Music

Music

At Brierley, we want every child to experience the enjoyment of making, listening to and sharing music. Our music curriculum gives children opportunities to sing, play instruments, perform, compose and listen to music from a wide range of periods, cultures, traditions and styles. Through these experiences, pupils develop musical knowledge and practical skills alongside creativity, confidence and self-expression. We want every child to see themselves as someone who can take part in music, whether that is singing together, learning an instrument, creating their own music, performing for others or simply developing a lifelong enjoyment and appreciation of what they hear.

Strong Foundations from the Beginning

In Little Bears Nursery, children listen with increasing attention, sing familiar melodic patterns and experiment with sounds. Music is also experienced through movement, rhythm, rhyme and play. In Reception, children develop these foundations through listening and talking about music, singing with increasing awareness of pitch and tone and composing simple musical patterns. Songs, rhymes, movement, instruments and opportunities to perform together help children develop listening, memory, language, coordination and confidence. These early experiences provide strong foundations for the increasingly structured musical learning children encounter as they move through school.

How We Teach Music

Music at Brierley is practical. We want children to hear music, make music, talk about music and experience the enjoyment of creating something together. From Reception to Year 6, pupils receive weekly specialist music teaching through our partnership with Junior Jam, alongside additional musical activities led by school staff. Nursery follows a bespoke programme designed to establish strong early foundations.

Children progressively develop their understanding of performing, composing, listening and appraising, musical notation, music technology, instrumental technique and musical theory. Our teaching follows the principle of I do, we do, you do. Teachers and music specialists model musical ideas, techniques, rhythms or performances clearly. Children then rehearse and explore these with support before increasingly applying their musical knowledge and skills independently. Music also requires purposeful repetition. Children are given time to listen carefully, rehearse, respond to feedback and improve.

Listening and Musical Understanding

Listening is at the heart of our music curriculum. Children encounter music from different periods, styles, cultures and traditions and are encouraged to listen actively rather than simply hear music in the background. They learn to notice musical features, describe what they hear and use increasingly accurate musical vocabulary to express their ideas.

Our curriculum deliberately broadens children's musical experience as they move through school. Pupils encounter music including Classical, Baroque and Romantic traditions alongside Blues, Rock and Roll, Pop, Country, Funk, Disco, Jazz, Indie, African and Indian music, R&B, Tango and music from different decades.

Listening also helps children understand that music has a history and a cultural context. They begin to recognise that music changes over time and that different communities, cultures and musicians have contributed to the rich variety of music we hear today. Assemblies provide further opportunities for children to listen to and discuss music beyond their classroom lessons.

Singing

Singing is an important part of musical life at Brierley. Children sing within music lessons, assemblies, performances, productions and our after-school choir. From familiar songs and rhymes in the Early Years, children gradually develop greater awareness of pitch, rhythm, breathing, expression and how their voice contributes to a group. As pupils become older, the musical challenge increases. Our long-term plans include group singing, three-part rounds and, by Year 6, singing in harmony.

Singing together develops more than vocal technique. Children learn to listen to one another, maintain their own part, respond to a leader and experience the sense of achievement that comes from making music as part of a group.

Playing and Performing

Every child should have opportunities to experience the excitement of playing and performing music. Children use their voices and a range of instruments to explore rhythm, melody and musical ideas. Through our specialist curriculum, each year group has opportunities to experience different musical instruments across the year, giving pupils broad practical experience of instrumental learning. As they progress, children learn to play with increasing accuracy, control and expression. They learn to listen to others, keep their own part within an ensemble, rehearse purposefully and respond to feedback.

Performance is a regular part of school life rather than something reserved for a small number of confident musicians. These opportunities range from peer and assembly performances to Harvest celebrations, Christmas productions, concerts, community events, Rocksteady performances, Brierley's Got Talent and the Year 6 leavers' production. We want children to experience the pride, excitement and teamwork involved in preparing music and sharing it with an audience.

Composing and Creating Music

Children learn that music is something they can create as well as listen to and perform. This begins in the Early Years through experimenting with sounds and creating simple musical patterns. As pupils progress, they make increasingly deliberate choices about rhythm, melody, structure, instrumentation and how they want their music to sound.

Children are encouraged to explore ideas, improvise, compose, listen back to what they have created and make improvements. Music technology also provides opportunities for pupils to create and explore sound in different ways.

We want children to understand that composing is a creative process. Ideas can be tried, changed, developed and refined until the music communicates what the composer intended.

Musical Theory, Notation and Vocabulary

Alongside practical music-making, children gradually develop the musical knowledge that helps them understand what they hear, sing, play and compose. They learn about important musical ideas including pulse, rhythm, pitch, duration, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture and structure. Musical vocabulary is introduced and revisited so that children can increasingly explain what they hear and make purposeful choices in their own music. Children also encounter different ways of representing music. This develops from simple visual and rhythmic representations towards increasingly formal musical notation.

Our aim is not for notation or theory to become isolated written exercises. Children learn to connect what they see on a page with what they can hear and perform.

Revisiting and Remembering

We know that important musical knowledge needs to be revisited if children are to remember it and use it confidently. Music lessons regularly include short Flashback opportunities, allowing pupils to retrieve previous learning, revisit key vocabulary and make connections with what they are learning now.

Termly revisit opportunities allow children to return to important musical concepts and strengthen their understanding. Ideas such as pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, notation, listening and performance are encountered in increasingly complex ways as children move through school.

Our teaching follows the principle of I do, we do, you do. New musical knowledge and techniques are initially modelled clearly, children then rehearse and practise with support before increasingly applying their skills independently. Listening, repetition, rehearsal and feedback help children remember what they have learned and become increasingly confident musicians.

A Sequenced Curriculum

Our music curriculum is carefully planned from Nursery through to Year 6 so that musical knowledge and skills build progressively. Children begin in Early Years by listening attentively, singing familiar songs and rhymes, exploring sounds and creating musical patterns.

In Key Stage 1, pupils continue to develop their listening, singing and performance skills while beginning to compare different genres and develop their understanding of musical theory and composition. Year 2, for example, includes comparing musical genres alongside listening to Classical, twentieth and twenty-first century music, Rock and Roll and Pop.

As children move through Key Stage 2, singing, instrumental work, composition and listening become increasingly sophisticated. Pupils experience an increasingly broad range of musical periods and traditions, develop greater control as performers and composers and use musical knowledge more independently.

By Year 5, pupils sing in a three-part round, and by Year 6 they experience singing in harmony alongside performance, composition and listening to increasingly varied repertoire. This progression helps children build a connected understanding of music rather than experiencing each lesson or musical activity in isolation.

Supporting Every Child

Music is for every child at Brierley. We have high expectations while recognising that children may participate in music in different ways. Teaching can be adapted through additional modelling, visual prompts, repeated rehearsal, simplified or alternative instrumental parts, appropriate instruments, technology or different ways of contributing to a group performance. Support is provided where it is needed and reduced as children become increasingly confident and independent.

Inclusion is as an important part of our wider musical offer. Funded opportunities are available where appropriate through Rocksteady, including some sponsored places for pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding. Our aim is for every child to experience success and feel that music belongs to them.

Assessment and Feedback

Assessment happens naturally throughout musical learning. Teachers and music specialists listen to and observe children as they sing, play instruments, compose, rehearse, perform and talk about music. They consider how well pupils can recall and use musical knowledge, listen carefully, use vocabulary, maintain rhythm or pitch, control an instrument, create musical ideas and perform individually or as part of an ensemble. Feedback is often immediate because children benefit from being able to hear, adjust and try again.

Assessment helps teachers understand what children can already do, where they need further rehearsal or support and when they are ready for greater musical challenge. This information is used to support progression and future planning.

Music Beyond the Classroom

Music is an important part of wider life at Brierley. Our after-school choir is open to pupils from Years 2 to 6 and gives children opportunities to develop their singing, ensemble skills, confidence and performance experience. We also work with Rocksteady Music School. Children taking part rehearse weekly as members of bands, working together before performing live concerts for pupils, staff and families. Brierley's Got Talent provides another opportunity for pupils to showcase singing, instrumental performance and ensemble work and to celebrate one another's creativity and achievement.

Our children also take music beyond the school gates. Recent opportunities have included performances at church events, community celebrations, Crewe railway station, Christmas events and local care homes. These experiences allow pupils to see how music can bring people together and contribute positively to their community.

Children experience live music through workshops, concerts and visiting performers. Our links with local secondary schools have also enabled pupils to watch visiting choirs and instrumental ensembles perform in school, giving children the opportunity to see older pupils making music and helping raise aspirations for their own future participation.

Our younger children also take part in shared musical experiences such as National Nursery Rhyme Week, bringing Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1 children together through singing and performance.

Our Music Development Plan - available in the files below

Our Music Development Plan explains how we develop music across Brierley and how we work with partners to broaden children's opportunities. Junior Jam, Rocksteady Music School and local secondary schools are important partners in our musical provision. It also helps us identify our next steps, including developing stronger links with the Love Music Trust, exploring further whole-class instrumental opportunities, increasing participation in extra-curricular music and expanding opportunities for children to perform within the wider community.

How You Can Help Your Child at Home

Parents and carers can play an important part in helping children develop confidence and enjoyment in music. You do not need to be able to play an instrument or read music to help. You can support your child by listening to different types of music together, talking about what you can hear and asking which instruments, voices or musical features they notice. Singing together, clapping rhythms, making music with everyday objects, attending live performances or encouraging children to share songs and music they have learned at school can all support musical development.

If your child is learning an instrument, short and regular opportunities to practise are often more helpful than one long practice session. Encourage them to persevere when something is difficult and celebrate the progress they make. Most importantly, talk positively about music and allow children to develop their own musical interests and tastes.

Music Learning Links

Families who would like to explore music further may find the following resources useful.

The Love Music Trust leads the Cheshire and Wirral Music Hub and provides instrumental tuition, choirs, ensembles and progression routes for young musicians across the area. It also provides fee remissions for eligible children within some of its programmes.

BBC Teach Primary Music includes singing, listening, performance and composition activities for children across the primary age range.

BBC Teach Primary Music https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks1-music

BBC Ten Pieces introduces children to composers and significant pieces of music and provides opportunities to listen, respond and create music inspired by what they hear.

BBC Ten Pieces https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces

Knowing Our Curriculum Is Working

We work closely with staff, specialist teachers and our musical partners to make sure that music remains ambitious, enjoyable, inclusive and progressive. Assessment information, discussions with children, lesson visits, performances and curriculum monitoring help us understand how securely pupils are developing their musical knowledge and skills.

We consider children's progress across listening, singing, instrumental performance, composition, musical theory and notation alongside their growing confidence in making music with others.

Our Music Development Plan provides an additional opportunity to look beyond classroom lessons and consider participation in choirs, bands, performances, live musical experiences and opportunities within the wider community. We want to know that children are not simply taking part in musical activities, but are becoming more knowledgeable, skilful, confident and independent musicians.

Confident and Creative Musicians

By the time children leave Brierley, we want them to have experienced the joy of listening to, creating and performing music.

We want pupils to listen with interest, sing confidently, experience playing musical instruments, create their own musical ideas and use increasingly accurate musical language to explain what they hear and perform. We want them to have encountered music from different periods, places, cultures and traditions and to understand that there are many different ways to participate in musical life. Most importantly, we want every child to believe that music is for them.

We aim to develop confident, creative and enthusiastic young musicians who are proud to share their achievements, open to discovering new music and ready to continue their musical journey beyond Brierley.