Barrowford St Thomas C.E. Primary School

MUSIC

Each class has music lessons within the school timetable. In KS1 and KS2, all the children have the opportunity to learn either the glockenspiel (mainly EYFS and KS1, although we do use glockenspiels in KS2; recorders in lower KS2 and electronic keyboards in upper KS2. We ensure that all strands of the music curriculum are taught: singing, composing/improvising, musicianship (KS1) and performing (including the reading of notation) (KS2). Where possible, the teaching of music is linked to the half-termly topic. For example, when our Year 5 and 6 pupils study 'The Battle of Britain' in history, the children learn to sing songs from World War Two. We listen to a range of music guided by the model music curriculum and where possible we link this music to the topic, for example in the KS1 topic 'Beast Hunters' the children listen to and appraise 'Flight of the Bumble Bee'. If music does not link to the topic, we follow the units from 'Charanga Music' which ensures that the children are singing, performing, composing, improvising and listening. Charanga music covers music from a variety of styles, from classical to rock and organises music lessons around a particular song. We also utilise Charanga for our recorder and keyboard lessons. We use 'Sing Up' and 'BBC 10 pieces' as key resources.

At Barrowford St Thomas we pride ourselves on the singing which takes place. Singing is a part of every music lesson. As a church school, we also see singing hymns as an important factor within our worship and a means of collectively praising the word of God. The warmth and depth of feeling behind the children’s singing is certainly moving and gives everyone a feeling of togetherness and enjoyment.

At our school we strongly believe that all children should be given as many opportunities as possible to develop their musical talents. Currently we are lucky to have three music specialists who offer extra musical provision in violin, guitar and piano. Two or three times a year, all the children who learn an instrument have the opportunity to perform their instrument in front of the whole school and parents.

We offer an after-school ‘Singing Club’ led by Mrs Duckworth which is a club created for all children from Y3 to Y6 who enjoy singing, regardless of ability. The Singing Group has performed in school, parents, in Nelson Market, Barrowford Booths and Barrowford Library.

Where possible, we give all our children to listen to and engage with live music. For example, the children go to a musical performance/show every year at the Bolton Octagon theatre. Live musicians, such as the folk musicians who accompany traditional dancing are invited into school. Mrs Duckworth (the music lead and headteacher) is also a musician and plays the piano in worship and for concerts. It is also our aim that every child will have watched a live orchestra playing in an external venue before they leave our school. We also organise music workshops such as a Samba drumming workshop to extend our children's experience of music. We will also ensure (following restrictions during the COVID pandemic) that we will organise for our KS2 pupils to watch an orchestral performance; this is likely to be the Liverpool Philharmonic who organise school concerts.

Aims

We aim to ensure that all pupils:

perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
learn to sing and to 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 have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

The Music Subject Leader is Mrs Duckworth

Listening to Live Music

The folk musician, Richard Moss

Richard Moss a local folk musician. Richard performed some traditional songs from the Mills, helped us to unpick the meanings behind some of the lyrics and encouraged us to join in with a good old sing song! Please take a look at the photos and especially the video below. More videos on Class 4's class page.

Flautist: Julie Weaver

We were grateful to Julie who visited school to perform on her flute for the children in Class 3, as part of their topic based on the story 'The Pied Piper'. She taught the children about the flute and how it works.