Music Development
Music development plan summary
Brownlow Fold Primary School
Overview
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.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Academic year that this summary covers | 2025-2026 |
| Date this summary was published | October 2025 |
| Date this summary will be reviewed | September 2026 |
| Name of the school music lead | Abbie Entwistle |
| Name of local music hub | Bolton Music Service |
Vision and Intent
At Brownlow Fold Primary School we aim for all our pupils to develop a life-long love of music through a wide range of quality musical experiences which engage and inspire them. At the heart of the music curriculum are creativity, curiosity and excitement and children who are developing increased self-confidence, self-esteem and collaborative skills. We aim to expose children to a music curriculum with a clear progression of skills so that they leave Brownlow Fold with the fundamental knowledge they need to appreciate, compose and enjoy an array of musical genres.
At Brownlow Fold, Music is considered a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. Our high-quality music education engages and inspires pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement from the early years to the end of KS2. As pupils progress, they develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon. At Brownlow Fold, children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. We are committed to developing a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.
Part A: Curriculum music
This is about what we teach in lesson time, how much time is spent teaching music and any music qualifications or awards that pupils can achieve.
Children will perform, listen and analyse critically, sing, improvise and compose music and understand the musical elements as building blocks within music.
Curriculum changes
We have made several exciting changes to our music curriculum. Our new Sing Up! music scheme has been introduced to support high-quality music teaching across all year groups. Each year group now has updated end points, along with new knowledge and skills that build progressively as pupils move through the school. To make learning more engaging, every year group will explore a range of new songs and artists. We are also working closely with Bolton Music Service to further enhance our music provision in certain classes and ensure a rich, inspiring experience for all pupils. Additionally, we have introduced a new assessment system, using our e-book to record and evidence music teaching and learning effectively, to help teachers with their assessment of music.
Early Years
The most relevant statements for music are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Expressive Arts and Design
| Music | ||
|---|---|---|
| Three and Four-Year-Olds | Communication and Language | Sing a large repertoire of songs. |
| Physical Development | Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and make marks. | |
| Expressive Arts and Design | Listen with increased attention to sounds.Respond to what they have heard, expressing their thoughts and feelings.Remember and sing entire songs.Sing the pitch of a tone sung by another person (‘pitch match’).Sing the melodic shape (moving melody, such as up and down, down and up) of familiar songs.Create their own songs, or improvise a song around one they know.Play instruments with increasing control to express their feelings and ideas. | |
| Reception | Communication and Language | Listen carefully to rhymes and songs, paying attention to how they sound.Learn rhymes, poems and songs. |
| Physical Development | Combine different movements with ease and fluency. | |
| Expressive Arts and Design | Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings. Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to represent them. Create collaboratively, sharing ideas, resources and skills.Listen attentively, move to and talk about music, expressing their feelings and responses.Sing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody.Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups. |
Key Stage 1
In year 1 and 2, children have weekly music lessons in which they follow the Sing Up! model music scheme. Their learning is broken down into 4 key areas of music:
- Listen and Appraise
- Sing and Play
- Improvise and Compose
Music is inclusive for all learners using adaptations so that all children are given the opportunity to thrive in their music lessons.
Key Stage 2
In year 3, children continue to follow the Sing Up! scheme with weekly music lessons led by the class teacher.
In year 4, children have a weekly Sing Up! lesson with and additional lesson with a music specialist from Bolton Music Service. They learn the key areas of music through Sing Up alongside the enhancement of learning to play Viola.
In year 5 and 6, children have a weekly music lesson using the Sing Up! Scheme whilst also continuing with a music specialist teacher from Bolton Music Service. In year 5 children learn to play the djembe and in year 6 they play glockenspiels. Children follow Bolton Music Service’s progression of skills – aligned with the model music curriculum.
Additional opportunities
- As well as weekly music lessons, children sing regularly in whole school singing assemblies. In other assemblies throughout the week, children are encouraged to listen and appraise a wide range of musical genres as they come into the hall.
- Each year, Early Years and Key Stage 1 take part in a nativity performance in which singing and music are a prominent part.
- Children in Key Stage 2 take part in an annual “Winter Concert” – children sing songs and perform using instruments.
- Each class performs a class assembly each year where they share their learning from across the curriculum – the assemblies always contain songs that support the children’s learning.
- Viola performance- Each year, children from Year 4 and 5 have the opportunity to perform their viola learning to parents.
Part B: Co-curricular music
This is about opportunities for pupils to sing and play music, outside of lesson time and how pupils can make progress in music beyond the core curriculum.
Small group viola lessons provided by Bolton Music Service
Children are selected to continue to learn the viola in years 5 and 6 within a small group session, led by a music specialist from Bolton Music Service.
Performance opportunities
Music outcomes are often shared and performed either live to parents, other pupils or recorded and shared with SLT.
Music/Drama performances – class assemblies, Early Years and Key Stage 1 nativity, Key Stage 2 Winter Concert, year 6 leavers production.
Clubs
Children have the opportunity to attend a ‘Just Dance’ club. Children are able to sing to the music and respond through movement/dance, therefore promoting the movement to music.
Part C: Musical experiences
This is about all the other musical events and opportunities that we organise, such as singing in assembly, concerts and shows, and trips to professional concerts.
Pantomime
There is an annual trip for the whole school to watch a pantomime at Christmas time – the trip is partly subsidised by Pupil Premium funding.
Smithills High School Musical
Children in Key Stage 2 are taken to watch Smithills High School’s annual musical.
Bolton Music Service performance
Each year Bolton Music Service perform a concert for the whole school each year where they sing popular songs and talk about the instruments they are playing.
Assemblies
Children sing in assemblies throughout the year such as in weekly assemblies, class assemblies, Christmas and Celebration assemblies
In the future
| What? | Actions |
| Monitor instruments | Check all instruments and equipment are in full working order and order new resources as necessary. |
| Consider opportunities for the use of music and singing across the curriculum | Build a bank of resources and ideas for teaching staff to utilise – for example counting songs in maths, Grammarsaurus grammar songs in English, French songs for languages lessons. |
| Ensure children are exposed to a wider range of musical genres for listening and appraising opportunities | Create a timetable of musical genres that span the musical timeline that children should listen to as they enter the classroom/assemblies – share with staff |
| Signpost ensemble opportunities outside school community | Add to the weekly newsletter about music lessons at Bolton Music Service as well as other local opportunities |
| Maintain relationship with Bolton Music Service | Continue to build a positive working relationship with Bolton Music Service and utilise their CPD offer |
