Music is a unique way of communicating, that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression, and can play an important part in the personal development of people. Music at St Margaret’s reflects the culture and society we live in, so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in and plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.

 

The objectives of teaching music in our school are to enable children to:

• know and understand how sounds are made and then organised into musical structures;

• know how music is made through a variety of instruments;

• know how music is composed and recorded;

• know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written; • develop the interrelated skills of performing, composing and appreciating music.

• develop confidence when performing both in class and to a wider audience.

 

In September 2026 we updated our music curriculum to teach music using the Sing Up music programme which is in line with the Model Music curriculum.

Sing Up's primary music curriculum supports the delivery of high-quality classroom music right across the primary school. The resources support a creative and active musical approach to lessons, connecting singing and playing, composing and improvising, listening and appraising. Sing Up Music is accessible for all those teaching and delivering music in primary settings.

The main music lessons are taught by Mrs O’Reilly across the school which ensures progression and development as the children move up the year groups.

Sing Up - Throughout the year, a minimum of 4 units from the Sing Up scheme are covered by each class, these fully cover the National Curriculum objectives and the Model Music curriculum. The two remaining units cover music through instrumental lessons or end of year performances. Sing Up Units of Work enable children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills.

Instrumental lessons - Music is also covered through ukulele lessons in years 3 and 4. This is also supported through the Sing Up scheme which provides plans and supporting videos.

Early Years – The early years explore music in many different ways such as through action songs, singing Nursery rhymes, moving in time to music, performing with others, encouraging the children to sing their own songs (sharing experiences during carpet times), exploring musical instruments and also linking music to the topic being taught such as when looking at Chinese New Year, we explore the dragon dance and listen to traditional music.

Extra-curricular opportunities

In addition, children at St Margaret's have the opportunity to take part in the following experiences (this is not an exhaustive list):

choir, private instrumental lessons, CVC music festival for year 2, school church services, Seed class nativity, KS2 Production, whole school and class worship, class assemblies, concerts and a school talent show.