Music

Music Intent Statement

At Pickhurst Infant Academy, our intent is to provide a comprehensive and outstanding music education that engages and inspires pupils’ curiosity and creativity. We ensure that through developing each child’s love of music, our music teaching increases children’s self-confidence and sense of achievement. As an infant school, we strive to nurture a lifelong love for music. We provide a firm foundation for musical learning with which our pupils use as they progress through their education and continue developing a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose and listen to with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.

Our musical offer at Pickhurst Infant School is delivered through weekly specialist-taught music lessons and an array of musical opportunities outside of the classroom. We aim to foster a deep understanding and appreciation of various musical genres, promote inclusive participation and develop important skills such as listening, performing and composing.  By engaging with music from a variety of genres and cultures, children enhance their understanding of the world and build a foundation for lifelong musical appreciation. Our intent is for every child to develop not only their technical skills but also their self-esteem, creativity, and teamwork, laying the groundwork for their future learning and enjoyment of music.

Children leave Pickhurst Infant Academy as confident musicians who have experienced singing, composition, music appreciation, music technology and learning to play an instrument.

Implementation: what does music look like at our school?

Our music curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced for all pupils build their musical knowledge using the key principals of pulse, rhythm and pitch as a firm foundation. It is broad and balanced, offering a rich variety in musical experiences and opportunities for all pupils. Pupils are taught how to sing and can confidently perform to an audience with feeling and expression. Listening to and evaluating music from many different genres, periods and cultures equips them when they begin to compose their own music.

Composition and improvisation are taught using both traditional methods and through technology. Children can express musical preferences and their knowledge of musical terminology gives them the ability to describe their opinions and feelings. Children also play a wide range of instruments, including untuned percussion, djembe drums, Boomwhackers and the ukulele, which they learn to play in the last term of Year 2 using their accumulated musical skills and knowledge.