Voices Foundation Partnership

We were incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to work with the Voices Foundation in recent years. Their specialist advisory teacher, Carole Kendall, has helped introduce a tailored curriculum and scheme of work, whilst building on the pedagogy of all our fantastic teachers.

Our curriculum puts understanding music through our bodies – primarily through singing – at the heart of what we do. The aim is to develop children with critical musicianship skills, which enable them to engage with all aspects of this diverse subject on a deeper level; through performing, composing, listening and discussing music.

Whilst teachers give dedicated music lessons during their week, we are clear that the ‘little and often’ approach to developing these skills yields the best results. As such, both KS1 and 2 have a 30mins singing assembly each week, and our teachers find creative ways to make links to other subject areas – it would not be unusual to find our french lessons taught through song or computer programming being taught through composing a drum beat!

KS1

Our aims

  1. To develop the children’s ability to sing confidently together and individually with accurate pitching and intonation, and expression
  2. Introduce children to controlling and performing using instruments
  3. Develop a strong sense of pitch and rhythm
  4. Expose children to a wide range of styles and forms of music.
  5. Create a descriptive and analytical vocabulary for discussing and interpreting music.

After half term these aims will be developed through learning rehearsing songs and pieces for performance in their end of term Christmas Show.

KS2

Our aims:

  1. All children will have had the opportunity to learn an instrument by the end of the key stage:
    Year 3 and Year 4 will be learning the recorder this year inline with the new Model Music Curriculum
  2. Children will a clear understanding of how to use their voice to sing and perform expressively both in groups and individually.
    Singing in Unison
    Performing rounds and canons
    Singing works written in two or more independent parts.
  3. Can compose pieces using a range of techniques and for different purposes:
    Using original material or pieces from our song repertoire to build up motifs, cyclic patterns and ostinati.
    Structuring music into contrasting sections.
    Exploring using language and verse.
    Combining appropriate melodic shapes using a tone set to create a mode.
    Using regular meter.
  4. All children will have a working knowledge of stick notation and rhythm sol-fa as a working tool for performance.
  5. Children will be able to respond analytically and discuss music we listen to using an appropriate vocabulary for:
    Meter
    Rhythm
    Pitch
    Dynamics
    Phrasing
    Harmony
  6. By the end of key stage children will be familiar with, and developed an understanding of, a range of different historical and socio-cultural styles of music.

Peripatetic Lessons

St Catherine’s currently provides individual tuition in a variety of musical instruments. Tutors are supplied by the Barnet Education Arts Trust and run in conjunction with all the additional ensembles and music centres across the Borough. Currently there are teachers in school available for the following instruments:

Woodwind Flute Clarinet Bassoon Saxophone Oboe Recorder
Strings Violin
Keyboard Piano
Brass Trumpet Trombone
Drum Kit and Percussion