Music at Cookham Dean Primary School

Intent

At Cookham Dean Primary School, we prepare children to develop a life-long love of music and we intend to engage and inspire children to learn and enjoy musical content through our music curriculum. We want our children to develop their self-confidence and sense of achievement as well as developing their own critical thinking through singing, listening to music, playing and instrument either solo or in a group as well as analysing and evaluating live or recorded music. We encourage children to take part in a wide variety of musical activities and experiences in an inclusive environment where everyone’s contribution is valued.

Our dedicated music and singing teacher works with each year group throughout the academic year and as a whole school, we use the Charanga teaching and learning platform to ensure a seamless progression of knowledge and skills.

Implementation

The music curriculum at Cookham Dean Primary School (Charanga) ensures that students sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate and is completely aligned to the National Curriculum for Music. Music is embedded in classroom activities as well as our assemblies, hymn practice, choir rehearsals, musical soirees, performances, the learning of instruments or being a part of our school orchestra or recorder group.

The elements of music are taught in the classroom lessons so that children are able to learn and use the language of music and understand how music is made, played, appreciated and analysed. In the classroom, students have an opportunity to sing and play an instrument from wind, string and percussion groups. There are also extra-curricular opportunities for children to learn from peripatetic teachers including, string, wind, piano, vocal and percussion. We are also a Rocksteady school where children are taught an instrument or to sing in a band environment.

In doing so, our children understand the different principles of each method of creating notes as well as how to read basic music notation. They also learn how to compose, focussing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening to, playing or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocally is also a key part of the curriculum.

Impact

Formative assessment for learning will be used throughout the teaching of our music curriculum to ensure that children are building on their skills and knowledge year on year. We provide opportunities for children to apply their knowledge and understanding to performance, composition and appraising activities and successes are celebrated and shared with the whole school.

Music is monitored throughout all year groups using a variety of strategies such as recorded digital evidence, lesson observations and learning walks by the Subject Leader and Pupil Voice surveys to check on the children’s experience of their learning and to ensure that knowledge and skills are progressing up the school.

We offer the following music lessons at school taught by peripatetic teachers :-

piano

singing

recorders

brass

string

drums

guitar

In addition, we are pleased to have Rocksteady work with us at Cookham Dean that brings groups of children together to form pop groups.

If you would like your child to have any music lessons, please see contact the office for further details.

In addition, year 4 receive percussion lessons throughout the whole year from Berkshire Maestros and subsidised by tickets sold at our Musical Soiree in the summer term.

All children across the whole school will have a chance to learn to play a percussion instrument, the recorder and the ukelele by the time they leave Cookham Dean in Year 6. 

We also have a very strong choir in KS2. Our KS1 choir meet on a Monday lunchtime. Our KS2 choir meet on Wednesday at 9.05 and currently has approximately 90 children. These children have opportunities to perform at the 02, Cookham Arts Festival and Maidenhead's Got Talent as well as in our local elderly people's homes. 

Hymns are sung during our Monday collective worship and Tuesday afternoons we hold our hymn practise

Choir at Windsor Castle 

The children have an opportunity to sing at Windsor Castle at Christmas in St Georges Hall. It is a very special occasion with plenty of photo opportunities!

Choir at 02 

Every other year, we take the whole choir to sing at the 02 as part of the Young Voices choir. It is an incredible experience and a very late night!

Choir at Maidenhead's Got Talent

We enjoy a chance to showcase our talent locally and this is a wonderful celebration of local talent.

Musical Soiree

Every year in the summer term, we hold our musical soiree. Anyone who learns an instrument at school is invited to share the progress that they have made - soloists, ensembles and the choir. We normally end the evening with everyone joining in a song or two.

Cookham Arts Festival 

Every other year, Cookham is alive with The Arts Festival - a celebration of local artists. The 3 schools in Cookham join together to perform a selection of songs and the last few years, songs have been written for the schools by a local composer Rob Castell.