Aims:

• For children to enjoy music;
• For children to develop the confidence to participate in a range of musical activities
• For our children to experience performing (either voice or instruments);
• To listen to and evaluate music from a variety of traditions and styles and have the opportunity to compose and create their own music;
• All children to have the opportunity to experience playing an instrument — the recorder as a minimum.

Rationale:

The teaching of Music is based upon the fact that it is a creative and social art to be enjoyed and our music lessons are linked, where possible, to our topics. Our children have the opportunity to enjoy musical experiences through listening, singing, movement and dance and by playing tuned and un-tuned percussion. As a school, we base our planning on the National Curriculum, supported by the resource ‘Music Express’ and where possible, our lessons are delivered by our music specialist (who is based at our secondary school).  In addition to our timetabled weekly music lesson, music also permeates other curriculum areas during the week.

Our children experience various musical activities such as listening and appraising, creating and exploring, as well as singing. We also explore musical vocabulary, different composers and the history of music.

Aims:

• To develop children’s own curiosity and creativity using a range of materials e.g. pencil, charcoal, paint and clay;
• To be able to recognise, appraise and evaluate the work of artists and designers and understand the historical and cultural significance of their work;
• produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences;
• Be free to make mistakes and embrace these imperfections to improve their work, building their resilience;
• to be able to use a sketchbook to collect and try out ideas.

Rationale:

We believe Art is a crucial subject which allows the children to excel without any restrictions and gives them the opportunities to express themselves in any form. We strive to ensure that all children have a safe and nurturing environment where they have the freedom to take ownership of their own ideas and interpretations and develop at their own pace.  The content of our lessons is usually linked to our topics and children are fully supported to develop their artistic talents and are encouraged to have resilience to re-do or build upon previous work in order to improve it.  We always share the real-life example of ‘Austin’s Butterfly’, with our children to reinforce the importance of developing resilience and responding positively to feedback.  They will be exposed to artists from a range of cultures and will be encouraged to reflect on what they personally like or dislike and explain their reasoning.