Intent

To offer an inspirational education for all learners, developing their full musical potential and providing them with the skills for a lifelong enjoyment of music.

Implementation

A learner’s understanding of art and the world, and how they can think and express themselves, can be enhanced through musical education. We offer a diverse range of multi-cultural musical experiences and ensure all learners are included and are actively encouraged to take part.

Learners respond readily to music. Any parent knows that it’s natural for a child to begin dancing and singing at an early age. They learn through music, art, and play, so it’s important (even necessary) to use the arts when working with children as they get older and attend Oastlers School.

We take an experiential approach through which learners engage in musical experiences and develop their appreciation through reflection and experimentation. But, music should also be a social experience. Many of our music experiences are shared with a group, whether playing in a band or the timetabled school music lessons, or by sharing our musical tastes without criticism. Collaboration, communication, consideration and celebration are at the heart of our musical provision.

All learners can experience stress with the pressures of school and sometimes from stressful home lives, and music can provide a way to escape from these situations, even for a short while. The use of music appreciation and education to support our learners’ ability to cope with the pressures of life should not be overlooked. Every learner matters in our school, and we most definitely see the absolute necessity of preparing our learners for their futures.

Impact

All children benefit from some form of music education. Research shows that learning musical skills can enable children to excel in other subjects and enhance skills that children inevitably use in other areas. This is why, here at Oastlers School, we ensure that all learners access music lessons, no matter what their prior knowledge of the subject is.

Music has the distinct ability of integrating many different subject areas all at once. Not only does music education allow children to develop their musical skills, it also gives them the opportunity to work on their maths skills, reading and writing skills, science skills, and history knowledge. For example, time signatures in music are an excellent way to incorporate fractions, and lyric analysis and song-writing allows learners to work on their reading abilities. All learners expand their musical and general vocabularies, improve their problem solving abilities, and their ability to theorise through interpreting and understanding music.

Music can be an excellent way to relieve stress, which is significant for learners who may feel overwhelmed by schoolwork or even their everyday lives.  Music can reduce burnout and improve mood states. At Oastlers School, we never forget that most learners really enjoy music. This is not the most important reason why we place so much importance in the subject, but it’s the icing on the cake.