Music

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything” Plato

Here at Our Lady’s Bishop Eton, we believe that music plays an important part in a child’s development. It allows children the opportunity to explore a variety of musical skills and allows them to play a range of tuned percussion instruments, use their voices musically whilst developing vocal techniques.

Throughout a pupil’s musical journey, pupils learn about music from different cultures and key musical figures in these genres, including looking at different models of composition, from improvisation through formal forms of written notation.

The school uses the Charanga scheme of work which ensures coverage of the National Curriculum. Music is taught weekly from Year 1 through to 6, all lessons are delivered by a Music Specialist.

We try to offer pupils the opportunity to experience and take part in concerts and performances; we have a school choir, a Samba Club and we attend the Young Voices performance. In addition, pupils in Y4, Y5 and Y6 have the opportunity to take part in Bishop Eton Amazing Productions and to perform in musical theatre productions. When possible, professional musicians are brought into school to broaden and deepen the pupil’s musical experience.

As part of our Music curriculum and Wider opportunity’s offer, recorders are learnt through whole class tuition. This is taught as part of the Charanga programme. Pupils are taught to play the recorder from the outset in year 3 and develop their skills as they progress through the school.

Children in Y4, Y5 and Y6 have the opportunity to learn an instrument in school.  The school currently brings in tutors to teach woodwind, brass and strings, with options being flute, clarinet, trumpet, tenor horn, euphonium and violin. 

EYFS

In Reception children follow the – educational programmes set out in the EYFS Framework 2021. Children learn through exploring the ‘Being Imaginative and Expressive’ strand of the ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ area of learning, which is underpinned by Communication and Language, Literacy and Physical development. Children are immersed in experiences and activities through a mixture of play based and adult led tasks that ignite their interest for Music and performing arts. They explore inventing, adapting and recounting narratives and stories with peers and their teacher, sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs, perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and – when appropriate – try to move in time with music.