An Aspirational Curriculum:

We believe that each child at Rickleton has the potential to be successful in any area of curricular or extra-curricular life now and for their future. The curriculum they access must be the driver of this in offering them deep learning and inspirational experiences in a broad range of areas. Working out where their talents lie and the things they enjoy are a huge factor in this and we expect that all children give their all in all lessons.

In September 2023, we introduced our 'aspirational concepts' to support children and staff to understand the key skills and knowledge which they are building when studying a subject and where this could lead them in their future. We want our children to be driven by their future possibilities and see each lesson as a stepping stone towards this.

A Clear and Well planned Curriculum:

Subject leaders have worked hard to ensure that our curriculum fulfills not only national expectations but also the learning necessary to allow a child in Rickleton, in the North East of England, to be successful.

By carefully considering how knowledge and skills progress, ensuring that learning carefully builds on and consolidates prior knowledge, children have the best chance to feel confident and successful in their studies and to retain their learning as they move forward in their education.

The documents below show what we want children to achieve via the subject and how we plan to make this happen (commonly known as Intent, Implementation and Impact). They also show how topics and and skills are planned to give pupils a deep knowledge and hopefully a passion for the subject to support their future aspirations.

Music at Rickleton

At Rickleton Primary School we value an exciting and inclusive Music education. Music is taught throughout the school from EYFS to KS2. It is our intention that all children, regardless of starting points, background, individual needs and ability, are inspired to develop a love of music.  

Throughout the academic year 2022-2023 our aim is to provide opportunities for our pupils to develop performance skills, creating performers who are proud to achieve, with the confidence to share their skills both with their peers and wider audiences.  

We have already planned an exciting programme of live performances and visiting music professionals to further enhance our Music education.  

During their time at Rickleton Primary School all children will have the opportunity to: 

• Listen and appraise a wide variety of music from local, national and World-wide cultures. 

• Explore the skills of musicianship and regularly re-visit musical elements to embed children’s understanding. 

• Sing with increasing control and enjoy being part of an ensemble. 

• Play a variety of tuned and percussion instruments. 

• Improvise with increasing curiosity and resilience. 

• Compose and record their compositions in a variety of ways. 

• Perform in a variety of situations with increasing confidence. 

Wherever possible we seek to make cross-curricular links for pupils with related topics in Science, Geography, English, Religious Education and History. Details of the music curriculum coverage can be found in each year group’s curriculum overview documents. 

The document below was shared with Governors in September 2023 to explain how Music at Rickleton works: 

Music Mark Award 

We are delighted that the high quality of musical education at our school has been recognised by the gaining of the school 'Music Mark. Throughout the academic year 2022-2023 we will be continuing to provide high quality music education to all our pupils and are looking forward to expanding our opportunities for live performance.  

More information can be found at www.musicmark.org.uk/join/schools  

Extracurricular music tuition.  

At Rickleton Primary School we provide several options for children interested in learning to play an instrument outside of the classroom.  

Children in KS2 have the opportunity to learn from visiting music professionals each week as part of individual or small group tuition. The instruments currently being taught in this way are violin, guitar, flute, clarinet, drums, piano and trumpet. 

We have adopted a second music pathway for those children who are interested in taking up group music tuition. ‘Rocksteady’ now deliver music tuition from Y1 – Y6 and children enjoy learning to play as part of their own ‘Rock Band’.

At Rickleton we LOVE to hear our musicians perform. Pupils who participate in Rocksteady music tuition work together to form their own band! This includes electric guitars, drums, keyboards and vocalists. The pupils have the opportunity to showcase their talent for pupils, family members, staff and governors throughout the year during regular concerts.

During the summer term bands performed an eclectic variety of songs including music from Guns ‘N’ Roses and Katie Perry!

Rainbow Music Bursary

We are extremely excited to be able to offer the Rickleton Primary School Rainbow Music Bursary again this academic year. This music bursary will pay full individual music tuition fees on one instrument for one successful pupil in Year 3 and will continue for the duration of their time a Rickleton Primary School. The bursary then follows the successful student for the remainder of their time in KS2 at Rickleton Primary School 

What is expected of pupils who wish to apply? 

We are looking for a child who has expressed an interest in music. We don’t expect the bursary to only support a child who is already musically talented, so it does not matter if your child has never previously played an instrument. We want to support a pupil who is excited by music and has a passion for the subject, even if their skills are not yet of a high standard. 

What will pupils be asked to do? 

We will ask pupils to select their preferred instrument choice from the range currently on offer: 

Guitar       trumpet         flute       clarinet         saxophone         violin          piano 

We will be considering the follow when selecting who the bursary is awarded to: 

Confidence - Passion for music - Discussion with staff - Dedication - Resilience - Attitude 

What standards are expected to maintain the bursary? 

We would expect to see a sustained interest in music and music tuition. Regular practice would also be expected; this would be showcased during performances throughout the academic year. We are looking a pupil who is excited by music, have a passion for the subject and can demonstrate the required level of dedication to improve their skills. 

Update September 2022. 

For the academic year 2022-2023 we are pleased to announce that Josh Hilton was awarded our Rickleton Primary School Rainbow Music Bursary. Josh has selected the guitar as his instrument and has enjoyed starting his musical tuition.  

Well done Josh! 

Update September 2023. 

For the academic year 2023-2024 we are pleased to announce that Arlo Meredith was awarded our Rickleton Primary School Rainbow Music Bursary. Arlo has selected the guitar as his instrument and has enjoyed starting his musical tuition.  

Well done Arlo! 

For the first time we now have 4 pupils,1 from each year group in KS2, enjoying music tuition as part of our Bursary funding. We are excited to hear how they progress and look forward to seeing them perform.

Choir Opportunity

We are very proud of our choir, available to pupils in Y4, 5 and 6. Each year they give up their time to rehearse song with Mrs Holt ready for a variety of performances in and out of school, including singing each year at the Fatfield Art Centre, Beamish Museum and, as shown below, more recently at Durham Cathedral.

Durham Cathedral Outreach Programme

During the Autumn term, our fabulous choir were invited to take part in a special Michaelmas performance at Durham Cathedral. They worked hard to learn a full programme of songs and thoroughly enjoyed working alongside the Cathedral staff to get ready for the event. In front of a full Cathedral audience, the pupils performed wonderfully alongside the Cathedral choristers. Well done choir!  

Live Performances

There is nothing quite like watching a live show, concert or theatrical performance. During the summer term, Pupils from across KS1 and KS2 had an exciting and interactive performance of The Jungle Book. This included acting, audience participation and lots of singing along! The children were enthralled by the incredible moving scenery, stage lighting, costumes and live singing.

Pupils in Year 3 were lucky enough to enjoy a theatre workshop after the performance to learn all about how the sound equipment and scenery worked. They also were given the opportunity to try on some of the costumes with moving parts– we had some very scary tigers in Year 3! 

Music across the Curriculum

Music is often used as a tool to support other curriculum areas. An example of this can be shown below when music was used to link Roald Dahl stories and performances as part of our Collaborative Learning Week investigating the well known stories of this incredible author.

Music across school

EYFS - Tiny Tweeties

In EYFS we recognise the importance of music in Communication and Language, Physical Development and Expressive Art and Design. Throughout the year the pupils enjoying singing a wide range of songs and nursery rhymes, learn and perform actions, dance, play a wide range of instruments and explore sound in an exciting and fun way! Pupils in Reception and Nursery take part in Tiny Tweeties sessions and Big Sing.

In the summer term all our EYFS pupils enjoyed having a special visit from Tiny Tweeties. They really enjoyed singing, dancing and playing their instruments with their friends.

Year 1

Year 1 took part in a Samba drumming workshop where they learnt about the style and origins of Samba music. They learnt how to play different drums, about dynamics of music and rhythm. They had fun performing call and response patterns using the instruments.

Lots of examples of children singing and playing instruments can also be seen in our video resource centre https://rickleton-primary-school.primarysite.media/

Year 2 - Composing and Improvising

Pupils in Year 2 used a variety of classroom tuned and untuned percussion instruments during the Summer term.

They learnt how to play a selection of notes on a Glockenspiel and perform along to a backing track as an ensemble. They also enjoyed improvising using the learnt notes to create their own musical phrases and could perform these for their class.

When using untuned percussion, the pupils learnt how to compose rhythmic phrases and record these using Kodaly stick notation. They were able to explain their compositions using accurate musical vocabulary.

Y4 -Samba Drumming Visitor

During the Autumn and Spring terms, Year 1 and Year 4 were very excited to take part in Samba drumming workshops. They learnt about the style and origins of Samba music, how to play different drums, about dynamics of music and rhythm. They had fun performing call and response patterns using the instruments.

Pupils in Year 4 formed their own Samba band, focussing on the timbre and texture of different instruments and playing as an ensemble. They really enjoyed making LOTS of noise!

Y5 - Whole Class Music Tuition

As part of our music curriculum Year 5 pupils learn to play the Ukulele. They enjoy weekly lessons focussing on key skills including; accurate technique, chords, reading notation, tempo, dynamics and playing as an ensemble.  During the summer term they proudly performed to pupils, parents and staff during their class assembly. Well done Year 5!