“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

Plato

Helping Each Child to Flourish 

At Heworth CE Primary School we value music and the skills it teaches.  We want our children to develop confidence in their musical knowledge and their ability to acquire new skills. Our aim is for each child to leave Heworth CE Primary School able to sing and play an instrument confidently,  to have experienced different musical styles and genres and to have thought about and responded to a wide range of music.  We provide plenty of performance opportunities at a variety of levels and experiences of working with other musicians.  Most of all we aim to foster a joy and love of music and of making music.

What Music looks like at Heworth CE Primary School?

• We use the Kodaly method which encourages each child to develop a sound understanding and concept of pulse, rhythm and pitch.   As children progress through the school, they learn to apply this knowledge to instrument playing and composition, as well as developing appraisal and listening skills with the vocabulary to communicate their ideas.  Our children are also encouraged to respond to music through a variety of mediums
• Our school takes part in the Whole Class Ensemble scheme with whole class violin lessons in Class 4, giving each child the chance to leave Heworth CE Primary School able to play an instrument
• We have regular workshops led by students from the University of York Music Department, covering a variety of different music styles
• There are plenty of performance opportunities at Heworth CE Primary School.  All year groups sing or perform for parents and carers at the Harvest Festival, Carol Service and Easter Service.  Class 1 and Class 2 perform a Nativity play each year and Year 6 give an annual Summer Show. Instrumentalists are given the opportunity to  perform at the Summer Concert and play in the weekly singing assemblies.  We also take part in public performances organised by York Music Hub and AHS 
• Any child interested in learning an instrument to a higher level can do so through individual and group lessons with specialist peripatetic teachers.  Vocal technique is improved upon during music lessons and during our Singing Assembly.

How do our values shine through in Music?

How do children flourish in music at Heworth CE Primary School?

• Our children will leave our school viewing music as a positive force in their lives, to be tapped into regularly
• Our children will develop confidence in singing, playing and performing
• Our children will be confident working in a group or individually, in order to express their ideas for creating, producing and communicating music
• Our children will have a developing technical vocabulary which they can use to describe and respond to the music they hear, play and compose
• Our children will leave our school having experienced a breadth of musical styles, genres and traditions from across the world and throughout history
• Our children will understand that our responses to music are personal. They will have developed a respect for responses different to their own and will have  confidence in the value of their own response