St Dunstan's SchoolMusic
“Music can change the world.” Beethoven
Intent
At St Dunstan’s, our intent is to make music an enjoyable and enriching experience for every pupil. Through a variety of musical activities, children build their confidence while developing key musical skills and knowledge. They learn about rhythm, pitch, and musical structures, alongside acquiring technical vocabulary to articulate their understanding. As their confidence grows, pupils enjoy the performance aspect of music, experiencing the joy of sharing their musical talents.
Our curriculum also exposes children to music from diverse cultures and historical periods, fostering an appreciation of music’s universal significance. Aligned with our Catholic ethos, we aim to nurture a curiosity for music, emphasizing its importance not only as a creative art form but also as a means of prayer and worship. Ultimately, we strive to help children appreciate the beauty and value of music in their lives.
St Dunstan’s implements the Kapow Music Scheme to deliver this vision.
Implementation
Our music curriculum follows a holistic approach, seamlessly integrating the following key strands to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences:
Performing
Listening
Composing
The History of Music
The Inter-related Dimensions of Music (pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture, dynamics)
The Kapow scheme is built on a spiral curriculum model, ensuring that skills and knowledge are revisited and deepened over time. Pupils are taught to:
Sing fluently and expressively.
Play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control.
Identify, name, and apply the inter-related dimensions of music in their own improvisations and compositions.
Lessons are designed to be dynamic and participatory, blending independent tasks, paired and group activities, improvisation, and teacher-led performances. Activities draw from a range of styles and traditions, enriching children’s understanding of how music functions across contexts. Movement and dance elements are incorporated to make lessons more engaging and accessible.
Differentiated guidance is provided in every lesson, ensuring that all pupils can participate meaningfully, while extension opportunities challenge those ready for further exploration.
In lower Key Stage 2, children have the opportunity to learn how to play the steel pans. Learning to play steel pans helps develop music skills such as rhythm, timing and coordination. Children work in groups which encourages teamwork, build their confidence and enhance their listening skills. This is important in enriching part of their musical education.
Impact
The impact of our music curriculum is assessed through both formative and summative methods, ensuring a clear understanding of pupil progress. By the end of their journey at St Dunstan’s, pupils will:
Become confident performers, composers, and listeners, able to express themselves musically both in and beyond school.
Develop an appreciation and respect for a wide variety of musical styles, understanding how music reflects and influences cultural, social, and historical contexts.
Gain knowledge of how music is notated to support performance and composition.
Articulate a personal enthusiasm for music, identifying and exploring their individual musical preferences.
Achieve the end-of-key-stage expectations set out in the National Curriculum for Music.
By providing a rich, inclusive, and inspiring music education, we aim to empower pupils to see music as a lifelong source of joy, creativity, and expression.
