Music is an extremely important subject for all children to learn, and can lead to better brain development, increase in human connection and boost creativity.

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
• Learn to sing, create and compose music
• Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated

The integral nature of music and the learner creates a rich palette from which a student may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others and self-reflection.

At Cherry Fold, it is our intention to first and foremost help children feel that they are musical and to develop a life-long love of music. We focus on developing the skills, knowledge and understanding that children need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners. The children at Cherry Fold will develop the musical skills of singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, improvising and composing music, listening and responding to music. Children are also taught to respect and appreciate music from all traditions and communities.

The Music curriculum is embedded in classroom activities, following the Charanga scheme during our weekly Music lessons. Charanga  Music scheme takes a holistic approach to Music in which the individual strands of performing, listening, composing, the history of Music and the inter-related dimensions of Music, are woven together to create engaging and enriching learning experiences. The Charanga scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. In each lesson, pupils will actively participate in developing their musical skills and their understanding of how music works. The impact of following the Charanga scheme means children will develop to be more confident performers, listeners and composers and will be able to express themselves musically. They will also show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles and understand the ways music can be written down to support performing and composing activities.

The children at Cherry Fold experience and enjoy music during the singing assemblies, concerts, performances and through the learning of instruments. A Music specialist, from Lancashire Music Services, delivers Music lessons to the children through out the year.  

Additional extra curricular opportunities are also offered such as singing club/choir and Rise Of the Cool Kids (ROCK) where participants performed their new skills to the school. 

Music at home.

Links

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYvVhlayJxzzOXQ58P5vRoQ/videos

http://www.ukulelerocks.co.uk/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zwxhfg8

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z7tnvcw

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bring-the-noise

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/ten-pieces-at-home/zjy3382

https://www.classicsforkids.com/

Home activity ideasCreate homemade instruments with household items

Creating instruments together can be a fun activity and the instruments can then be used to explore different aspects of music. Try creating shakers by using pasta and rice in empty bottles or containers. You could also try using bottles either filled with water or empty them with spoons or twigs to make sounds, or you could just use upturned pans and colanders. You could create a musical performance using your homemade instrument. Look at ‘Stomp’ for inspiration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEcwtlFXktU

Learn to sing your favourite song

 Find a karaoke version of your favourite songs on Youtube, learn to sing it and perform it at a karaoke party with your family.

Make your own simple guitar

You can create a string-type instrument using tissue boxes, shoe boxes without the lids or fruit punnets. Use the box for the base of the instrument and take four to six rubber bands or pieces of string. Wrap the rubber bands or string around the base, the long way, and make sure there is space between the rubber bands. Experiment with ways of making sounds with the bands. Also you could try using small pieces of sandpaper wound round a finger of each hand to rub together and create sounds.

Recreate the sounds you hear in daily life

When you go outside for a walk, a journey in the car or when sitting in the garden, stop and listen to the sounds that are around you. Think about:

• What you can hear and what is making those sounds. Are they sounds that you expected to hear?
• If you have access to a device, record the sounds you hear that are interesting such as birds, the wind, water, other animals or vehicles.
• Think about how those sounds could be recreated at home.
• You could make a piece of music together that represents the different types of sounds that you hear on the different journeys that you make.

Represent music through art

Listen to your favourite song or piece of music. Draw along as you listen; you could use pencil, crayons, felt tip pens or paint to do this. How does the music make you feel? Let your hands ‘dance’ along with the music and watch how different songs are represented through visual art.