Music
‘Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the min, flight to the imagination’ – Plato
Meet the Music Department
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Mr V. Galley |
Head of Department |
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Ms E. W. Durici |
Teacher of Music |
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Mr B. Emanuel |
Peripatetic Teacher: Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Technology. |
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Mr A. Mann |
Peripatetic Teacher: Percussion |
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Mr C. Mann |
Peripatetic teacher: Brass/Piano/Vocals |
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Intent
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. At Reddish Vale High School we aim to engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
The objective/intent of our music curriculum is to teach our students that music is a subject for all and all students can make progress from their individual starting points. We aim to provide the students with the skills and knowledge enabling them to study and explore music beyond the classroom and enjoy music as a pastime or profession. We strive to produce independent and resilient musicians and learners.
Our curriculum is a spiral model, revisiting skills and knowledge in different contexts, to build upon and embed understanding. Schemes set out pathways for progression in the 3 pillars of interrelated musicianship.
- Our students develop ‘technical’ skills to allow them to translate their intentions into sound.
- They develop the ‘constructive’ knowledge of how musical components come together analytically and creatively.
- The curriculum allows the ‘expressive’ pillar to strengthen as the students become more confident bringing quality, meaning and creativity to their work
Through KS3 our students learn to:
Perform as a soloist and in an ensemble reading from a variety of notation. Fluency and accuracy of performance are achieved through the teaching of correct technique and the teaching of practice processes. The department provides opportunities for the students to extend their performance skills by studying with our visiting instrumental / vocal tutors and join our extracurricular performance groups.
Improvise and compose with increasing skill through the tuition of the processes of melodic, harmonic, textural and structural composition. The students compose in varying genres and to increasingly more details briefs and revisit and review their work.
Listen and appraise music and extend their understanding of the use of pitch (melody, tonality and harmony), Dynamics, Duration (rhythm, metre and articulation), Timbre, Structure and Texture. The students also comment on the intentions of the composer, time, place and genre.
The repertoire chosen for our schemes is driven by the musical devices they include and chosen from the best in the musical canon. We aim to cover a wide range of music from different times and cultures and highlight compositions by female composers and persons of colour.
KS4 Pupils study GCSE Music following the AQA syllabus. The students develop their performing, composing, listening and appraising skills through Musical forms and devices, Music for ensembles, Film music and Popular music. Students perform on a first study instrument or voice and develop their own compositional style through practice and coursework. Listening and appraising skills are further developed and strengthened and students are able to analyse, discuss and assess previously unheard works and set works.
All teachers will follow the schemes of work and resources provided by the department. This will ensure that all students receive the same high-quality provision. All units of work will provide a clear outline of the knowledge and skills required and assessments will ensure that this knowledge has been retained and that skills can be evidenced.
Teachers will ensure that gaps are closed through regular monitoring within the classroom. ‘Do Now’ activities will allow for interleaving and recap of previous learning. Misconceptions will be identified through effective questioning and the regular inspection of student work.
Scheme of Learning/Courses/Curriculum Map
Exam Board Specification - AQA GCSE Music
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/music/gcse/music-8271/specification-at-a-glance
Feedback Policy
The primary purpose of feedback is to move students on with their learning. Students receive feedback on their learning in a number of different ways, both formally and informally.
Formative assessment takes place every lesson in many forms including:
- Low stakes quizzing
- Like marking in lessons
- Questioning
- Peer and self-assessment (green pen)
- Examination style questions
Students are provided with detailed written feedback on longer pieces of written work and key pieces. Next steps marking is implemented, alongside other techniques to promote learning and progress. Students are expected to respond to their feedback and make improvements to their work by acting upon it immediately using purple pen.