Statement of Intent

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 to the best in the musical canon. (National Curriculum 2014)

At Beech Hill we recognise the importance of music and invest in two years of music tuition for every child. Wigan has a rich and long-standing brass tradition and we want to keep the cultural connection between the past and the present.  As such, children have weekly brass instrument lessons throughout years 4 and 5. Our children perform regularly to the school community and some are invited to join the Wigan Youth Orchestra.

The teaching of music can contribute to learning across the curriculum. For example, music provides opportunities to promote:

• spiritual development through developing pupils’ awareness of the power of music to take the listener out of the commonplace and helping pupils use music to express and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings;
• moral development through helping pupils exercise responsibility in the choices and decisions they and others make as part of the creative process, valuing their own and others’ work and recognising the effect of music (for example, its uses in advertising and propaganda, and its misuse in sound pollution);
• social development through helping pupils share music-making and develop a sense of social cohesion, recognising the value of different contributions and their own responsibility to support and enrich the work of others, and recognising the need for different roles in group performance;
• cultural development through helping pupils recognise how music influences and reflects the way people think and feel, relating music to the time and place in which it was created and performed, and through analysing, evaluating and reflecting on music from contrasting traditions and identifying how and why some aspects change or stay the same. Music provides opportunities for pupils to develop the key skills of:
• communication through presenting music to different audiences and discussing and sharing ideas with others;  application of number through recognising pattern, sequence, order and rhythmic relationships;
• ICT through using a range of ICT to compose and perform music;  working with others through taking different roles and recognising and supporting the different contributions of others in groups and ensemble work;
• improving own learning and performance through appraising their own work, recognising the need for perseverance, developing the ability to use time effectively, and increasing their ability to work independently;  
• problem-solving through achieving intentions when composing and presenting performance