Music at Oxford Grove

Music is a wonderful thing at Oxford Grove!

At Oxford Grove, we pride ourselves on providing a fully inclusive Music provision for our children. Music is central to the community and culture of our school and is carried through many aspects of school life. We ensure that all pupils have access to outstanding musical learning every week. The teaching of music within the school is based upon our recognition of the importance of this subject as a vehicle for self-expression and enjoyment and as an enhancement tool for many other areas of the curriculum.

Our personalised and inclusive Music curriculum ensures that all children can fully access the curriculum. The children study a range of musicians and composers from a wide range of backgrounds and we hope that our children will find a musical role model they can identify with and one who will inspire their future in music.

At Oxford Grove we ensure our pupils:

• Have a good understanding of the different elements of music and be able to apply these in range of different contexts.
• Have access to a fully inclusive curriculum, appreciating music from a diverse cultural background tailored to our children’s needs.
• Sing expressively and confidently.
• Create and compose.
• Play a range of musical instruments.
• Play a range of musical instruments, both within their lessons and during wider opportunities.
• Access a spiral curriculum which allows children to secure long term memory by revisiting and building upon prior learning.
• Leave Oxford Grove with a wealth of musical knowledge and a love of singing, performing and composing.

Wider opportunities music is also very important at Oxford Grove. We consider our music programmes to be invaluable in offering children a chance to shine and take their passion to the next level.

At our School we ensure:

• All children take part in at least one whole class curriculum music lesson every week that is underpinned by a comprehensive methodology and sequential skills-based progression framework.
• Pupils are encouraged to take part in a range of music clubs, instrumental/vocal lessons and music activities before and after school that augment the timetabled whole class curriculum lessons.
• All pupils are actively signposted to take part in one of the many (differentiated) choirs available.
• There is investment in a diverse range of musical resources and instruments that are appropriate, good-quality and well-maintained along with a designated music room for whole class lessons.
• Teachers participate in regular professional development opportunities and take an active role in the weekly curriculum music lessons.
• There are established partnership links with local cultural organisations to enable pupils to access subsidised excursions and music visits.
• The choirs and instrumental ensembles are invited to take part in performance opportunities working with specialist professional musicians in high-profile music venues across the North West.
• Musical learning is based upon a coherent, sequential and sustained methodology that allows every pupil the best opportunity to take part, express themselves and develop their individual and collective identity.

Music Enrichment

Musical Groups – inspiring a love of music outside the classroom

We have a wide range of musical groups within school, run by our specialist music staff. These groups are in additional to our broad musical curriculum. Some of our groups are targeted to challenge higher ability children, or to give further support to children with additional needs, and some of our groups are for children to sign up to themselves, to develop their interests and own love of music.
Our musical groups have included:

• KS2 Choir
• Boys Choir
• KS1 Choir
• ‘High Flyers’ Singing Group
• KS2 Enrichment Access & Inclusion Brass Group
• KS2 Brass Band
• EYFS Enrichment Access & Inclusion Drumming
• KS2 Ukulele Club
• KS2 Rock Band

Alongside the many musical groups within school run by our specialist music staff, we also offer additional music clubs to support our children with their learning. The focus of all of our music clubs link with the skills taught in the music sessions within school. Extra-curricular music is very important at Oxford Grove. We consider our music clubs to be invaluable in offering children a chance to shine and take their passion to the next level. Our ambition is that children will leave Oxford Grove with a wealth of musical knowledge and a love of singing, playing, performing and composing.

Year 6 take part in a wider opportunities enrichment program where they are given opportunity to learn an instrument. The children take part in weekly drumming and brass sessions led by two of our music specialists, which run alongside, and build on, the knowledge and skills they have previously learned throughout school. The children are encouraged to pursue their love of music by extending their learning into extracurricular opportunities led by our music specialists.

Performances – making memories and showcasing our musical skills

At Oxford Grove, we have numerous music assemblies throughout the year. From EYFS to Year 6, children take part in whole school assemblies which showcase their music learning. Singing, drumming, brass and choir, we see these assemblies as a calendar highlight, as do the many children and parents/carers who attend.
We feel that it is important to build relationships with the local community and allow our children to perform and experience different settings. We are proud of the musical accomplishments of all our children and take every opportunity to perform. Our children have performed at the Bolton Wanderers Toughsheet Community Stadium, and have also performed at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester as well as at community events.

Our Music Room – promoting key subject knowledge and celebrating achievement

At Oxford Grove, we believe our environment contributes greatly to the children’s standard of learning. We are proud to have a large room dedicated to teaching music where the children can be fully immersed in the history, theory and culture of music. Our displays include information on classical, contemporary and industry musicians, whilst also promoting the theory and ethos that music brings us all together. We feel that in our diverse school, music is the one language we all understand.

Workshops – bringing Music to life for our children

We are lucky at Oxford Grove that we work with so many brilliant musicians on a weekly basis. Each week, children across the school have specialist music teachers who provide sessions on a wide range of musical skills.
Oxford Grove also has many other musical visitors who come into school to enhance learning through various workshops. This allows our children to experience music from difference cultures, historical music and gives them an insight into music on a wider scale. The workshops we provide give children the chance to play, move, sing and perform in varied activities based around music. These workshops contribute to the children’s overall knowledge of music and music history.

Some examples of workshops are:

Rock Kidz on Tour
Children joined in with a high energy concert focussing on mental wellbeing and resilience. They got the opportunity to learn new music and compete in dance battles with their friends and teachers.

Drumming Project
Children from each year group take part in a djembe workshop. They learn the basics of playing the djembe drums, before learning to play a full piece of music as an ensemble. Parents/carers were invited to a performance assembly at the end of the day.

Pantomime Visit
As part of our whole school smiley reward, children get to experience the fun and excitement of a pantomime! They listen to music from popular shows such as Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin and get the opportunity to sing along to some of their favourite songs from the show.

OG Music Ambassadors – leading the way in music

Our OG Music Ambassadors are a group of children who have a keen enthusiasm and a passion for music. These children support Miss Cowell with music performances, sharing their love of music throughout the school and promoting our amazing Music curriculum.

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
• learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations