Music

Key Curriculum Information

Music Long Term Plan and Curriculum Progression

Intent of Music at Woodlands

At Woodlands, we want Music to inspire children to express themselves, listen carefully and take joy in making music together. Our music curriculum nurtures curiosity, creativity and confidence. Children are encouraged to sing, move, play, listen and compose with increasing independence, developing musical understanding and enjoyment over time.

Through a wide range of practical and engaging musical experiences, children learn to explore sound, keep a steady pulse, respond to rhythm and pitch, and use voices and instruments expressively. Music provides opportunities to communicate feelings, tell stories, work collaboratively and perform with pride. It is an important part of the life of the school and contributes strongly to pupils’ confidence, wellbeing and sense of belonging.

Through purposeful and engaging experiences, we want our pupils to:

• explore and respond to sounds using their voices, bodies and instruments
• sing songs and rhymes with growing confidence and expression
• listen carefully to music from different cultures and traditions
• create simple rhythms, patterns and sound sequences
• perform individually and as part of a group

Our Music curriculum supports our school values of Creativity, Curiosity, Independence, Belief, Kindness and Respect. It helps pupils grow in confidence, collaboration and enjoyment through shared musical experiences.

Why Music matters to our pupils

• Music supports language development, memory and concentration.
• It gives children a powerful way to communicate ideas and feelings, including those who may find verbal expression more difficult.
• It develops confidence, co-ordination, listening skills and self-regulation.
• Pupils learn to work as a team, take turns, show respect and experience success.
• Music is joyful, inclusive and memorable, helping children to develop both personally and academically.

How our Music curriculum is bespoke to Woodlands and reflects our context and values

• At Woodlands, Music is designed to be joyful, practical and inclusive so that every child can take part and experience success.
• Our nurturing ethos means that music builds confidence, communication, self-expression and a sense of belonging, alongside musical knowledge and skill.
• With a high proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language and a rich range of first languages, music provides an accessible way for children to join in, develop vocabulary and express themselves.
• As an infant school, we root music in singing, movement, listening, repetition and play, linking learning to familiar stories, seasons, celebrations and wider curriculum themes.
• Music is woven through school life through assemblies, performances and shared events, while introducing pupils to a wide range of music and traditions in a way that reflects our school values.

Key Disciplinary Concepts in our Music Curriculum 

We want our pupils to think and work like a musician. To do this, they need to:

• Listen and Evaluate – listen carefully, respond to music and begin to talk about what they hear and how it makes them feel
• Create Sound – explore and control sounds using voices, body percussion and instruments
• Improvise and Compose – create, choose and combine sounds for a purpose such as telling a story, representing a character or creating a mood
• Use Notation – begin to understand that sounds can be represented visually and read from left to right
• Perform – sing and play with growing confidence, be aware of pulse and consider audience

Substantive Themes in our Music Curriculum

In Music, substantive knowledge refers to the musical elements, concepts and content that pupils learn about and revisit over time. These are organised into recurring themes which build from Nursery to Year 2:

• Pulse
• Tempo
• Dynamics
• Pitch
• Timbre and instruments
• Texture
• Pattern and Structure
• Notation and Symbols
• Music from Different Cultures
• Expression and storytelling

These themes are carefully sequenced so that pupils revisit and deepen their understanding of musical concepts over time. Detailed progression is mapped in the Long Term Plan and Curriculum Progression document.

How learning deepens from EYFS to Year 2

In the Early Years, Music is rooted in exploration, movement, listening and playful participation. Children develop early musical understanding through songs, rhymes, body percussion, sound-making and responses to stories, celebrations and the world around them. They begin to recognise beat, pitch, loud and quiet sounds, and start to use instruments and voices expressively. Adult modelling and shared musical experiences are central.

In Key Stage 1, Music builds on these exploratory foundations and becomes more structured and explicit. Pupils listen with greater concentration, keep a steadier pulse, recognise simple rhythmic and pitch patterns, and use musical vocabulary more accurately. They begin to create short compositions, improvise question-and-answer phrases, read simple notation and perform with greater control and awareness.

From Year 1 to Year 2, musical understanding becomes more secure and deliberate. Pupils become more confident in recognising instruments, controlling tempo, dynamics and pitch, combining sounds for effect, and reading increasingly complex symbolic representations of rhythm and pitch. They also become more reflective about performance and more thoughtful in explaining how music works and what it expresses.

Detailed sequencing and progression are set out in the Music Long Term Plan and Progression document.

How progress is assessed and evaluated

• We have clear age-related expectations for each year group. Teachers assess progress through observation, discussion, listening, practical participation and performance. Assessment focuses on pupils’ growing confidence, control, musical understanding and ability to respond creatively and thoughtfully.
• Teachers evaluate how well pupils can listen and respond, keep a pulse, use voices and instruments expressively, create and combine sounds, and perform as part of a group. Progress is seen in increased independence, accuracy, creativity and use of musical vocabulary.