HIGH BICKINGTON C OF E ACADEMY VISION FOR MUSIC

MUSIC GIVES A SOUL TO THE UNIVERSE, WINGS TO THE MIND, FLIGHT TO THE IMAGINATION AND LIFE TO EVERYTHING”.

Plato; Greek philosopher

VISION

Every child will leave High Bickington Academy with a solid foundation in musical skills and a love of music.

IMPACT

At High Bickington Academy, music is creative and enjoyable, as well as academic and demanding.  Children will be taught a love and understanding of music through the following eight main strands;

• Performance
• Pulse and rhythm
• Singing
• Composition
• Notation
• Listening
• Music appreciation
• Significant people

IMPLEMENTATION

Teaching and Learning

All children receive an outstanding weekly music lesson; these lessons are either taught by a music specialist or heavily guided by one depending on age.  All children are taught to play an instrument as part of their whole class music lesson for at least one term every year. Children are also taught to read musical staff notation. 

Music teaching at High Bickington also allows children to build their futures by preparing them for secondary school music - they are challenged to use notation and composition at a young age. The teaching of music helps to build children’s confidence through performance and the practical nature of the subject.

Ofsted inspectors carried out a Deep Dive on music in 2021 and said “Music at High Bickington goes above and beyond the National Curriculum.”

Singing

Singing is central to music in our school. It may be used as a warm-up to start the weekly music lesson or it may be integral to the topic. Children are taught singing in a weekly whole school singing assembly, with singing sometimes included in other assemblies throughout the week.  Singing plays an important role in school events throughout the year including class performances in Celebration assembly, Christmas plays, Year 6 productions, Harvest festivals, Christmas concerts and Easter services.  All children are welcome to join the school choir.

Additional Instrument teaching

We currently have a team of three peripatetic teachers who offer children the opportunity to learn an instrument in a one to one, small group or band lesson paid for by parents. Instrument lessons happen on a weekly basis, children have the opportunity to learn the piano/keyboard, electric/acoustic guitar, acoustic/electric drums or vocals. We also offer a reduction in cost to those children who are pupil premium. 

Performance opportunities and community links

Performance is an important aspect of being a musician. Regular sharing assemblies are held for children to perform in and we endeavour to take part in small and large scale performances within the wider community. We also hold at least four instrumental concerts a year for instrumentalists to perform to their peers and the High Bickington community.

IMPACT

Children demonstrate their ability in music in a variety of different ways. The teacher assesses children’s work in music by making informal judgments as they observe them during lessons.  Children are also encouraged to make judgments about how they can improve their own work. At the end of a unit of work, the teacher makes a summary judgment about the work of each pupil which is recorded on Arbor/IPads/the children’s online music portal and fed into end of year reports.