As a member of Northern Ambition Academies Trust, we ensure that our curriculum is ambitious, enriched, broad and engaging and that it incorporates the Trust’s values of Ambition, Bravery and Respect.

Airedale Academy’s music curriculum intent:

• To meet the aims of the national curriculum at KS3.
• Brings the Airedale community together through the shared endeavor of whole-school and class singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow students, performing.
• Provides challenging learning opportunities for all students and celebrates the inclusion of students with special educational needs and disabilities through adapted resources.
• Provides opportunities to access out of lesson experiences such as the Music Festival, choir, bands and many performance events throughout the year. Students’ also visit potential music colleges, take part in world music workshops and perform in the local community.
• Recognises the importance of extra-curricular by providing opportunities for all students to attend high quality afterschool learning.
• Is taught by subject specialists who are active musicians. We feel that music should be delivered by active musicians who have real life working knowledge of the music industry. We all have a love for our subject and a passion for teaching students a wide range of music.
• Provides topics that are sequenced effectively, to enable students to build their knowledge and skills over time. All topics build upon students’ abilities in singing, listening, composing and performing/instrumental performance.  Teachers are aware of what we teach and why we teach musical concepts in a certain order.
• Provides engaging topics that are influenced by the aspirations of the model music curriculum.
• Uses a range of assessment opportunities to check understanding and that skills are embedded and mastered including DIRT opportunities to address individual and whole-class misconceptions.

• Our curriculum is underpinned by composition, performance and listening. Lessons are sequenced so that students learn or recap the fundamentals of rhythm, pitch, harmony and notation in year 7 (although in future years this may be more of a recap once the KS2 curriculum has been implemented.)
• At Airedale we know that singing has both teaching and learning benefits as well as social and health therefore we aim to sing at least once in every KS3 lesson. We follow the model music curriculum guidance by teaching correct technique and repertoire. KS4 singing is encouraged but focuses on those specialising in vocal performance.
• We are working on our students’ abilities to use the elements of music to appraise music from a wide range of contexts, composers and songwriters. We expect students to be able to use musical vocabulary to express their opinions on composers’ intentions and composition methods.
• We want students to aim towards being able to perform fluently as both a soloist and as part of a group. Students are taught a range of classroom-based instruments focusing on correct technique.
• We expect students to recognise a range of styles and genres from different historical periods, cultures and countries.
• We expect students to be able to recognise and potentially read both bass and treble clef notation.
• Students in KS4 are expected to be able to compose and perform in a wide range of styles and genres.
• Students in KS4 will be expected to describe, explain or analyse the key features of a range of styles using musical language.
• Students in KS4 will be able to recognise their musical areas for improvement and develop these over the course.

• Our main priority at Airedale Academy is to teach and perfect the skills implemented by the NC for music.
• We want every learner to leave our classroom with a wider understanding of a range of cultures, increased confidence and the ability to work with the others.
• The KS3 topics ensure that students are KS4 ready. Due to the revised pathways leading to the BTEC qualification there is a clear transition between the key stages.
• Uptake in the subject is improving year on year.
• By the end of KS3 learners can describe, explain or analyse music using musical language, perform on a range of instruments and sing with confidence. Students should also leave KS3 with the skills to learn independently.
• By the end of KS4 learners should have an in-depth knowledge of their chosen instrument, be able to analyse a wide range of music and skills to create music in many styles. Learners should also have a detailed knowledge of industry standard software such as Bandlab and Noteflight.

By the end of Key Stage 3 (Year 9), pupils will:

• Have gained an understanding of how to compose in a range of styles with a focus on chord sequences and melody.
• Had many opportunities to gain fluency in an instrument.
• Be able to use a sequencer to compose and remix a song.
• Be able to perform in an ensemble.
• Understand the main features of notation.

be able to use musical vocabulary to describe music.

By the end of Key Stage 4 (Year 11) students will have:

• Taken part in a solo or class performance in front of an audience.
• Be able to describe/explain/analyse a range of musical techniques, styles or genres.
• Be able to compose and perform in a range of styles with expression, fluency and confidence.
• Be able to read and/or follow notation, read tab and perform any associated dynamic markings.
• Compose, record or arrange music using a sequencer.