Charanga’s scheme for the Model Music Curriculum follows a differentiated, spiral approach to musical learning which responds to the national requirements for musical education. Within each unit of learning, students revisit existing knowledge and skills and then build upon and extend them incrementally. In this manner, learning is consolidated and augmented, allowing for increasing musical confidence, while constantly being gently challenged to go further.

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Our philosophy of music education is based on the principle that it should be fun and engaging for all concerned, and that every child is a born musician. We believe that music is like magic and that it has a role to play in every aspect of all of our lives, wherever and whoever we are. For this reason, we divide the academic year into six units, each corresponding with one of our six recurring Social Themes, combined with a unique Musical Spotlight.

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Our curriculum music lessons are supplemented through our long-term relationship with the Birmingham Music Service. For the last 12 years, we have taken part in their Whole Class Instrument Tuition programme, where all Y4 pupils learn the basics of playing their own instrument from a weekly lesson from their visiting music service teacher.

 

Currently, one class is learning to play the violin, and one class is learning the keyboard. Instruments are provided through the music service and children take these home each week to practice. Classes perform to the rest of the school on a regular basis and also take part in large city-wide concert each year at Birmingham's Symphony Hall.

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Once the children complete their year of learning an instrument in Y4 they are given the opportunity to continue with that instrument in the Music Electives programme. Between 8-12 children opt to continue with this programme, which remains available to them until they leave Chad Vale. 

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Children are encouraged to perform to their peers on a regular basis, and we often use our young musicians to play to us as we enter and leave our assemblies. 

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Impact

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• The children enjoy their music lessons at Chad Vale and we often hear them singing or playing their hearts out as we wander down the corridors

• The children leave Chad Vale having spent at least a year learning an instrument, they have begun to read and play from musical notation and know how music is written down for others to perform

• The children have the confidence to perform to others and the ability to appraise their own performance

• The children have listened to a wide range of music from around the world and can appreciate what they enjoy

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