Music

Intent

At Lenthall Infant and Nursery School, our aim is to provide pupils with a high-quality music curriculum that engages, inspires, and nurtures creativity. We instil a genuine love for music, weaving it seamlessly into our broader curriculum. Children experience a varied range of musical activities, from daily routines and lessons to extracurricular activities and performances. Developing listening skills to appreciate diverse musical forms and discern quality is essential for our children’s enjoyment and knowledge.

Implementation

Music at Lenthall Infant and Nursery School adheres to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, the National Curriculum, and guidance from the non-statutory 'Model Music Curriculum' (DFE March). Class teachers deliver music lessons across the curriculum to enhance learning. Each week, we hold a whole school singing assembly, where singing and dancing play a vital role in our celebrations.

Children learn the foundational principles of pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, duration, and timbre. They expressively use their voices through singing, chanting, and rhyming in dedicated lessons and various subjects. Our school boasts a wide range of percussion instruments accessible to all, and children enjoy opportunities to play both tuned and untuned instruments in class and through enrichment events such as Rocksteady Music Workshops and themed activities.

Lenthall School of Rock

The Original Music scheme, designed by the music specialist team at Charanga, offers all our EYFS children the chance to listen to a diverse range of live and recorded music while experimenting with their own musical ideas. For KS1, the Charanga scheme expands these opportunities, exposing all children to a wider spectrum of modern, classical, rap, pop, and country music.

Through this engaging curriculum, children will compose, sing, perform, and evaluate various aspects of music while having access to a range of musical instruments to play and explore.

Impact

At Lenthall Infant and Nursery School, music assessment includes:

• Informal judgements by staff during lessons
• Immediate next steps provided through verbal feedback
• Pupil and peer assessments
• Formal skills and assessment checklists

At the end of each music unit, teachers summarise each pupil’s work against success criteria. The music subject leader monitors progress and attainment termly by triangulating data, evidence in books, and children's feedback.

Our Ultimate End Goal:

What will our musicians be able to do when they leave us?

As our musicians transition to the next stage in their lives, we want them to feel confident in their performing skills, bringing joy to themselves and others—whether in concerts, birthday parties, carol singing, or playing on a public piano.

We aspire for them to express emotions through their own compositions, possessing the skills and knowledge required to create music for various occasions. Additionally, we want them to appreciate all musical genres, be knowledgeable about diverse styles, and confidently comment on the musical content of performances, whether live or recorded.

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