We intend to expose our students to an increasingly wide range of musical styles, genre and instruments.

We intend to teach our students that their creativity is valuable and that the ability to create can be learned. We intend to teach our students that what they see and hear in the world all around them has been created by performers, directors and designers who used skills and understanding that they can have access to. All of our individual schemes of learning are intended to expose students to a variety of performance styles and contexts and design choices for those performances. Students are guided to make, perform and respond.

We are committed to public performance and to maintaining the high-status place that these performances have in the wider life of the school community including students, visitors and families. We intend to select music that our students feel a sincere passion for and to deepen their technical and practical understanding through active learning. It is important to us that students leave with an understanding of the creative industry and that their exposure to music is a path to opportunity in the real world of employment and that they are, whenever possible, working in the context of genuine industry practice and equipment.

Students study rhythm and pulse as a basis for building key instrumental skills. They are introduced to a range of instruments used in popular western musical culture including keyboard, guitar, voice and drums. Students learn the value of Music and how it can have a significant enriching effect on people’s lives throughout the world in various contexts.

Performance opportunities are common throughout KS3 and students are given the opportunity to express themselves through performing and listening to live Music. Composition is also a significant aspect of the curriculum where students explore various ways to express themselves through creating their own sounds and taking their ideas into new directions through Music.

Topics Covered:

• Graphic Scores and the Elements of Music
• Pulse and Rhythm
• Keyboard skills
• The Passenger

Key Knowledge and Skills:

TIER 2 and 3: Tempo, Pulse, Beat, Rhythm, Crotchet, Quaver, Rest:

• To be able to group notes into blocks of 4 beats and correctly recognise the amount of individual notes within a group joined by a stem.
• The ability to notate more complex sixteenth beat rhythms successfully
• To be able to create an 8 bar composition where each bar contains 4 accurate beats and matches correctly with the correct amount of syllables.

Assessment:

• Ongoing assessment using trackers
• VIP tasks

Homework:

• Students must complete tasks from a menu introduced at the beginning of each term

Links to Careers and Preparation for Life in Modern Britain:

• Students learn group working skills and how to give constructive feedback
• Students gain the confidence to perform in front of their peers

Topics Covered:

• Chords and Keyboard techniques
• Melodies and the Guitar
• Sequencing and sound and image

Key Knowledge and Skills:

• Extended thumb technique observed during keyboard skills lesson
• Use of left handed chords in inversion
• Understanding of different clefs used for the notation of different octaves. Use of correct left hand chords.
• The ability to be able to complete a basic riff using a suitable technique to ensure clarity of sound.            
• The ability to perform a more complex riff using 4 strings of the Guitar.  
• A clear sounding riff using a successful performance technique
• The ability to score music for the duration of a film clip.
• The ability to add suitable points of interest in the music.
• The ability to use recognised digetic music techniques to create the desired effect on the listener.

Assessment:

• Ongoing assessment using trackers
• VIP tasks

Homework:

• Students must complete tasks from a menu introduced at the beginning of each term

Links to Careers and Preparation for Life in Modern Britain:

• Students learn group working skills and how to give constructive feedback
• Students gain the confidence to perform in front of their peers

Topics Covered:

• Blues Music
• Reggae Music
• Pop song Composition

Key Knowledge and Skills:

• The ability to be able to perform a left-handed bass line on the keyboard
• The ability to perform two handed pieces of music.
• The ability to perform music in time with other parts.
• The ability to be able to perform a syncopated rhythm successfully on the keyboard
• The ability to perform off beat chords on either the keyboard or guitar.
• The ability to perform music in time with other parts.
• The ability to be able to perform a basic chord sequence on the keyboard            
• The ability to perform a basic chord sequence on the Guitar.
• The cohesive band performance of a well-known song.

Assessment:

• Ongoing assessment using trackers
• VIP tasks

Homework:

• Students must complete tasks from a menu introduced at the beginning of each term

Links to Careers and Preparation for Life in Modern Britain:

• Students learn about music from other cultures and how it has influenced the music they listen to today

At KS4 students begin study of a BTEC industry based learning course where they learn about organisations, job roles and experiences within the Music Industry.
There are 4, main areas of study;

UNIT 1 is a theory based industry practice aspect of learning where students learn about various aspects of working in the Music Industry. They study professional organisations, agencies and job roles within the sector of Music. The UNIT  is graded with an externally verified exam worth 25% of the overall course.

UNIT 2 is a coursework based unit where students create a musical product in the form of a compilation album. They create a set list of musical repertoire and visit a professional recording studio to record their material and release a compilation album. Student then take ownership of the promotion of this work by creating advertising material and experience learning around how a musical product is created, marketed and evaluated independently.

UNIT 4 is a composition unit where students Music Technology to discover new ways to create and develop their own musical ideas. This takes the form of 4 original ideas, an extension of ideas using various compositional techniques and a final piece of composed music.

UNIT 5 is all about live musical performance. Students become specialists on a chosen instrument and rehearse specific skills, techniques and repertoire to further develop their skills as a musician. Students will then take part in various live performance opportunities throughout the year including assembly performance, celebration events and end of term showcase activities.

Students will learn about musical notation and theory. They will develop their skills in composition and will further develop performance skills by performing in front of a live audience. They will research pop songs and how they are performed.