Welcome to our music page!
Statement of intent
St Francis Catholic Primary School understands that music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression, and it can play an important part in the personal development of people. Music reflects the culture and society we live in, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject. It also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music. Music also helps pupil’s mental health and wellbeing and gives them the opportunity to express themselves freely.
St. Francis Catholic Primary School delivers a broad and balanced music curriculum, in line with national requirements. We place great emphasis on developing music throughout school. Pupils as early as Year 1 take part in Glee Club and choir and we have a phenomenal school band.
Children take ABRSM grades and enjoyment and participation has vastly grown over the past few years.
The objectives of teaching music in our school enable pupils 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.
- know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written;
- Learn to sing and use their voices.
- Create and compose music on their own and alongside their peers.
- Know how music is made through a variety of instruments;
- Know how music is composed and written down;
- Have the opportunities to learn a musical instrument, use technology properly and to progress to the next level of musical excellence.
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.
Key Stage 2
Pupils exploring rhythm with percussion instruments. Following a given pulse and rhythm and playing as an ensemble multiple rhythms at the same time. Pupils also composed their own rhythm using notation and performed it to their peers. Mr. Warren teaches curriculum music to KS2 every Friday and the children have composing computer technology to help to prepare them for high school.
Exploring music through our bodies
Our Year 2 musicians!
We encourage the love of music from Key Stage 1 and pupils thrive throughout school. Our Year 2’s below in their first recorder lesson.
Understanding pitch in KS1
We learnt all about pitch in music lessons using our voices then using the glockenspiels. Pupils were able to recognise a low sound and a high sound.
Music from around the world
LINKING WITH ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL IN LANCASTER
The amazing St. Francis band performed six pieces to a very excited assembly, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary in Lancaster. Wanting to launch their own band, St. Joseph’s got a taste of what a school band can do when they practice and dedicate themselves to what they love doing! The St. Francis band is made up of nearly a quarter of the school, so two minibuses were required! The children did a fantastic job.
BEACON CLASS MUSICAL PRODUCTION 2019 – VIDEOS TO BE UPLOADED SOON…
BEACON CLASS PRODUCTION
Year 5 and 6 stole the show last week with their class production: It has laughs, songs, superb acting and jazz hands! All the children played their part incredible well, I don’t think I have enjoyed a play so much. Mrs Rossall and Mrs Riley did a fantastic job organising the play – what an amazing Year 6 team! We now look forward to the end of year assembly – which is sure to bring tears to our eyes…
We are amazed at how quickly our school has blossomed into a musical school. Our children are so talented that we have now had to create another school band for the infants. Children in year 1 and 2 are playing the recorder, piano, trumpet and trombone and the speed in which they learn to read musical notation is staggering to witness. Our school band recently performed at the ‘Festival Concert’ and I am delighted that we were once again in the papers!
Every assembly, individual soloists perform and we regularly hear children singing and playing instruments around school, initiated by the children.
Our school choir will be open to Year 2 children after half term and we can’t wait to extend our repertoire. We will soon be performing a music showcase at our ‘Coffee Morning Concert’ and can’t wait for our talent show in Summer Term. We all have our own individual gifts and talents and if any of you should wish to join school band, choir or begin music lessons just contact school. Our children prepare new pieces to perform for our Family Masses and we are delighted to be a singing school.
Have a look under clubs to find recordings of our musicians or click on the pictures on the homepage to see our latest concert.
In every year group, music is embedded into the curriculum and is progressive throughout school. Fairsnape have just undertaken a Rock n Roll topic and have experienced music lessons holistically within the curriculum- where it make’s sense to our children and leads to so much enjoyment.
Music Express is used in EYFS to begin, secure and develop a love and confidence of music and to give children the key skills on which they can build in the following year groups.
