Music at Bedford Drive Primary School

“Music is the universal language of mankind”

The school has adapted the National Curriculum for Music as defined by the Department for Education. The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians;

  • learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence;

  • understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to listen, appraise and perform with increasing confidence and appreciation.

We use Charanga Music School Programme, to support teaching and learning at Bedford Drive. It is based on a holistic approach, which encompasses the related skills of playing, singing, listening and creating music.  Skills are continually revisited and built upon throughout the learning episodes and as they progress throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, resulting in deeper and richer musical outcomes. The History of Music threads contextually throughout the scheme focusing more on the great classical composers in a ‘Reflect, Rewind and Replay’ unit at the end of each year. The children get the opportunity to listen and appraise Early to Contemporary Music.

We would like to share our work and learning

Foundation 1

Foundation 1 have been using instruments to create sounds related to feelings. The children have enjoyed remembering and singing entire songs and talking in groups about what they like about music.

Foundation 2

Foundation 2 have been learning about musical instruments and how you have to listen carefully if you are to hear a particular instrument in a piece of music.  We have also enjoyed clapping, moving and dancing in time to the beat!

Year 1

Year 1 have been listening to and appreciating music with a Latin feel, we have been keeping the pulse in our own unique way!

We love to express ourselves to music and we celebrate the freedom music can bring.

Year 2

In Year 2 we have had great fun rehearsing and performing the ‘Friendship Song’ they have accompanied the song with glockenspiel and recorder and enjoyed performing to a class audience.

Year 3

Year 3 listened and understood what instruments were being played in the songs and identified where the intro, verse and chorus was in the songs they listened to.

Year 4

In music, we continued to build our skills of listening and appraising music. We were able to identify different instruments that were played in a composition as well as the genre they belonged to. We looked at the lyrics of songs and used this to identify the themes and messages that the composer was trying to show us. Furthermore, we practiced our singing skills and were able to take turns singing over a backing track.

Year 5

We have been continuing to learn the clarinets in preparation for our performance! Each class have been learning a selection of songs some of which will include some brave soloists! Year 5 have also been practising to rap the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which has become a clear favourite of all the songs learnt so far! The children have then learned about Motown music, in particular ‘Dancing in the Street’ by Martha and the Vandellas. Year 5 enjoyed being able to take turns being either a lead vocalist or a backing vocalist.

Year 6

Our music lessons have been used to prepare for our leaver’s assembly. We began by listening and appraising Shotgun by George Ezra before evaluating a re-written version with lyrics adapted it to suit our school. After that, we listened to and appraised 7 years by Lukas Graham before exploring a re-written version called Once I Was in Year 1. The final song we have learnt is You’ve Got A Friend in Me by Randy Newman, which we have thoroughly enjoyed singing as a class.


  • Things to Try at Home

There are a number of ways that you can support with your child’s learning at home in music, please click the buttons below to look at the suggestions that we have made for you.

At Bedford Drive Primary School we have constructed an ambitious Music curriculum, which follows the content of the EYFS statutory framework and the National Curriculum. These documents, along with our school policy, are available below.