Detail
Information
Academic year that this summary covers
2024-25
Date this summary was published
July 2024
Date this summary will be reviewed
July 2025
Name of the school music lead
Mrs Tulloch
Name of school leadership team member with responsibility for music
Mrs Smith
Name of local music hub
Kent and Medway Music Hub
This is a summary of how our school delivers music education to all our pupils across three areas – curriculum music, co-curricular provision and musical experiences – and what changes we are planning in future years. This information is to help pupils and parents or carers understand what our school offers and who we work with to support our pupils’ music education.
Curriculum Music
This section provides information about what we teach in lesson time, how much time is spent teaching music and any music qualifications or awards that pupils can achieve. Our music curriculum is informed by the National Plan – music has the power to change lives – and the model music curriculum (March 2021), non-statutory guidance for teaching music from Key Stages 1 to 3 or any other published curriculum guidance.
‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity’ (The National Curriculum)
At Molehill Primary Academy, our music curriculum intends to inspire creativity, self-expression and encourage our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others. We want to foster a lifelong love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. By listening and responding to different musical styles and finding their voices as singers, performers and composers, we will enable them to become confident, reflective musicians.
The aims of our Music curriculum are to develop pupils who:
- Can sing and use their voices individually and in a group.
- Create and compose music on their own and with others.
- Use technology appropriately when composing.
- Have opportunities to learn a musical instrument.
- Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.
- Listen to, review and evaluate the work of great composers and musicians from a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions.
- Enjoy and have an appreciation of a range of different musical styles e.g. Classical, Jazz, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock, etc.
- Use and understand musical language and include musical features in their own work.
- Make judgments about the quality of music.
- Have opportunities to play a wide variety of instruments.
- Have different opportunities to take part in performances.
Key Components
- Music curriculum, including the use of music technology – EYFS, KS1, KS2, SEND
- Classroom instrumental teaching – recorders and ukuleles
- Progression from classroom instrumental teaching
- Visiting music experts with careers links
- Links with external music organisations – Kent Music
- High Pupil Premium student engagement
- Professional Development which ensures all teachers are developing and demonstrating highly effective implementation of music curriculum
- Choir ensemble
- Whole academy singing assemblies which also incorporate the learning of BSL
- Performance opportunities throughout the year, including to the general public and specific audiences.
Classroom Instrumental Teaching
Weekly Singing Assemblies for KS1 and KS2
Programme of Performances:
- Harvest Festival
- Christmas Carol Concert at the Church
- Recorder Festival
- Easter Service
- Ukulele Festival
- Summer Celebration
- A music specialist teacher delivering in every key stage 2 class using the 2021 model music curriculum.
- Early Years and KS1 weekly music lesson using video and audio resource ‘Sing Up’ by the class teacher with additional support by the Music Specialist.
- A choir weekly after school.
- Young Voices choir weekly after school
- Whole class instrument lessons on two instruments (across upper and lower key stage 2) recorder and ukulele.
- Ongoing performance and concert opportunities in school and in the wider community.
- Access to world class musicians willing to voluntarily perform to the children.
- Music technology available on each child’s personal chrome book.
Song Bank
Molehill has a huge bank of singing resources, both digitally and physically. A collection of singing books can be found in the resources room. Some of our song collection include:
- SingUp!
- Sarah Watts Books
- Harvest song collection
- Christmas song collection
- Easter song collection
Co-curricular Music
This section outlines the opportunities for pupils to sing and play music, outside of lesson time, including choirs, ensembles and bands, and how pupils can make progress in music beyond the core curriculum.
Choir
Our choir will showcase the best of our KS2 singers and will have various opportunities to perform during the year. Group auditions will be held in Week 1. Singing in a choir builds confidence, self-esteem, teamwork and is good for mental health
Young Voices Choir
We are very excited to have secured our place at Young Voices 2025 and this means that we are going to be running a Young Voices Choir in terms 1 and 2 in preparation for the concert in January. The Young Voices choir will meet after school on Tuesdays. After school rehearsals will run from 3:15pm until 4:30pm and places in the choir are limited and on a first come first served basis. Although our concert is not until January, rehearsals must begin early due to the number of songs the children must learn.
Instrumental Lessons
Guitar Lessons – Andy Davis Guitar Teaching – andydavisguitar@fastmail.net
Would your child like to learn the guitar? Andy teaches children essential guitar techniques through playing fun, modern, classic rock and pop songs as well as popular theme tunes. They learn riffing, chords, arpeggios and finger picking, solos, melodies and scales in small groups, which encourages fun, interaction and learning to play with other musicians. There is also opportunity to take part in guitar assemblies which are great for building confidence and experiencing live performance. Lessons are half an hour.
If you are having financial difficulty, but would still like your child to be involved, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Smith using info@molehill.latrust.org.uk.
More information here.
Coming Soon – Piano/ Keyboard
Would your child like to learn the keyboard/piano?
As an extension of Andy Davis Guitar Teaching, I would like to offer the opportunity for children to learn other instruments in school.
Having analysed responses from the google form sent out I will be looking to start keyboard/piano lessons in September (provided there are sufficient numbers), with a view to introduce further instruments at a later date.
There will be opportunities for playing to an audience, which is great for building confidence and experiencing live performance. This is optional. Lessons will be during school hours.
More information can be found here.
Musical Experiences
This section provides further information about all the other musical events and opportunities that we organise, such as singing in assembly, concerts and shows, and trips to professional concerts. These are the experiences we provided last academic year and, as a result of our success, these events will again take place in 2024-25. We are planning additional opportunities for pupils to collaborate and perform across our Cluster.
Date |
Trips/ Visitors/ Assemblies/ Club |
Who |
ongoing |
Choir |
Selected KS2 Children |
ongoing |
Weekly Singing Assemblies |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 (respectively) |
11/10/23 |
Harvest Assembly |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
24/11/23 |
Demelza Carolathon in Fremlin Walk |
KS2 Choir |
13/11/23 |
Kent Music Roadshow |
KS2 |
1/7/23 |
Choir performance at St Martin’s Church |
KS2 Choir |
7/7/23 |
Choir performance at Ashley Gardens |
KS2 Choir |
12/23 |
Nativity Performances |
EYFS, KS1 |
15/12/23 |
Christingle Service |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
10/01/24 |
Music Assembly with Andy Davis & Year 6 performance |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
31/01/24 |
Young Voices performing at the O2 |
Selected KS2 Children |
19/03/24 |
Recorder Festival with cluster schools |
Selected Year 4 Children |
26/03/24 |
Easter Service |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
24/04/24 |
Music Assembly led by RT (oboe performance) |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
30/04/24 |
Choir performance at Morrisons |
KS2 Choir |
27/06/24 |
Ukulele Festival |
Year 5 |
15/07/24 |
Choir Festival |
KS2 Choir |
17/07/24 |
Celebration Assembly with guitar performance |
EYFS, KS1, KS2 |
Music News and Events
Composing for Protest
Years 5 and 6 have been thinking about advocacy and writing songs to fight for a cause they felt passionate about. Inspired by suffragette Ethel Smyth’s anthem ‘March of the women’, the children composed chants with a strong marching beat, to which they then added a melody. Each class then combined their individual chants in different ways to create a class composition. Eagles wrote a powerful message of defiance to Rishi Sunak (then prime minister) about maintaining sufficient school holidays. Kestrels wrote a determined anti-racism song about equality for all people. And Falcons wrote a wonderful anti-bullying song, advocating kindness and care for all.
Ukulele Festival
On 27th June, Year 5 took part in a Ukulele Festival at Oaks Primary Academy. The children joined with other budding ukulele players to rehearse and perform a final concert of some of their favourite songs from the past year of ukulele lessons, including ‘Three Little Birds’ and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’. The children played brilliantly and represented Molehill so well, making all their teachers very proud. Well done Year 5!
Just Three Notes
This term, Years 3 and 4 have been learning about ‘minimalism’ in music. Inspired by the music have listened to by Steve Reich and György Ligeti, they have been working on their own compositions. Using their chromebooks to compose simple melodies from a few rhythms and just three notes, the children worked on their notation reading skills. In groups, the children then layered up their simple repeating melodies to create more complex compositions. Performing these took a lot of concentration to ensure the children stuck to their own part and kept the beat going as a group. They have worked really well on this and amazed Mrs Tulloch with their musicality.
Choir Festival
On Monday 15th July, the choir had their final performance of the year as part of the Maidstone Cluster Choir Festival. The choirs from Langley Park, Oaks, Tree Tops and Molehill all joined for a special end of year musical celebration at St Martin’s Church. Each choir sang a song of their own choosing and joined to form the Cluster Choir to sing a selection of songs together. Our choir’s performance was absolutely outstanding and the sound the Cluster Choir made together was breathtaking. Mrs Tulloch couldn’t have been prouder of them all.
Further Information
The Department for Education publishes a guide for parents and young people on how they can get involved in music in and out of school, and where they can go to for support beyond the school.
Our local music hub has a local plan for music education in place.