Music matters!
We believe strongly that making music and understanding music really matters. At Bayford music is never just an optional extra or a ‘nice to have’, it is central to our community and our learning.
Our music curriculum aims to develops the children’s musical knowledge, skills, experience and understanding. Singing is at the heart of our curriculum and through playful songs and activities, the children develop their musicianship skills in a very practical way. Lessons frequently include the use of classroom percussion instruments and a range of listening activities. We aim to develop musical literacy as well as ability, and to give the children a taste of many different musical genres. We encourage the children to connect their musical knowledge and understanding with other subjects through cross-curricular learning when appropriate.
Practical music making strengthens our school community, builds confidence, fosters an appreciation of different cultures, develops creativity and strengthens the well-being of all involved.
Music lessons
Lessons are delivered by a combination of class teachers and music specialists. Staff training and curriculum planning is led and overseen by our music curriculum leader and specialist teacher, Katie Neilson. Katie works closely with class teachers to ensure progression across the school. Katie teaches Class 3 music weekly and works with each of the other classes regularly.
Our curriculum is rooted in the Kodaly approach and a range of resources are used including The Voices Foundation’s Inside Music books and the NYCOS Singing Games and Rhymes series. Children also sing and engage in musical activities throughout the week and in a range of contexts including collective worship and other curriculum areas.
When our music specialist Katie Neilson isn’t at Bayford School, she works nationally for the Voices Foundation and also runs her own local Early Childhood Music business Little Bees in Hertford. She has recently started her own music education blog. In 2016, Katie wrote Inside Music for Early Years, The Voices Foundation’s teacher handbook which won the music category of Early Years Excellence Awards 2017. It is used extensively in Early Years settings across the country.
Musical opportunities
Peripatetic piano, guitar and violin lessons are available to children across the school. We have recently started a Yr 4 instrumental programme in which the children participate in brass lessons led by a Hertfordshire music service specialist teacher.
We don’t have a ‘school choir’ because we believe that every class can be a choir and, in this way, every child in our school benefits. Every year our KS2 classes (or ‘choirs’) take part in the annual Hertford, Ware and District carol service and music festival. And children across the school have the opportunity to perform in school performances as well as at local fundraising events and church services.
This page was last updated on 8th November 2024