We believe that music is a vital part of our humanity. Music is a skill that develops literacy, numeracy, creativity, collaboration and communication. It is furthermore a powerful vehicle for developing individual emotional expression and group empathy.

Our objective at St Mary Magdalene’s is to develop a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the importance of all types of music – especially as a form of prayer and worship to support our school’s Catholic ethos, whilst including the use of sign language during our songs to ensure the music is accessible to a wider range of people. We sing in hymn practice every week as part of our worship, drawing on a range of styles and expressions, and with a range of musical complexity, including rounds and harmonising. Every class also receives weekly curriculum lessons which centre on listening, singing, playing musical instruments and creating our own music.

KS1 children use percussion instruments including glockenspiels and boomwhackers. In KS2, Year 4 children learn recorder, Year 5 learn flute and Year 6 learn ukulele.

All children are welcome to join the Choir (Tuesdays, 15:15-16:15) and KS2 children are able to join Recorder Club (Tuesdays, 12:30-13:00). In line with National Curriculum aims, we want children at St Mary Magdalene’s to:

• Experience and appreciate diverse, high-quality live and recorded music

• Enjoy learning and playing tuned (recorder, flute, glockenspiel, ukulele) and un-tuned (percussion) instruments, individually and in groups

• Explore and develop their own musical improvisations and compositions

• Become confident in reading and writing using various music notation

• Use their voices expressively and creatively in songs and chants

• Develop their understanding of the different elements of music and a wider sense of music history throughout their music-making and listening