St Francis Xavier

Catholic Primary School

Music

St Francis Xavier Music

Our intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing and composing. We believe that all children are capable of becoming confident, expressive performers. We intend to allow the music curriculum to flow through the entirety of the school. We want to ensure that music is closely intertwined with each class topic to build an immersive learning environment.

Year 2 - Dynamics, timbre, tempo and motifs (Theme: Space)

Year 2 have been learning about dynamics, timbre, tempo and motifs. This is all taught through the theme of space. Year 2 worked together to generate ideas of what sounds you might hear in space, and then used their voices and bodies to create a soundscape of space.

Nursery - Music

Children in Nursery have been exploring sound using instruments. The children listened to instructions from Miss May and played loudly, quietly, slowly and quickly. The children loved all the different sounds that the instruments were making.

The St Francis Xavier Choir

On 2nd February 2023, our talented school choir were lucky enough to perform at Sheffield Utilita Arena as part of Young Voices 2023. They worked so hard, sang so beautifully and represented our school fantastically. We are so proud of them!

Check out our amazing Young Voices 2023 choir performing in assembly!

Year 3 ballads- Space Oddity

In music this term we have been learning about ballads. We listened to different ballads such as Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers and I will always love you by Whitney Houston. We compared ballads to our last topic of Viking songs as there was a huge difference in lyrics, pitch and instruments used in the songs. We really enjoyed learning this ballad by David Bowie- Space Oddity.

Y2 Music - 'On This Island: British Songs and Sounds'

In our new unit ('On This Island': British Songs and Sounds) we learnt about the inter-related dimensions of music and how they underpin everything we do in Music:

Duration
Dynamics
Pitch
Structure
Tempo
Texture
Timbre

We began the topic by learning some traditional British folk songs such as 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean', 'Lavender's Blue' and 'London Bridge Is Falling Down'. Then, we explored the sounds we might hear at the British seaside, using our voices and bodies to create a seaside soundscape.

Y1 Music - Classical Music - Dynamics and Tempo

Carols around the crib

School choir singing for the local community

Year 5 - Blues

As part of our music lessons Year 5 are focusing on Blues. We have started to learn how to play various chords on the glockenspiel.

Nursery enjoyed a celebration of nursery rhymes with Music Bugs as part of World Nursery Rhyme week. Children explored sound, dance, rhythm and rhyme. We used claves to join in with the music and song as well as puppets and props.

Year 2 exploring rhythms and structure...

Year 2 learnt to create rhythms and then put these rhythms into an order (or structure) to tell the story of St George and the Dragon.

Year 3 telling a story through music...

Year 3 started by closing their eyes and listening to a piece of music called 'Night on the bare mountain' by Mussorgsky. Afterwards we discussed what sort of story could go with this music. We mapped out three musical sections and wrote down what would happen in each part of the story linking to the music. Finally, in pairs the children acted out their story alongside the music.

Music in EYFS...

Nursery enjoyed working together to sing 'Row, Row, Row your Boat' when thinking about word and rhyme.

Exploring music across the curriculum... Singing psalms to praise God.

As part of their 'Myths and Legends' unit in Music, Year 2 have been learning about the layers and texture of music by listening to some pieces of music inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. They discussed how the different pieces of music made them feel and what instruments they could hear.