At Walkergate Community School, our children will discover the power of music as a universal language that brings everyone together. They will be inspired to develop a love of music and encouraged to participate in a wide variety of musical experiences that will increase their confidence, creativity and self-expression.

Through the National Curriculum for Music, Walkergate Community School aims to ensure that all pupils: have access to a varied programme, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as listener, creator or performer. They can dissect music and comprehend its parts. They can sing and feel a pulse. They have an understanding of how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives.

The music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom through the structured music programme Charanga as well as the various concerts and performances and teaching from specialist music teachers. The elements of music are taught in the classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. In the classroom children learn key aspects of music through cross-curricular links. They also learn how to compose,
focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.