'With music, one's whole future life is brightened. Music is nourishment, a comforting elixir. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and of value in life.'
Zoltan Kodaly - Composer
Music is regarded as an essential element in the education of the whole child at Kirkham Grammar Junior, Infant and Pre-School and plays a very important part within the life of KGS. All pupils have a weekly timetabled 55-minute music class with a music specialist. We provide our pupils with many opportunities to perform with others and have three choirs and an orchestra. We also celebrate the success of our budding musicians in our weekly Achievement Assemblies and at concerts.
We have a large team of visiting music teachers, so a wide range of professional expertise is available to our pupils. Lessons can be booked on an individual basis on most orchestral instruments, as well as piano, drums and guitar.
At Kirkham Grammar Junior, Infant and Pre-School, we provide a multi-sensory, child-centred and broad music curriculum that inspires and challenges our pupils. Whilst we do follow the new Music National Curriculum, it is adapted to our pupils' learning needs and interests. The pupils develop their sense of pitch, beat and rhythm through games and playful activities. As they progress through the music curriculum, they are introduced to reading and writing music through a simplified system of notation.
Our approach provides music education that gives children the finest opportunity to acquire a love of music and to develop musicianship and instrumental skills in a completely integrated way. As part of the weekly music lessons, our Junior pupils have the opportunity to learn to play the ukulele. In the Infants, our pupils learn to play the glockenspiel and/or keyboard. In the Early Years, specialist teaching of music is delivered through the Kodaly methodology. This method is proven to significantly improve all areas of musical study, as well as academic performance, especially in subjects like reading and mathematics.
Overall, our music curriculum engages and inspires our pupils to increase self-confidence, creativity, and a sense of achievement.
What will the pupils learn?
In the Infants, pupils will learn to:
-use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes;
-play tuned and untuned instruments musically;
-listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music;
-and experiment with, create, select, and combine sounds using the interrelated dimensions of music.
In the Juniors, pupils will learn to:
-play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control, and expression;
-improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music;
-listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory;
-use and understand staff and other musical notations;
-appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians;
-and develop an understanding of the history of music.