At Wilstead Primary School, our aim is to develop a lifelong love of listening to and making music.  We give our children many opportunities to perform, create and experience music in a range of different forms and teach them the building blocks to enable them to access music to the level that they wish to.  We hope by giving them these experiences, that they will choose to continue their love and learning of music into adulthood.  This is done within the context of our school values, which teachers ensure are woven through teaching in all subjects.

Please see our Progression Map, above, for an overview of how our curriculum is organised.

Musical learning plays a significant role in both our curricular and extracurricular learning at Wilstead.  From Reception, musical activities form part of our Being Imaginative and Expressive early learning and and link several objectives within Communication and Physical Development.  As we move up the school, we develop our understanding in four key areas:  Singing, Playing, Creating and Listening, honing our skills using a range of tuned and untuned instruments.  

At Wilstead, we also offer a number of different extracurricular musical opportunities.  From our after school choir, to our recorder club to our offer for instrumental lessons, we ensure that music remains a key part of our school community.

We are a Charanga Music School, and follow the 'original scheme' offered by this online resource. We chose Charanga because it enables our class teachers to provide research based and sequenced musical activities to support learning from Reception to Year 6.

Music is taught weekly, with every child in Key Stage 1 and 2 recieving at least one hour music per week.  Charanga units are taught alongside specifically designed units which are intended to focus on developing composition and improvisation to higher level than the Charanga units offer.  These follow the Bedford Music Hub Musical Progression Map to inform the knowledge and skills that are being taught.

We also have a weekly Singing Assembly, where the children learn whole school songs, listen to selected music and watch performances by visitors.

We also offer instrumental lessons through the Bedford Music Cooperative.  Currently, we have piano, violin and guitar teachers who teach small group and individual lessons during the school week.  If you would like to find out more about enrolling your child, please email Mrs Webb at nwebb@wilstead.school or visit the Bedford Music Cooperative website at https://www.bedsmusic.coop/

Another opportunity for music making can be found in our in-school musical clubs.  We currently offer Recorder club on a Monday lunchtime and Choir club after school on a Thursday.  Both of these clubs are free of charge, but have limited places available.  If your child is interested in joining, please contact Mrs Webb at nwebb@wilstead.school

At Wilstead, we are proud to have been awarded the Music Mark for our continued commitment to Music Education.  

This is a summary of how our school delivers music education to all our pupils across three areas – curriculum music, co-curricular provision and musical experiences – and what changes we are planning in future years. This information is to help pupils and parents or carers understand what our school offers and who we work with to support our pupils’ music education.

For further information about our Musical offer at Wilstead Primary School please contact Mrs Webb at nwebb@wilstead.school

Mrs N Webb

Music Coordinator