them through guided tasks.
- Independent: Pupils apply their understanding in creative and meaningful ways.
- Connect: Pupils reflect on their learning, comparing, contrasting, and evaluating ideas.
This structure ensures that pupils engage critically with new concepts and develop resilience and independence in their learning, reflecting our values of wisdom and creativity.
Impact
The impact of the scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each KAPOW lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives.
After the implementation of our Music scheme, pupils should leave primary school equipped with a range of techniques and the confidence and creativity to form a strong foundation for their Art and design learning at Key Stage 3 and beyond.
At Thornham St. James, we are committed to ensuring that our curriculum effectively embeds learning in pupils’ long-term memory while also promoting excellence in outcomes. To assess the impact of our curriculum, we employ a comprehensive approach that utilises four key tools:
- Classroom Check-ins: These evaluations focus on subject knowledge, clarity of explanations, high expectations, opportunities for learning, pupil responses, participation, and teacher-student relationships. This allows us to assess how well pupils are engaging with the content and applying their knowledge.
- Pupil Book Looks and Pupil Voice : These studies involve dialogues with pupils and reviewing their workbooks to evaluate curriculum structures, teaching methods, participation, and responses. This dialogic model helps us gauge whether pupils are knowing more, remembering more, and able to do more as a result of their learning experiences.
- Professional Growth Models: We prioritise continuous improvement in staff subject knowledge and evidence-informed teaching practices, including retrieval practice, spaced learning, interleaving, and explicit instruction techniques. This ensures that all teachers are equipped to support pupil learning effectively.
- Assessment and Achievement: We articulate learning outcomes through tasks and tests, evaluating both understanding and areas for improvement. This information informs our next steps, guiding us in adjusting teaching to meet the needs of all pupils.
In conducting these evaluations, we ask critical questions such as:
- How well do pupils remember the content that they have been taught?
- Do books and pupil discussions demonstrate progress and attainment?
- Can pupils apply their learning in more sophisticated contexts, showing that knowledge has ‘travelled’ with them?
Retrieval Practice and Assessment as Tools for Learning
While delivering the curriculum, teachers consistently check for understanding, identifying and addressing any misunderstandings. Assessment serves as a vital tool to support pupil learning. Research highlights the significant benefits of retrieval practice, one of the strongest findings in cognitive psychology (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006; Storm, Bjork & Storm, 2010). We implement low-stakes quizzes, including flashback quizzes at the start of each lesson, which are efficient, effective, and motivating for pupils. These quizzes also provide valuable insights into areas where pupils may be struggling.
To enhance retention and ensure that knowledge is embedded in long-term memory, we employ a retrieval plan that revisits all topics over time through spaced learning. This structure allows for cumulative quizzing, vocabulary use, and deliberate practice, ensuring that pupils can build upon their knowledge in a meaningful way.
Curriculum Adaptation and Continuous Improvement
We conduct frequent audits of the Music curriculum, adapting it based on our findings to enhance learning opportunities and assessment endpoints for each year group. This ensures clear progression and repetition, reinforcing key learning, knowledge, and skills throughout the curriculum.
Ultimately, at Thornham St. James, our goal is for children to know more, remember more, and understand more. Through this rigorous approach to assessment and quality assurance, we are committed to fostering a deep and lasting understanding of Music and other subjects across the curriculum.
Music Unit Overviews for Families
