Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. Music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
At Berrywood, our goal is to provide a wide-ranging and ambitious music curriculum which develops our pupils’ musical abilities. Our curriculum covers an extensive range of musical genres and a range of instruments. Inclusivity is at the forefront of our lessons as music is a language that any child, of any academic ability, can understand and enjoy.
Our curriculum intends to provide ample opportunities to:
- listen to a range of music from different genres, time periods and composers/musicians;
- learn to sing and use their voices;
- learn a range of musical instruments and develop their playing of them;
- understand how music is created;
- gain knowledge of musical vocabulary such as: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure;
- develop their reading and usage of appropriate musical notation.
(Attach music intent document)
(Attach music overview)
(Attach music development plan)
In school opportunities to look out for:
- Children can choose to take up guitar, piano/keyboard or ukulele lessons with our peripatetic teacher Mr McGregor in either one-to-one or group settings (you will find his contact details at the bottom of this page).
- Children have the opportunity to partake in individual or group singing lessons run by our singing tutor Mollie Wilson from TotallyRAD Hub (starting February 2025).
- All children have the opportunity to partake in forming their own rock/pop band facilitated by Rock Steady. These bands then perform a song they’ve been learning at the end of each term (starting April 2025).
- Our Y5/6 children have the option to learn recorder with Mr Eastgate from the Hampshire Music Service (HMS).
- A small number of children also receive brass lessons through HMS.
- Our Y5/6 also have the opportunity to be part of a Christmas pantomime and/or our summer musical production, both of which involve weekly, hour-long rehearsals.
- In the autumn term, Y5/6 are given the chance to form a choir which rehearses for an hour after school each week and performs at a number of Christmas events at school and beyond (Hedge End Train Station and Snowdrops Care Home).
- In the spring term, it is the turn of Y1/2 to choose to attend choir rehearsals for an hour after school each week and work towards performing at the Barnaby Bear singalong event at The Anvil and at our school’s Spring Concert. In 2025, due to the cancellation of the Barnaby Bear event, our children are due to attend Wildern School’s Spring Primary Music Festival.
- In the summer, a Y3/4 choir is formed and rehearse for an hour after school each week and work towards performing at our Summer Fayre.
See the links below for how can parents/guardians get their children more involved in music making: