Music
Our School Vision
To create a school that enables all pupils (no matter what background or starting point) to achieve their full potential and promotes the school as a beacon within the community, where aspirations are achieved and dreams are a reality for all pupils, staff and families.
Our Music Vision
To provide a music education that is engaging for all concerned. Our music education offers young people the chance to understand, perform and be creative through voice and instrumental.
What does it mean to be a musician?
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. It is someone who can express, share experiences and emotions through song and/or instruments.
Our Music Curriculum
At St. Helen's Primary School, in our Early Years, we offer daily opportunities to explore instruments in the provision and through performing songs and rhymes. We use a variety of songs and rhymes linked to all areas of the curriculum and in our daily routines, including themes the children show an interest in and for maths and phase 1 phonics sessions.
We follow the National Curriculum using the Model Music Curriculum from Charanga for KS1 and KS2. The Charanga units use the three musical processes: composition and improvisation, listening and responding and performing (including singing). 
Classes of knowledge in the music curriculum:
Tacit – Tacit knowledge is gained through experiences through music, and pupils might not be aware they even know it.
Procedural – Procedural knowledge refers to the know-how of music.
Declarative – Declarative knowledge refers to facts of music and includes knowledge of keys, chords and songs.
The Three Pillars of Music:
The Technical pillar involves children playing a musical instrument or singing a musical piece.
The Constructive pillar looks at how a variety of musical components come together within a creative process. This allows children to experiment and create different sounds to see which sounds work well together.
The Expressive pillar allows children to demonstrate their feelings through musical instruments and pieces. This includes playing and performing songs that the children have composed themselves.
SEND Statement
St. Helen's promotes a curriculum that puts all pupils, regardless of their needs, at the heart of what we do. By building mutual respect, we accept others for their differences believing that everyone is special and everyone has something to offer. Our inclusive and enriching curriculum, written for all children, provides pupils with meaningful and aspirational experiences as well as promoting personal growth for life-long learning. When the curriculum needs adapting to suit the needs of individual children, appropriate modifications are made by the class teacher with support from the SENDCo and the Curriculum Subject Lead.
Music Curriculum Day
A local band, called 'Pek and Wanley' demonstrated a range of live music to the children. During the day, the children across school from EYFS - Year 6 joined in singing songs, playing instruments and learning about music from another country/continent.
Our school Sea Shanty
St Helen's Primary School Sea Shanty 
School Choir
The school choir took part in a choir concert held at the Lebutkin Theatre at East Durham College's Peterlee Campus. The choir joined the other school choirs in the trust on the day of the concert. The song called 'One Voice' was adopted as the collaborative choirs' name as it was felt it encompassed everything that the trust was working to achieve. Families and friends listened to the final performance on the evening.
After School Club
Reading Spine for Music
Toot Toot - Guess the instrument' by Cocoretto
'Animal Music' by Julia Donaldson
'Music is...' by Brandon Stosuy
'We are music' by Brandon Stosuy
'Zin! Zin! Zin! A violin' by Lloyd Moss
'M is for Melody' by Kathy-Jo Wargin
'The story of music Little people and pop artists' series by Little Tiger
'Drum Dream Girl' by Margarita Engle
'One Love' by Cedella Marley (Based on the song sung by Lois Armstrong)
'Music is in everything' by Ziggy Marley
'The story orchestra-four seasons in one day'
Little People Big Dreams Books
Culture Capital
Music lessons ensure all children can take part to learn to play a range of musical instruments and are given the experience of music from other cultures and genres through the curriculum. We encourage all children from KS1 – KS2 to take part in musical instrument lessons within school, which includes the glockenspiel. All children in EYFS have the opportunity to explore musical instruments in the setting and music is embedded within the curriculum.
Useful links
Key Documents
Music Long Term Framework
music model curriculum long term framework 2024 2025.pdf
Progression of knowledge and skills - Charanga
mmc progression of knowledge and skills years 1 6 1 .pdf
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