Nursery

Children will:

• Learn about fast and slow rhythms.
• Express their understanding of rhythms they have heard through their bodies.

Reception

Spring 1 - Music and movement 

In this topic, children will:

• Children come up with simple actions to well-known songs, learn how to move to a beat and express feelings and emotions through movement to music
• Know and use terms - fast/slow and high/low.
• Follow a steady pulse.  Respond to music through movement altering movements to reflect the tempo, dynamics or pitch.Perform a song in a group or on their own.
• Sing back short melodies using at least 2 pitched notes, copy short rhythmic patterns
• Hum along to a melody
• Listen attentively, move to and talk about music expressing their feelings and responses

Spring 2 - Musical stories

In this topic, children will:

• Using traditional childrens' tales and songs pupils will move to music changing movements to match the tempo, pitch or dynamic of the piece.
• Understand that music and instruments can be used to convey moods or represent characters.
• Play an instrument as part of a group.

Year 1

Spring 1 - Timre rhythmic patterns (Fairytales)

In this topic, children will:

•            Through fairy tales, be introduced to the concept of timbre; learning that different sounds can represent characters and key moments in a story.

Spring 2 - Pitch and Tempo (superheroes)

In this topic, children will:

• Identify high and low notes and to compose a simple tune
• Investigate how tempo changes help tell a story and make music more exciting

Woodland

Year 2

Spring 1 - Musical Me 

In this topic, children will:

• Learn to sing the song ‘Once a Man Fell in a Well’ and to play it using tuned percussion.
• Use letter notation to write a melody.

Spring 2 -  Dynamics, timbre, tempo, motif (Space)

In this topic, children will:

• Develop knowledge and understanding of dynamics, timbre, tempo and instruments, identifying elements in music, comparing pieces by the same composer.
• They visually represent music in creative and more formal ways, learn to play and compose motifs.

Woodland

Year 3

Spring 1 - Pentatonic Melodies (Chinese New Year)

            In this topic, children will:

• Revise key musical terminology, playing and creating pentatonic melodies, composing a piece of music using layered melodies.

Spring 2 - Jazz

In this topic, children will:

• Learn about ragtime style music, Dixieland music and scat singing.
• Create a jazz motif using a swung rhythm of a song with actions.

Year 4 

Spring 1 - Changes in pitch, rhythm and dynamics (Rivers)

In this topic, children will:

• Learn to listen to changes in pitch, tempo and dynamics and relate it to something familiar.

Spring 2 - Music and performance (Hanami Haiku)

In this topic, children will:

• Wirte melodies to their own Haiku’s and perform.

Year 5

Spring 1 - African Music

            In this topic, children will:

• Learn ‘Shosholoza’, a traditional South African song, play the accompanying chords using tuned percussion and learn to play drums.

Spring 2 - Holi

            In this topic, children will:

• Explore the associations between music, sounds and colour, building up to composing and performing their own musical composition to represent Holi.

Year 6

Spring 1 - Songs of World War Two

In this topic, children will:

• Continue to develop pitch, control and confidence when singing.

Spring 2 - Theme and Variation (Pop Art)

In this topic, children will:

• Explore the musical concept of theme and variations and discover how rhythms can ‘translate’ onto different instruments.

Woodland