St. Augustine’s

Music

St. Augustine's is proud to be an 'In Harmony' School

 Working in partnership to provide an inspiring experience of Music within our school.  

For many years, St. Augustine's has been forming bonds within the world of Music. City Music Service have worked with teachers to inspire and motivate pupils musically which has been a huge success and resulted in performance opportunities that have been incredible. However, this year, City Music Service and St.Augustine's moved their bond forward and formed a music partnership that is unique, awe-inspiring and one of a kind. We joined the 'In Harmony' project and became an 'In Harmony' school. A feat that together, we could not be prouder of. 

We had an amazing start in the launch of our 'In Harmony' project and we now have an entire team of experts helping us to deliver an incredible experience for our pupils. Teachers and children in all classes throughout our school are learning a musical instrument of their own and are immersed in a vocational journey that enables our staff and talented children to express themselves fully.

Through a range of musical experiences children are encouraged to grow in confidence and are given opportunities to explore, discover and develop their technical skills. Our practical music lesson are accessible by all and challenging to children who are more musically developed.

We have a range of professional music teachers that join us in school to teach specialist instruments and singing. Each class learning specialist instruments or singing takes part as in live performances every term.  

Specialist Music provision for each class:

Foundation Stage - Sound Pots and Percussion 

Y1 - Song Birds and Percussion          

Y2 - Strings               

Y3 - Percussion

Y4 - Strings

Y5 - Brass

Y6 - Woodwind

KS2 Orchestra - Year 4, 5, 6 

KS1 Orchestra - Year 2 and 3  

Music lessons are timetabled twice for years 2-6 on a weekly basis providing time for learning and developing in their specialist area and then developing their skills as part of an ensemble. 

Pupils’ understanding of music will be developed through activities which bring together the requirements of performing, composing, listening and appraising in order to meet the expectations of the national curriculum and beyond. Children are taught to recognise the musical elements of:

• Duration
• Dynamics
• Pitch
• Tempo
• Timbre
• Texture

City Music Service and In Harmony 

Ben from City Music Service is a valuable member of our Musical team and has worked alongside teachers and children for many years. 

See what he said about the project: 

Ben:

"Music has always been at the heart of life at St Augustine’s. The school is often filled with the sound of children singing and playing their instruments. For many years pupils have had the opportunity to perform at The Victoria Hall in Hanley with various ensembles and choirs. There is a long history of St Augustine’s nourishing the musical and creative lives of its pupils and producing excellent instrumentalists and singers.

The new In Harmony project aims to put music at the heart of the community and with every child in school now receiving specialist weekly tuition, the musical community at St Augustine’s is now strengthening more than ever."

For more information on the City Music Service see -

https://www.facebook.com/citymusicservice/

For more information on the 'In harmony' project see: 

https://inharmonytelfordstoke.org/

Autumn Term Music 

Our Autumn Term is where children start to understand their instruments better and Year 2 are introduced to the world of In Harmony.  During this term, we embed skills previously learnt and introduce new skills to challenge all children. Our Songbirds take to the stage at the Victoria Hall for a 'Christmas Extravaganza Performance' with schools from across the city. 

Spring Term Music 

During our Spring Term we have lots of opportunities for parents to join 'Watch Me Learn' sessions to showcase what the children have learnt so far. During this term, we also have opportunities for children to watch external performances by professionals to show where their music may one day take them. 

Summer Term Music

Summer term is one of our busiest terms where children showcase their skills from the year in our "Outdoor Arena" and perform in out end of year summer show. All children from Nursery to Year 6 take part and showcase their talents to parents. Our Songbirds once again take to the stage in their final performance of the year at the Victoria Hall. 

Careers in the Curriculum

We want all of our pupils to feel inspired about the future that they could have and the pathways that can lead them there. Harnessing their interest areas and talents, we remain focused on 'Careers in the Curriculum' and continue to reach out to partners and organisations who can support us in our mission to inspire the next generation of musicians, composers, singers, teachers, producers and engineers. Our In Harmony family have provided the children with excellent assemblies showcasing some of the many careers available to them.  

Learning together with your child

City Music Service who provide teaching of violins, recorders and song birds in school now have a Youtube Channel that offers loads of great songs to learn and guidance on certain musical instruments. 

Find this here: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw7fDaOKN-9z8YfOIQOGlpw

Other Resources 

Year 1 - Untuned Instruments and timing

Click here for Untuned Instruments activities. 

Click here for beat activities. 

Year 2 - Singing songs

Click here for singing activities.

Click here for other singing activities.

Click here for beat activities. 

Year 3 - The History of Music 

Click here to learn about different composers from history.

Click here to find out about Musical Trailblazers through history. 

Click here for 20th Century History of Music PowerPoint for creating a poster. 

Year 4 - Compose 

Click here to find out what composition means. 

Click here to find out about different composers.

Click here for Making Music activity pack. 

Year 5 - Improvise and Compose 

Click here to learn about notation. 

Click here to learn about musical notes. 

Click here for a notation composition activity.

Year 6 - Play and Perform

Click here to learn about musical notes. 

Click here for a film soundtrack activity. 

Click here to learn about musical performance. 

Click here for a range of musical games for all classes. 

Click here for a range of musical learning that can be accessed by all KS1. 

Click here for a range of musical learning that can be accessed by all KS2.

Click here to watch performances of different Orchestras.