Lyminster Primary School

Music

At Lyminster Primary School, music gives children an opportunity to develop the three key values of the school: confidence, community and love of learning. Musicians of all abilities are taught to develop their skills through singing and playing instruments in order to have the confidence to perform in front of an audience. In Reception and Key Stage One, musical experiences are very much embedded into the daily life of the children in the classroom. Whether through singing songs and chanting rhymes in rhythmic patterns or moving and responding to recorded music, our intention is that children understand and respond to music physically before learning the more technical skills and vocabulary associated with musical learning. Through opportunities for individual instrumental tuition, learning an instrument in Key Stage Two and developing a knowledge of a range of styles and genres of music from across the world and from different times, children at Lyminster are given opportunities to love learning about the different aspects of music and how their own musical identity fits within this. Our music lessons throughout the school are taught through Charanga, an online scheme of fun and engaging music lessons which exposes the children to a huge and rich range of musical genres and experiences. If you would like any further information, please click on the following link Charanga Music.

The children will have many opportunities to listen to a wide variety of music and make an individual choice as to whether they enjoy a particular genre or not. Every child has the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously (article 12 UNCRC) and this is encouraged through musical appraisal. This will be through the use of Charanga and also from suggestions from the children. Performing will be evident through the many whole school opportunities and also within their own classrooms. As we move on through the year and the children become more confident in their musical abilities, they will then be experimenting with composing and creating their very own masterpieces! This might be in the form of an instrumental piece or their very own song or rap. We want the children to leave year 6 feeling empowered to create their own music and have a sense of identity as a musician.

Looking forward to this academic year we have a range of productions and performances planned in order for the children to showcase their musical ability and talent. Firstly we Harvest Festival where the whole school will collaborate to sing some beautiful songs and individual classes will choose their favorites to share with the rest of the school and our visitors. Following this we will have talents day, a great opportunity for all of our budding musicians and singers to share their talents and perform in front of an audience. The children are encouraged to showcase any talent they wish and singing and playing instruments is often a very large part of this celebration. All of our children are encouraged to play and relax by doing things like sports, music and drama (article 31 UNCRC) and this is very much taught and embedded throughout the Charanga scheme. We then have the Christmas festivities; Key Stage 1 will be practicing their songs for their Nativity and Key Stage 2 will be working on pieces for the Carol Concert. Moving forward to 2020 we already have a drumming workshop, Easter concerts and year group showcase planned. It will be a very exciting year for Music at Lyminster Primary School!

World Music Workshops

We were extremely lucky to launch our class country topics with a visit from Jim Bernadin and his huge assortment of drums. Jim showed us how the drums make different sounds and had us all clapping along to the beats of his music. His range of drums - from steel drums to the djembe - allowed us all to see, and play, some music from our very own class country. We started the day with a whole school assembly where Jim played 'Under the Sea' on the steel drums and then each class had a 45 minute workshop, tailored to suit their particular country. By the end of each session we were all able to play a piece of music in the style of our country. We all had a wonderful day!