Music

The Music curriculum at Wethersfield is based on the National Curriculum for England 2013.

‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians and so increase self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose and to listen to with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.’

National Curriculum 2013

When teaching music we aim to ensure that all children:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• Learn to sing and use their voices to create and compose music on their own and with others.
• Have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and develop and improve their musical skills
• Understand how music is created, produced and communicated through pitch, duration, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Music teaching at Wethersfield is based on the Music Express Complete Music Scheme for Primary Class Teachers. Year 3 and 4 children are taught the recorder by an Essex Music teacher and some children have after school instrumental lessons. These include brass and woodwind.

Links are also made to Music within other subjects where appropriate, so pupils can develop and apply their musical skills.

In the past few years children have sung at the O2 arena as part of the, ‘Young Voices’ Choir’, participated in the Braintree Schools’ Music Festival and seen the BBC film, ‘Ten pieces’. This film tells the stories behind a range of classical music, including that of the great composers and is played by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.