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 their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement (National Curriculum, 2021). This is exactly what we strive to achieve at Thorpe Hesley Primary School. We feel that music is an important part of our wider curriculum especially with how it supports self-esteem and emotional well being. Music is taught on a weekly basis throughout school using the Sparkyard Music Scheme.
Music at THPS
Our Music Curriculum
Click below to view our Music Development Plan, Music Progression Document, Long Term Plan and Music Policy for this academic year.
The National Curriculum
The national curriculum for music aims 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 interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations
Key Stage 1
Pupils should be taught to:
- use their voices expressively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
- play tuned and untuned instruments musically
- listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
- make and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Key Stage 2
Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds as part of an aural memory.
Pupils should be taught to:
- play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voice and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, control and expression
- improvise and compose music using the inter-related dimensions of music separately and in combination
- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
- use and understand the basics of staff and other musical notations
- appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music from different traditions and from great musicians and composers
- develop an understanding of the history of music.
Rocksteady Music School
Since 2023, we have partnered with Rocksteady Music School to enhance our music education program. Every Wednesday afternoon, our dedicated music instructor, Jack, conducts engaging pop and rock music lessons for our Year 1 to Year 6 pupils. Through these sessions, students learn to play electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums, forming their own rock bands and developing their musical talents.
Musical Extravaganza
Musician Of The Month
What is ‘Musician of the Month’?
Musician of the Month is a program that helps schools create a culture of musical appreciation and understanding by focusing on a different musician each month. The program covers a variety of music, including classical composers, popular artists, and musical traditions.
Who is the ‘Musician of the Month’ this month?
For November, we are celebrating the life and work of Ethel Smyth. Dame Ethel Mary Smyth DBE was an English composer and a member of the women’s suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended to be marginalised as a ‘woman composer’, as though her work could not be accepted as mainstream. Yet when she produced more delicate compositions, they were criticised for not measuring up to the standard of her male competitors. Nevertheless, she was the first female composer to be honoured with a damehood.
Musician of the Month Competition – Autumn 2
Every half term, we run a competition for children to create a creative project based on one of our focus musicians.
This month, children can choose between Nina Simone, Ethel Smyth and Elton John.
