At North Baddesley Junior School, our vision is that every child will foster a life-long love for and understanding of music.

Through singing, playing, composing and performing, children will develop confidence, communication, thinking and creative skills as well as improving memory and co-ordination and emotional well-being. The skills involved in playing and listening to music will also help the children develop as learners by developing the self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, resilience, creativity and self-motivation necessary for success.

Music is an essential part of life and integral to the development of the whole person. We believe that the opportunity to engage in musical experiences is crucial to the development of our children as it develops all aspects of their learning from the physical action of using an instrument to the mathematical skills needed to keep a rhythmic pattern. These abilities are directly transferable to other areas of the curriculum, allowing individuals to grow and flourish.

Through our link with the Mountbatten Music Academy in Romsey, every child in Year 4 will have the opportunity to learn either a PTrumpet or PTrombone as part of their statutory access within the National Curriculum. All the resources for this can be found on the Mountbatten Brass Ops Website.

We also have a dedicated Music Room in school which is fully equipped for both whole class lessons as well as individual peripatetic instrument lessons.

We use units of work produced in conjunction with Hampshire Music Service which offers a continuation of skills learnt in Key Stage 1 and also prepares pupils for Key Stage 3. To record our work, we use Music Journals which stay with pupils from Year 3 to 6 so that they can retain key vocabulary, creatively respond to music and develop notation skills when composing.

Musical Experiences at North Baddesley Junior School:

Weekly whole class music lessons

Whole school weekly singing and listening assemblies with links with Romsey Abbey

Peripatetic music lessons (run by Hampshire Music Service and Mountbatten Music Academy)

Rock to the Beat run by Hampshire Music Service

Choir club

NBJS Ensemble (run with Mountbatten Music Academy)

Year 5 Choir (run with Mountbatten Music Academy)

Theatre and orchestra visits

Music workshops

Year Group productions and performances

Wider performance opportunities with other schools and across the county

Here’s what our children have to say about their Music experiences at North Baddesley Junior School:

• ‘We love our weekly music lessons with our class’.
• ‘Lessons are fun and we get to make up our own music.’
• ‘We learn notes using Every Good Boy Deserves Football’
• ‘Music is the best subject ever!’

How to help your child at home

Listening to a wide range of Music will allow your child to both appreciate and be open-minded to the array of music genres. To help reflect on the Music you listen to, you could discuss some of the following questions:

• How does this music make you feel?
• Do you know who the artist/composer is?
• What does this music remind you of?
• Could you imagine this music in any films you have watched? Why?
• Do you like it? Why/why not?

Pupils also get the most reward when learning individual instruments through regular practice time, so building this into your week as a family is important.

Websites that support your child in learning Music:

• For children learning PTrumpet or PTrombone, all the resources for practising can be found on the Mountbatten Brass Ops Website.
• Hampshire Music Service
• BBC Teach – KS2 Music
• ABRSM