Music

Creative Arts

Creative Arts Teachers

Mr Walker Head of Faculty Creative Arts/Head of Department Drama
Miss Argent Head of Department Art
Mrs Banks Head of Department Music
Mrs Gill Teacher of Drama/Head of Year
Miss Cowley Teacher of Music/Head of Year
Miss Talbot Teacher of Art

Subject: Music

Head of Subject: Mrs Banks

Vision of Subject

As a department, the Music team’s vision is to provide every child with the skills to understand on some level how the music that they listen to has been created and be able to appreciate this even more.  During their time at school, students should develop skills in performing, composing and appraising music, and be able to justify their opinions with a thoughtful reason.  We aim to show our passion for Music, supporting students to embrace their individuality and build in confidence.  The Music department strives to challenge all students individually and allow them to access a wider breadth of music than they would usually experience.

Statement of Intent

In the Music department, we aim for our ambitious curriculum to give students access to a wide range of genres of music, both from a variety of times and locations.  We strive for our students to have an understanding of the contextual background behind musical genres, as well as being able to identify key features of these. This will contribute to the cultural capital they need to succeed in life.  Students are encouraged to develop life skills such as leadership and resilience.

Our curriculum is carefully built upon the three main areas of music - performing, composing and appraising.  Each year group will extensively cover these areas through different styles of music.  Schemes of work are carefully sequenced, looking at skills and assessments required for GCSE and then mapping this backwards to ensure enough time is given for these to embed and develop. Students will be encouraged to strive for the highest grade possible for them to achieve.

We aim to give students basic performance skills on a range of instruments and offer opportunities to expand upon these in peripatetic lessons for those that wish to do so.  Students not only develop their literacy skills and vocabulary, but also develop in confidence whilst reading music and rhythmic notation. Adaptations are made to meet the needs of all learners, regardless of SEND, gender or identity.

KS3

In Year 7, 8 and 9 students are taught Music for one hour per week in mixed ability classes.  Two assessments, one written and one practical, are completed every half term to track and monitor the progress of students in each topic. Feedback is provided to students in terms of the skills they are working towards or have mastered. Targets for further improvement are then shared with students, and they will strive to improve upon this.

Students in KS3 are given two homework tasks per half term.  One of these will be spellings on key words related to the topic, and one will be a written task, linked to what has been studied in lessons.

KS4

At Key Stage 4, Music is a subject that is taught as a GCSE option for 3 hours a week. They follow the AQA Specification (8271). They will be awarded a grade 1-9 following their GCSE examinations in the summer of Year 11. Assessments to track progress are set regularly throughout each half term. Feedback has the GCSE criteria as focus for discussion, to highlight areas of strength and development throughout the course.  GCSE classes are taught in mixed ability groups, regardless of how many classes there are in a year group.  In KS4, students are set homework every week, whether this be to rehearse for their instrumental lessons, complete a written task, etc.  Students use Focus on Sound as a revision tool and are regularly set tests on this.
Throughout their time at Kirkby, students are taught the following key skills:
Perform with technical control, expression and interpretation
Compose and develop musical ideas with technical control and coherence
Demonstrate and apply musical knowledge
Use appraising skills to make evaluative and critical judgments about music

Overview of the Music Curriculum

The topics students cover throughout Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 are outlined in the link below:

Music Curriculum Overview 

Additional Information

Interventions
GCSE Music Interventions work on an ‘open-door’ policy – pupils can come at any time after school most days to catch up on coursework, have 1-1 tuition on a topic or to record their performances.  This should be arranged with the class teacher beforehand.
Revision sessions
GCSE Music revision session occur during the Easter holidays and every night after school (after Coursework submissions), leading up to Unit 1 written exam.  Students will also have a weekly Friday revision session after-school and lunch time session, decided upon with their class teacher.

Homework support

Homework support is available for all pupils every lunch time or after school. Pupils will need a pass to see the teachers for help.

Links to GCSE Exam Board Specifications

The specification code for GCSE Music is 8271

 

Performance (One solo – 15%, one ensemble – 15%)

Composition (One free – 15%, one to a brief – 15%)
Exam (90 minutes – 40%)

 

Vocabulary List