We are pleased to announce that the new, fully resourced Primary Music Curriculum is now available on the Oak National Academy website.

This curriculum, funded by the Department for Education, has been written by a small team of specialist teachers from the Bristol Beacon (Music Hub and Lead Organisation (LHO) for the West of England) and Cathedral Schools Trust.  It has also been subject to reviews by a collective of national music education experts from across the country.  It is available for the whole country to use and we would like all Bristol primary schools to consider adopting this free and carefully sequenced curriculum.

The Primary Music Curriculum has been designed with the following considerations:

  • Aligned to the National Curriculum (and in line with today’s Curriculum Review Final Report that indicates a need for a knowledge-rich curriculum that succeeds in bringing depth to the broad and balanced approach – with an increased lens on the Arts at all Keystages)

  • Designed to be delivered by non-music-specialist classroom teachers (with flexibility to further develop the teaching and learning when led by specialists)

  • Based on evidence-informed principles that include Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction, Mayer's Theory of Multimedia Learning, and Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory, with an emphasis on a knowledge-rich, sequenced, and coherent curriculum

  • Collaboration with industry leading professionals including Royal Ballet and Opera, Paraorchestra, National Children’s Orchestra, vocal artist and beatboxer Jason Singh, composer and sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun, London Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan James, composer Debbie Wiseman OBE, and national guru on decolonising the music curriculum Professor Nate Holder.

 

The pedagogically sequenced curriculum is available via the link below and is now available for download ready for your staff to teach from and adapt where necessary to meet the needs of your cohort.

 

https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/curriculum/music-primary/units

 

The curriculum is hugely flexible to meet the needs of a range of timetable designs so that lessons can be delivered in 1-hour lessons to match the ask from DfE for all children in Keystages 1-3, and also adaptable to cover the teaching and learning in 45-50min sessions. We have been mindful that KS1 may more frequently teach in 45min bursts, and KS2 sessions may have a duration of 50-60minutes.

 

There is a total of 216 lessons. This is 6 lessons per term, for 6 terms, for Years 1-6. You will find video guidance, backing tracks, explainer videos, rehearsal tracks, quizzes, worksheets, and plenty more for every lesson.