We are proud to, yet again, be an official Music Mark School for the 2021/22 academic year. They continue to recognise the value that we as a school place on high quality music education and extra curricular opportunities for our children. 

At Westleigh we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children by teaching them to listen and to appreciate different forms of music. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. 

As children get older, 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 pulse and pitch. Also, we teach the children how to work with others to compose music and perform for an audience. Finally, we ensure every child will have the opportunity to learn an instrument for a year and are taught by a music specialist; pupils learn to read music and play as part of an ensemble.

In Year 4 our children are taught how to play Samba Drums by a specialist music teacher through our wider opportunities. This has been a fantastic learning experience for our children each year. At the end of each term the children hold a music concert for the school and parents to demonstrate the skills that they have learnt over the weeks. 

We also have a specialist guitar teacher who comes to Westleigh every week to teach the children from Year 1-6 and encourage the development of the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music.

Our school choir also meets on a weekly basis learning a range of new songs and techniques which are then performed for the school and parents each term.

Please find our Music Curriculum Overview and Progression of Skills and Knowledge below: