Richmond Hill Primary Academy
Charanga Music Curriculum
Music at Richmond Hill Primary Academy
At RHPA, the children have made a fantastic contribution to music throughout the year!
Our latest acheivement comes from the Trust Choir who attended the Music for Youth Concert at The Royal Albert Hall.
https://twitter.com/RichmondHillPA/status/1724536768614027458?t=FRwSVLCG5O6Ig1ejKTjPiw&s=19
It was a night to remember!
The Rainbow Connections Choir have taken part in a number of performances throughout the year working hard at events across the county.
https://twitter.com/RichmondHillPA/status/1732088803504918903?t=RYSh0EuU8LdDI-ahlykwdA&s=19
This year has also seen our second full year of Let's Make Music Instrument Lessons with Doncaster Music Service. It was a roaring success with many children performing their new talents during our Christmas Performances. What a treat!
Approach to teaching music
Music makes an important contribution to the life of every school and should be celebrated, promoted and encouraged. It helps build pupils’ self-esteem and self-discipline and leads to higher standards across the curriculum. Research clearly demonstrates the cognitive benefits that music gives young children particularly in Key Stage 1, suggesting music can support the development of literacy, numeracy and listening skills. The Department for Education has stated that a high-quality music education can improve self-confidence, behaviour and social skills as well as improve academic achievement across the curriculum.
At Richmond Hill Primary Academy, we have engaged and invested in an award-winning programme that provides high quality, consistent music education throughout school. Charanga Musical School is a world-leading music teaching and learning platform, which is recognised internationally as promoting a modern and vibrant class music programme across the whole school that supports all the requirements of the national curriculum and underpins Ofsted’s wish to see continuous genuine music making.
As professionals we are all highly committed to embedding our core CARE values; Collaboration, Aspiration, Resilience & Endeavour, we strive to ensure that our pupils become active, collaborative and resilient learners. Our aim is to ensure all children are provided with a music curriculum that creates opportunities to be creative and expressive with the skills and knowledge they develop. Encouraging creativity teaches children some of the most important life skills such as problem solving, empathy, communication, responsibility, commitment and dedication, as well as discipline. At Richmond Hill our passion is to provide a safe environment where children can succeed in the future, be inventive, resourceful and imaginative, and arts education supports this.
Charanga Musical School
The Scheme provides assessment, clear progression, and engaging and exciting resources to support every lesson. In line with the curriculum for music and guidance from Ofsted, this Scheme adopts an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. The interrelated dimensions of music weave through the units to encourage the development of musical skills as the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities (including creating and exploring) and performing.
Mastery
Charanga Musical School enables children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.
The strands of musical learning are part of the learning spiral. Over time, children can both develop new musical skills and concepts, and re-visit established musical skills and concepts. Mastery means both a deeper understanding of musical skills and concepts and learning something new.
Learning Progression
The diagram above depicts the depth of learning that occurs as the children move through the year groups. As they progress, the colour deepens and the learning widens.
All musical learning in this scheme is built around the Interrelated Dimensions of Music: pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and notation. These dimensions are at the centre of all the learning.
Assessment
Assessment of the music curriculum should consider the ‘whole child.’ This includes observing behaviour such as engagement, posture, enjoyment and expression because this is what make music fun!
As the Charanga Curriculum is an integrated, practical, exploratory and child led approach we should be aware that the skills and knowledge taught are built upon and revisited constantly over the primary years. In order to assess at a class level it is important that we keep this in mind. As each lesson comprises of the key strands of musical learning from the national curriculum we should aim to assess each area across the 5 or 6 lessons which consist of a unit of work. See the link below for a full outline of the assessment process within lessons and progression through school.
Music Progression and Assessment at Richmond Hill Primary Academy
Rainbow Connections Choir
The children in KS2 at Richmond Hill are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of Paul and Debroah Mellors Rainbow Connections Choir. The Mellors offer high quality musical training for beginners and professionals. Having spent mant years in the industry they are fully aware of the high expectations needed to have a career in the entertainment industry- holding a reputation of students moving onto securing places at top colleges and gaining work within the industry. With many successes the children within the choir have taken part in a variety of shows, competitions and performances. Take a look at our school Twitter page or Rainbow Connections for videos and photographs of our choirs amazing work!
Let's Make Music
Every child from Nursery onwards at RHPA has the opportunity to take part in music lessons from the Doncaster Music Service. Let's Make Music lessons have seen children learn a number of skills in clarinet, trombone or guitar. The lessons are weekly and invovle small, tailored sessions with a professional, allowing children to receive an excellent level of teaching. The children who have taken part so far have enjoyed it thoroughly and it has shown as we had several children across the school who were confident enough to want to perform during our Queen's Jubilee Celebrations.
Further information on the research conducted into the benefits of music education can be found at:
https://www.musicmark.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/10_things_booklet-1.pdf
Mrs K W Elmore
Class Teacher and Music Subject Leader Richmond Hill Primary Academy
