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. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination using subject-specific language to form their own musical opinions.

Key Stage 3

At KS3, we begin with our “Let’s Sing” module, developing vocal skills through 2 part harmony, call and response and ostinatos, with the aim for a whole year performance towards the end of the term. We also develop rhythmic notation through clapping games and body percussion, alongside an introduction to pitch, tempo and dynamics; key terminology that will be used to scaffold future learning throughout KS3. We then have a focus on composition through our module “The Chinese Toyshop”, focussing on musical story telling and the introduction to graphic scores and pentatonic melodies, in addition to building their listening skills by listening to familiar and unfamiliar instruments. We then return our focus to pitch through our “Music Makers” module, which uses treble clef notation to enable pupils to perform famous five-finger melodies on the keyboard (including pieces such as Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’), with some students adding major and minor chords. We develop this further through our “Step and Leap” module, looking into musical structures and rhythmic patterns using treble clef notation, understanding how music is formed. We then expand their knowledge further though our “A World of Sound” module, learning about music from different cultures, such as Brazilian Samba, African Drumming and Indian Raga. Finally to finish off Year 7, we have our “Uke Can Do It!” module, applying vocal skills, keyboard and ukulele chords and tabs, solidifying notation and strumming patterns for continued use into Year 8.

In Year 8 students continue to develop their practical skills through their “Feelin’ Blue” module, looking at the history and influences of Blues music through practical activities, improvisation and singing, including the 12 Bar Blues structure and gospel songs. In the Spring Term, this develops to introduce our Music Technology element through “Beats and Break”, creating rap accompaniments using audio loops on our new software “Ableton”, exploring their creativity and composition skills in rap music through the use of pre-existing loops on music technology DAW discovering famous themes. Our Summer Term module is ‘Hook and Riffs’ – performing famous hooks and riffs from a range of musical genres through different musical instruments, such as guitar, drum kit, keyboard, vocals, bass guitar and developing their ensemble skills. 

Into Year 9, students are encouraged to use their practical skills and work independently in groups using different instruments including the keyboard, electric guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, drum kit and vocals, to perform modern pop music in our “Sound Collective” module. This progresses to our “Mission: Composition” module, where they then continue to develop their music production skills on Ableton to create MIDI and edit audio, looking specifically at famous film and game music and linking these with real animations. We finally move onto our “Perform, Create, Produce: The 4 Chord Song” – performing 4 chord pieces in ensembles before progressing to composing and editing pop music using Ableton (Live and Playground) as a DAW.

Key Stage 4

The KS4 Music curriculum is designed to develop students as confident performers, composers and informed listeners, preparing them for success in GCSE Music and fostering a lifelong appreciation of music. Students study a broad range of musical styles through the four GCSE Areas of Study, including Musical Forms and Devices (Western Classical Tradition 1650-1910), Music For Ensemble, Film Music, Popular Music. They will develop their listening skills through the analysis of set works, including Africa by Toto and Badinerie by J.S. Bach, alongside regular listening and examination practice.

Students will develop both solo and ensemble performance skills through class bands, ensemble rehearsals and individual performances, which will culminate in recorded performances that contribute towards their GCSE qualification (30%).

Similarly students will complete both a free composition and an exam board set brief, learning how to compose, record, refine and accurately notate their work. (30%) – this will be through industry-standard music technology, including MuseScore for notation and Ableton Live for sequencing and music production.

As students progress towards the end of KS4, increasing emphasis is placed on examination preparation through listening papers, revision activities and completion of GCSE coursework, ensuring students are fully prepared for the written examination while developing the creative, analytical and practical skills expected of successful musicians.

Throughout the key stages, pupils get the opportunity to build on previous musical skills.  Our curriculum is deliberately and purposely designed to enable pupils to retrieve knowledge from previous topics and to build on that knowledge. Extension tasks and skills are always available to ensure that all pupils, including those who are studying privately with peripatetic teachers, are all challenged. This gives all our pupils the opportunity to develop their passion for music in their own individual way.