At Buxton Junior School, we believe it is important for pupils to have access to a rich range of musical opportunities. We are proud to provide the "Wider Opportunities Experience" for pupils in Year 4, free of charge. In Year 3, 5 and 6 the children learn music with their class teacher. 

In Year 4 all pupils learn how to play a brass instrument.  Pupils develop their musical skills in a creative way, participating in rhythm games and singing.

We also have a wonderful school choir (free of charge) and there are opportunities to learn how to play woodwind and brass instruments (additional costs apply). 

Aims of music teaching at Buxton Junior School:

We teach music at Buxton Junior School so that children can:

• develop confidence in performing music using a range of instruments, across a range of genres
• understand that their voices and bodies can be used as instruments, and to learn to sing and use body percussion
• access appropriate technology and see its role in creating music
• confidently discuss the process of creating, producing and performing using key vocabulary: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo,  timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notation
• develop their close listening skills, identifying different instruments and musical styles and talking about how music makes them feel
• learn to compose their own music, and to collaborate with peers to create music through teamwork
• review and evaluate their own music, that of their classmates and music from different eras, genres and cultures
• gain a knowledge of some of the world’s great composers and musicians, and appreciate and respond to their works
• broaden their understanding of the world around them through the exploration of different cultures and customs.

Music at Buxton Junior School

• We use resources from the Charanga scheme for the Model Music Curriculum, which follows a differentiated, spiral approach to musical learning and responds to the national requirements for musical education. Within each unit of learning, students revisit existing knowledge and build upon and extend them incrementally. This means that learning is consolidated and augmented, allowing for increasing musical confidence, whilst being gently challenged to go further.  
   

• We believe that every child is a born musician, and that musical education should be fun, engaging and accessible to all. Music has an important role to play in our lives and our futures, as it is the one truly global language. This philosophy is mirrored in the Charanga scheme’s structure; each academic year is divided into six recurring Social Themes, which are linked to Global Citizenship and Education for Peace.
   
• We provide every child with the chance to develop their musicianship skills by learning how to play an instrument at school, with opportunities to further their learning and love for the instrument through links with peripatetic music teachers. We aim to provide additional opportunities through an instrumental ensemble club. Through links with our feeder infant and secondary schools, parent community and visitors, we provide children with regular opportunities to both perform and watch live performances over the school year.
   
• Singing is a core part of our provision, with daily singing in the classroom and singing in assemblies four times a week. Our choir meets once a week, after school, and performs over the academic year.