“The aim of the Department is to embrace the belief that the individual can be taught and nurtured through the medium of music.  All students and teachers are active ‘Musicians in the classroom.’ The most natural way to learn is through play.”

KS4 Specification

OCR GCSE Music.

National Curriculum

Gladesmore Community School prides ourselves on delivering the breadth and ambition of the National Curriculum.

Curriculum Intent

As part of Gladesmore Community School’s Music Department, our aim is to offer a safe learning environment in which all pupils are secure and feel able to express themselves, with support from staff and peers. This is built into our everyday style of teaching, and we encourage all students to adopt a style of positive listening and learning as this forms the basis of every good music lesson.  The aims of the Department embrace the belief that the individual can be taught and nurtured through the medium of music.

All students and teachers are active ‘Musicians in the Classroom.’ The most natural way to learn is through play, yet this can be easily forgotten in the classroom; the Department therefore recognises and values the importance and consistency of informed practical performance. We always make sure that music-making, through understanding of music, is at the heart of learning and teaching. 

It is important that students’ musical skills are nurtured and developed as they make their transition from primary to secondary education.  All students in Key Stages 3 and 4 are taught a wide range of musical styles and genres, in conjunction with improving their skills on various instruments. Applied music theory, listening and appraising, performance, composition and improvisation are covered, all contributing to developing students’ musicality. Performance and musical understanding are a major focus, as well as singing skills, keyboard skills, including composing, guitar skills, rhythmic and percussion performance and composition- all these form part of our students’ development as young musicians.

We develop our students' understanding and enthusiasm for music making by exploringa wide range of styles of music from great composers of different genres, Western classical tradition, music styles from around the world, the development of popular music and musical theory. Students’ musical knowledge is built through the study of both classical and contemporary music where a full range of musical genres is explored, including reggae, salsa, West African traditions, Blues and Jazz, to name a few. We aim to expose students to a broad range of styles that are celebrated in both their home communities and ones that allow them to have a broader understanding of musical appreciation.

In our schemes of work, we strive to embed both notation, in its different mediums, and musical theory, however, practical music making is the foundation for learning music. It is important to equip children with the skills to be able to learn independently and to allow students to be able to continue music-making outside the classroom. 

Our teaching and learning are based on 4 main principles:

• Play: students are given the opportunity to learn through playing music and by learning different styles and approaches in order to push them musically, and for them to be able to apply these skills as they develop as musicians.
• Create: students are given the opportunity to express themselves creatively and be able to create music by composing and improvising in different styles.
• Listen: students are able to listen and respond to familiar and unfamiliar music to develop and expand their musical tastes and influences to make them better rounded musicians.
• Build: to use the knowledge and skills of Play, Create and Listen to inform individual musical choices; the development and specialisation of musical styles in performance and composition; and to create young musicians and artists.

As a Department, we also encourage a high sense of self-value, high self-esteem, individuality and respect of others’ individuality through the music that we teach, learn and perform.  We believe that each individual student has a unique contribution to make to the life of the school and every student’s musical contribution, at every level, is valued equally.  Whilst acknowledging that students come from a wide variety of starting points, we ensure that they are challenged to achieve the best that they can and to enjoy the music that they learn and produce. Many of our students have thrived musically at Gladesmore and chosen to pursue their study of music through both Level 3 courses such as A Level and BTEC courses before progressing further to University, Further Education institutions or Music Colleges.

The Department believes that every child should have the same opportunities to experience music, as well as the same opportunities to succeed within it. As a large proportion of our students are pupil premium and from low-income families, music enrichment opportunities are available for all students outside of the classroom. Ultimately, we aim to foster a lifelong love of music in the students we teach, by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting their creativity and self- expression through doing so.

Curriculum Summary

Curriculum Enhancement