In the primary phrase of Harleston Sancroft Academy, we believe that high-quality music lessons should engage children, inspire their love of music and develop their talent as musicians, increasing their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. We make music an enjoyable learning experience and encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences, through which we aim to encourage the children to achieve as they build confidence in performing, both in school and within the local community. 

Music in the early years and primary phase is underpinned by our purpose for education which is to enable all pupils to flourish and grow.  Through our values (hope, perseverance, wisdom, love, respect & faith) we aim to provide our pupils with a music curriculum that is knowledge-rich, vocabulary-driven and skills-based.

Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen and to appreciate different forms and genres of music from different historical periods. As children progress through the school, we expect them to maintain their concentration for longer and to listen to more extended pieces of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach them the disciplined skills of recognising the main interrelated elements of music: dynamics, tempo, pitch, timbre, duration, texture, melody and structure. Also, we teach the children how to work with others to compose music and perform for an audience. We develop children with the following essential skills to help them become musicians:

• 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 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 interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.