Music
Music at St. Mark’s
At St. Mark’s, music develops children’s creativity, confidence and enjoyment of making music together. Through singing, playing, listening and composing, pupils explore a range of musical styles and traditions and learn to express their own ideas.
Our curriculum builds from playful exploration in Nursery to increasingly independent and expressive performances in Year 6, enabling every child to participate and experience success.
Our aims
- Inspire a lasting enjoyment of music.
- Develop skills in singing, playing instruments, listening, composing and performing.
- Introduce music from different cultures, traditions and styles.
- Build understanding of musical features and notation.
- Encourage creativity, cooperation and respect for others’ contributions.
- Develop confident musicians who can reflect on and improve their work.
How we teach music at St. Mark’s
Across the school, we:
- Build EYFS foundations through songs, rhymes, movement and exploration of instruments.
- Develop understanding of pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, structure and harmony.
- Teach pupils to sing and play together, maintaining their own part while listening to others.
- Provide opportunities to improvise, compose, rehearse and perform.
- Introduce notation progressively to support playing and composition.
- Adapt teaching through modelling, repetition, visual prompts and suitable musical parts.
- Assess progress through listening, observation, discussion and performance, helping pupils reflect on their achievements and next steps.
Music Whole School Overview
| Year group | Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| Nursery | Join familiar songs and rhymes; explore sounds through voices, movement and instruments. Familiar songs, nursery rhymes and musical play | Copy clapping patterns and song phrases; notice changes in sound and move to music. Action songs, rhymes and sound exploration | Choose sounds, join repeated patterns and share songs; begin to start and stop together. Favourite songs, rhymes and simple sound patterns |
| Reception | Sing together, move to a steady beat and copy rhythms; explore loud and quiet. Songs, rhymes, movement and percussion | Explore high and low pitch and fast and slow music; copy sung and rhythmic patterns. Singing games, call-and-response and instruments | Create and represent sound patterns; sing and play together, taking turns and following a leader. Creative musical play and group performances |
| Year 1 | Keep a steady beat; copy rhythms and coordinate singing, movement and body percussion. We Will Rock You; When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney | Explore pitch and tempo; sing together and respond to high/low and fast/slow contrasts. London’s Burning; Happy | Explore instrumental sounds; combine singing, rhythm and playing in group performance. Old MacDonald Had a Farm; You’ve Got a Friend in Me |
| Year 2 | Develop rhythm through call-and-response; improve pitch accuracy and layer vocal parts. Banana Boat Song (Day-O); Feliz Navidad | Distinguish pulse from rhythm; recognise musical sections and contrasting instrumental sounds. I’m Still Standing; Pink Panther Theme | Compose short musical ideas; combine rhythm, sounds and ensemble singing. Shake It Off; Under the Sea |
| Year 3 | Maintain pulse; recognise structure and explore how vocal parts combine in harmony. Eye of the Tiger; Jingle Bell Rock | Control volume and expression; identify instrumental sounds and musical layers. Count on Me; The Entertainer | Compose and improvise; rehearse, refine and perform a part with others. Try Everything; Hall of Fame |
| Year 4 | Develop ensemble singing; sustain a vocal part and explore harmony while listening to others. Waterloo / Mamma Mia; Do They Know It’s Christmas? | Recognise pulse, structure and repeated patterns; sustain rhythmic parts within a group. Seven Nation Army / Jump; Three Little Birds | Develop harmony; transfer learning to instruments and perform with growing independence. Let It Be; Love Story (instrumental / glockenspiel focus) |
| Year 5 | Perform riffs and explore structure; develop harmony and ensemble singing. Back in Black; Winter Wonderland / Here Comes Santa Claus | Play glockenspiel melodies and read staff notation; explore lyric flow, pulse and syncopation. Pop melody and notation work; Can’t Hold Us (clean version) | Maintain groove and combine layers; refine harmony, structure and expression. September; Picture of You |
| Year 6 | Develop glockenspiel melody and syncopation; sustain independent parts with expression. Oye Como Va; This Christmas | Sustain repeated musical patterns; develop rhythmic accuracy and lyric flow. Seven Nation Army; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme | Combine rhythmic, melodic and vocal layers; refine balance and expression for ensemble and leavers’ performances. La Bamba; Stand by Me |
End points
End of EYFS
Children sing familiar songs, move to a steady beat and copy simple rhythms. They explore and combine sounds, respond to musical contrasts and begin to sing and play together, preparing them for music in Key Stage 1.
End of Key Stage 1
Pupils maintain a steady pulse, distinguish pulse from rhythm and sing with growing pitch accuracy. They recognise contrasting sounds and simple musical structures, create short musical ideas and perform together, preparing them for more complex music-making in Key Stage 2.
End of Key Stage 2
Pupils sing and play with accuracy, control and expression, sustaining their own part within an ensemble. They use taught notation, compose and refine musical ideas, and explain musical features using appropriate vocabulary. They evaluate performances and suggest improvements, preparing them for greater independence in Key Stage 3 music.
Curriculum Books
Quick links to our Curriculum books for all year groups from Nursery to Year 6.
Year Groups
From Nursery to Year 6 – find out all the information relevant to your child’s year group.
Whole School News
School news and events, letters to parents, dates for your diary, information and announcements.