Lark Hill Primary School

Music at Lark Hill Primary School

At Lark Hill, we believe that a high-quality music curriculum not only teaches children how to sing or play an instrument—it inspires creative expression, fosters self-confidence and connects pupils with diverse cultures and traditions. 

Our goal is to nurture expressive, collaborative and reflective young musicians who have the confidence to express themselves musically, explore diverse genres and build a deep, lifelong appreciation for music.

Our music learning is deeply rooted in our four core school values:

• Respect: Children listen actively to music from a wide range of historical periods, styles, traditions and world cultures. They learn to respect differing musical traditions, artistic interpretations and the creative expressions of their peers.
• Responsibility: By taking care of musical instruments, collaborating respectfully in group ensembles and taking ownership of their performances, children connect music directly to our school ethos: Look after each other, look after our school, look after yourself.
• Creativity: Children engage creatively through improvisation, vocal exploration, rhythmic composition and experimenting with pitch, tempo and dynamics using classroom percussion and digital tools.
• Challenge: Children are challenged to master musical notation, refine vocal and instrumental technique, improvise within set structures and critically evaluate their own and others' musical compositions.

How We Teach Music: Our Approach

Music at Lark Hill is delivered as a weekly, progressive practical journey through the Charanga curriculum. The scheme uses a repetition-based, spiralled approach where key musical concepts; the interrelated dimensions of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and notation) are revisited and built upon continuously.

Each Charanga unit integrates six core strands of musical learning:

1. Listen & Appraise: Exploring diverse styles, eras and instrumentation.
2. Musical Games / Warm-ups: Internalising pulse, rhythm and pitch through movement and vocal games.
3. Singing: Developing vocal range, clear diction, tone and harmony.
4. Playing Instruments: Playing tuned and untuned percussion plus glockenspiels/recorders in KS2.
5. Improvisation & Composition: Creating original musical ideas individually and in groups.
6. Performing: Sharing and celebrating music with an audience.

Substantive & Disciplinary Musical Knowledge

Substantive Knowledge (Musical Content & Technical Skills): Understanding the building blocks of music; learning accurate musical terminology (e.g. Staccato, legato, crescendo, pentatonic), reading staff and graphic notation, recognising musical instruments and genres and mastering physical playing techniques.

Disciplinary Knowledge (Thinking & Acting like a Musician): Understanding how music works as an art form; critically analysing listening pieces, making choices about timbre and structure when composing, adapting performances based on peer feedback and evaluating the emotional impact of sound.

A Spiral Journey Through Sound

Our curriculum follows a spiral model. Every time a child encounters a musical concept such as pulse or pitch, they build directly upon what they learned previously, growing from simple body percussion in Early Years to complex polyrhythms, multi-part harmony and reading notation by Year 6.

What Music Looks Like in the Classroom

• EYFS (2s, Nursery, Reception): Music is woven into daily routines, storytelling, nursery rhymes and child-led continuous provision. Children explore untuned instruments, tap beats, sing daily and react physically to sound and silence.
• Key Stage 1: Pupils explore pulse, pitch and simple rhythms through Charanga’s interactive songs. They use untuned percussion, introduce glockenspiels, improvise short vocal or instrumental patterns and perform together as a class.
• Key Stage 2: Pupils deepen their instrumental skills (glockenspiels, untuned percussion and recorders). They learn to read formal music notation, compose multi-layered pieces, sing in two or more parts and critically appraise works across various historical periods and global traditions.
• Inclusive & Multi-Sensory: Charanga provides visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning channels, including on-screen notation, animated rhythm grids and movement activities. This ensures all pupils, including those with SEND or EAL, can participate fully.

British Values Statement

British values, including mutual respect, tolerance of different faiths and cultures, individual liberty and democratic collaboration are embedded throughout our music curriculum. Through Charanga's global units, children listen to and celebrate musical genres created by communities across the world, exploring how music expresses individual identity and cultural unity. Group ensemble work requires active turn-taking, consensus-building and respectful collaboration.

Oracy in Music

In Music, talk and listening are essential to creative expression. High-quality oracy allows students to articulate musical observations, evaluate stylistic choices and collaborate effectively during composition. Guided by the Voice 21 Oracy Framework, we develop musical talk through four strands:

• Cognitive (Musical Reasoning): Students use talk to compare songs, explain how dynamic or tempo changes alter mood and justify compositional decisions.
• Linguistic (Musical Vocabulary): Students actively practice using precise musical language (e.g. pulse, rhythm, timbre, texture, tempo, crescendo, ostinato) using structured talk frames during listening and appraising activities.
• Physical (Performance & Expression): Students learn how vocal projection, posture, breathing and body language affect both singing performance and verbal presentations of their compositions.
• Social & Emotional (Collaborative Ensemble): Group composition and rehearsal require turn-taking, constructive critique, empathetic listening and shared decision-making.

Progression Overview by Class

Goldcrest | 2-Year-Olds

Two-Year-Olds: The Immediate Soundscape

Music is entirely sensory, physical and exploratory. The goal is to build an awareness of sound vs. silence, simple rhythms and the joy of vocalisation.

Nursery | Ages 3–4

Nursery: Exploring My Voice and Beats

Children explore vocal sounds, tap simple steady beats and begin to notice patterns in music.

Reception | Ages 4–5

Reception: Charanga Early Years / Exploring Sound

Children develop rhythmic awareness, pitch discrimination and collaborative singing skills using Charanga EYFS units.

EYFS End Goal: By the end of Reception, children achieve the Early Learning Goal (ELG): Being Imaginative and Expressive. They sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs, perform songs/rhymes/poems with others and try to move in time with music.

Robins | Mixed Year 1 / Year 2 (2-Year Cycle)

Cycle A

Cycle B

Starlings | Mixed Year 2 / Year 3 (2-Year Cycle)

Cycle A

Cycle B

Kestrels | Mixed Year 4 / Year 5 (2-Year Cycle)

Cycle A

Cycle B

Skylarks | Year 6 (Single Year Curriculum)

Straight Year 6 Curriculum

Vocabulary Progression

Robins (Cycle A & Cycle B Focus)

Starlings (Cycle A & Cycle B Focus)

Kestrels (Cycle A & Cycle B Focus)

Skylarks (Year 6 Focus)

Assessment, Evidence, and Curriculum Impact

The impact of our Music curriculum is monitored and measured through a variety of formative and summative approaches:

• Teacher Assessment & Pupil Voice: Teachers assess musical progress using professional judgment, observing practical execution, vocal control, instrumental accuracy and contribution to musical discussions. Pupils participate in pupil voice meetings to discuss their musical journey and demonstrate their learning. The teachers use the Charanga teacher assessment documents to ensure if the children are at age expected or not.
• Recapping & Sticky Knowledge: Every lesson begins with a brief recap of prior musical learning; recalling rhythm patterns, singing warm-ups or listening appraise comparisons. Sticky knowledge that has not been retained is re-embedded through warm-up games.
• Digital Evidence & Performance Audio/Video: Audio and video recordings of class performances, compositions and improvisations are captured at the end of each Charanga unit. This allows children to reflect on, appraise and celebrate their growth over time.
• End-of-Unit Performance Tasks: At the conclusion of each unit, children participate in a final performance task (singing, playing instruments or presenting an original composition).