Music

At Beechwood, the Music curriculum is rooted in the school’s underlying aims, ethos and values. It is carefully designed to equip our pupils with the musical knowledge, skills and understanding and attitudes that will both prepare them for the next stage in their education and enable them to live successful lives in the future.

The Beechwood music curriculum aims to:

give pupils the opportunity to 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;
teach pupils to sing and to use their voices, 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;
ensure that pupils understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

In Early Years children are given opportunities to explore musical instruments, listen to music and sing songs. Children learn simple songs, and nursery rhymes and participate in weekly singing sessions. Time is spent making musical instruments including sound shakers. Children will experiment with ways of playing instruments for example loud, quiet, fast and slow. Every year children spend time learning songs for the annual Christmas performance.

Useful Links


Purple Mash Music Activities	BBC Bitesize Music KS1	BBC Bitesize Music KS2

Top Tips to help your child become a musician.

Find music in sounds around the home like clocks ticking, birds chirping, or brushing your teeth. Identifying everyday musical sounds teaches your child to become an active listener.

Listen together to whatever music you love. Share songs with your child and listen to different types of music and talk about what it is you like about the songs.

Make your own band. Make music with things that you find around the home. Use some pots and pans for percussion.

Have a go at making your own musical instruments such as shakers using rice in a tub with a lid, elastic band guitars using an old tissue box.

Sing songs together. Sing songs at bedtime with younger children and perhaps encourage older children to sing with younger siblings, cousins, or friends. If you’re in the car, why not sing along to some music on the radio.

Make up your own songs together. These could be one-offs or they could be incorporated into daily routines around bath time, meal times or even getting ready for school.

Use music-making programmes online or on your phone or tablet. There are lots of musical apps that you can download, such as Apple's Garageband or Node Beat.

Encourage your child to play a musical instrument.