Music
At Laburnum Primary School, we believe that music is a universal language that embodies creativity, expression and joy. Our vision is for every child to develop a lifelong love of music and the confidence to engage with it as both performer and listener. Through a rich, knowledge-based and coherently sequenced curriculum, we nurture each child’s musical understanding, creativity and appreciation of the diverse world of music.
Our curriculum follows the content and sequencing of the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC), which has been designed to be both knowledge-rich and coherently sequenced. It is also informed by the Model Music Curriculum, ensuring a strong foundation in musical skills, knowledge and appreciation. The curriculum develops musical knowledge within a conceptual framework of music making and music thinking: knowing how to make music, understanding musical practices with critical insight, and appreciating how music enriches the inner life. Learning extends beyond acquiring facts, focusing on experiencing the language of music through active engagement.
Inspiring Music, the Central Bedfordshire Music Hub, plays a key role in Years 2–6.
- Singing Superstars helps children develop their singing voices, gaining age-appropriate technique and control. Drawing on various approaches to musical development, including the Kodály method, lessons are carefully sequenced to promote musical progression. Pupils work with Vocal Animateurs to explore and develop understanding of musical concepts.
- Instrumental Superstars gives children the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument or engage musically using an iPad with expert practitioners. Pupils explore music practically and experience the joy of playing as part of a group. Pupils will learn to play two brass instruments (the pBuzz and PBone), create digital music using an iPad and learn to play a stringed instrument (Ukulele) as well as using their voice and a range of tuned and untuned percussion.
Both projects promote positive mental health and self-confidence alongside musical learning, reinforcing the holistic benefits of music education.
Through singing, listening, composing and performing, pupils experience the full breadth of musical practice. These strands are carefully woven and sequenced so that children can build knowledge, understanding and technical skill over time. This structured approach enables pupils to develop their own expressive intentions through music and to become confident and creative musicians.
Becoming ‘musical’ is the overarching aim of our curriculum. Each PKC unit of work has a specific musical focus such as pulse, rhythm, tempo, pitch, timbre, dynamics, form/structure, texture or harmony—or a combination of these. Pupils explore how music is constructed using the elements of music, both through analytical listening and by applying these elements in their own compositions. Understanding and use of these elements develop progressively: for example, in Year 1 children begin to understand pulse through movement, while by Year 6 they can distinguish between simple and compound metre.
We recognise that musical understanding deepens through repeated experiences with the interrelated elements of music. These elements are therefore revisited and layered throughout the curriculum to build fluency, confidence and sophistication in pupils’ musical practice.
The curriculum also introduces pupils to the diverse story of music, building their knowledge of musical culture and history. Music is drawn from a variety of traditions, including Western and non-Western classical music, folk, and modern genres such as rock, pop and jazz. Pieces are selected from across the world and over six centuries, helping pupils develop both cultural awareness and historical perspective.
Each PKC unit of work, typically taught over six lessons, follows a structured process:
- Listening and encountering: Children listen to and engage with music that forms the focus of their learning.
- Exploring and making: Pupils investigate the key musical elements and cultural context through active music-making.
- Practising, improvising and composing: Children deepen their understanding by practising, improvising and composing their own music.
- Performing and evaluating: Pupils perform their work and evaluate their own and others’ performances to consolidate learning and refine their skills.
Lesson 6 of each PKC unit typically emphasises rehearsal, performance and evaluation, allowing pupils to build on technical knowledge and perform with increasing confidence and expression.
Each lesson begins with singing, the essential foundation of musical learning. Songs are revisited regularly across PKC units and year groups to consolidate knowledge and support skill development. Songs often link to the musical focus of the unit, reinforcing learning through meaningful repetition. Collaborative music-making is central: pupils work as a whole class or in smaller groups, developing social cooperation and ensemble awareness.
Performance plays an important role in musical learning at Laburnum. Pupils have many opportunities to perform within school and the wider community, including local festivals and concerts. Year 6 pupils also take part in the Young Voices concert in London, celebrating their achievements on a national stage.
Music is celebrated across the wider curriculum and throughout school life. Regular singing assemblies and our Musical Artist of the Month initiative introduce pupils to a wide range of musical genres, cultures and traditions from around the world. Additional tuition in piano and guitar is available through peripatetic teachers, with funding support for some pupils via the Pupil Premium Grant.
By the end of their primary education, pupils at Laburnum will have developed a strong appreciation and enjoyment of music in its many forms. They will be able to perform, compose, and respond to music with growing confidence and understanding.
As they leave Laburnum, children will carry with them a solid foundation of musical knowledge and experience, ready for the next stage of their learning. Alongside technical skills, they will have developed a lasting enjoyment of music that supports creativity, confidence, and a connection to the wider world.
Laburnum Primary School has been nominated by the 'Inspiring Music' Music Hub to be a Music Mark School again for this academic year. In their correspondence, Inspiring Music said:
"Congratulations! You have been nominated by us at Inspiring Music to become a Music Mark school for the 2021/22 academic year.
We have recognised your commitment to a broad and balanced curriculum and the value that you place on music, and as a result, we would like to celebrate it by nominating your school to become part of the Music Mark community.​
Music Mark works to support and enable the music education sector to deliver high-quality musical and social outcomes for all children and young people. On behalf of Music Mark and from us at Inspiring Music, we would like to thank you for all the hard work your school does to support this collective vision."