Intent

At Coombe Hill Infant School, we believe every child is a musician. Our Music curriculum is designed to spark joy, curiosity, and creativity, helping children discover the magic of making and sharing music. Through singing, playing instruments, and exploring sounds from around the world, our children grow in confidence as performers and composers. They learn to listen carefully, express their ideas, and most of all — to enjoy the wonderful world of music together.

Implementation

At Coombe Hill Infant School, we teach music throughout the whole curriculum and through sessions with our professional drummer.   All staff have a clear and ambitious vision for providing high quality teaching of music.  Our curriculum is designed to allow children to …

• Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs in assembly and in class
• Learning poems, chants and rhymes and performing them in assemblies
• ‘Play tuned and untuned instruments musically’. In Reception, children have access to percussion instruments so they can create and compose independently.  We have drumming sessions in all year groups - this covers all areas of the EYFS and KS1 music curriculum. In Year 2, all children have the opportunity to learn the hand bells and the recorder.
• ‘Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music’. We ensure that the children have lots of opportunities to listen to high quality music from a variety of styles and from around the world. Children are often encouraged to paint or draw whilst listening to music.
• ‘Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music’

Impact

Our curriculum design allows for as many speaking opportunities as possible as our teachers understand that speaking and listening are at the heart of language. Not only are they the foundations for reading and writing, they are also essential skills for thinking and communication.  Our teachers are role models for good spoken English, using ambitious vocabulary and correct grammar. Children are encouraged to read aloud, discuss ideas with their peers and teachers, engage with and learn new vocabulary to extend their spoken and receptive vocabulary.

By the time children reach the end of their musical journey at Coombe Hill Infants’, they will have discovered how much fun making music can be. They will enjoy singing, playing instruments, and moving to different beats and rhythms. They will learn how music can make us feel happy, calm, or excited, and how it helps us share our feelings and ideas. Our children will feel proud and confident when performing and love working together to create their own sounds and songs.

We see the impact of our Music curriculum every day — in the smiles during singing, the enthusiasm in performances, the creativity in compositions, and the wonderful way children talk about the music they love.