Music

The music curriculum at Harris Academy Clapham is designed to offer a rich and diverse educational experience. Our primary goal is to nurture the growth of students as performers, composers, and appraisers through an engaging and varied course of study. 

Our approach is centred on creating an environment that is inclusive and fosters creativity and individuality, developing our students into well-rounded musicians. The music department embraces the Academy’s culture of high expectations, aiming to challenge, support and inspire students, regardless of their prior musical experience. 

Key Stage 3 classes receive one eighty-minute lesson each fortnight which is always centred around practical work. The department is built on the philosophy that developing a love for music, alongside meaningful musical learning and progress, is realised through the students experimenting and being creative with instruments and technology. 

Foundational skills are developed in Year 7 that are essential in supporting students’ development throughout Key Stage 3 music lessons. The curriculum begins by bridging gaps in learning from primary school music, advancing and reinforcing students’ knowledge and understanding of rhythm and pitch notation. Rhythmic understanding is supported by use of the Kodaly method. 

The keyboard is introduced, and students continue to enhance their comprehension of rhythm and pitch notation whilst developing basic instrumental skills. Throughout Year 7, students are presented with musical elements which are key to furthering their technical understanding of music and developing their appraising skills. They are required to use these musical elements to make critical observations, not solely concerning the music they encounter but also with regard to their own musical practice, performance, and that of their peers. 

The Year 8 curriculum looks closely at various musical genres with a special emphasis on music that has been written for various band settings. It begins by presenting more in-depth context to chords and students learn to formulate major and minor chords through composing basic chord sequences. Students continue developing their harmonic understanding through the study of more complex chord types in relation to specific musical genres. 

Students are introduced to music technology, learning entry-level skills on Ableton, a digital audio workstation. By the end of the academic year, students will have experienced sequencing, recording, editing and quantising. This will support the learning they complete in Year 9 and directly links to the composing component of the GCSE Music specification. 

The Year 9 curriculum looks at further musical genres and styles through the lens of music technology. Students will develop more complex skills in relation to Ableton and complete tasks that require increasingly advanced instrumental and compositional skills. Students are given a preview of Bhangra and Film Music, both of which are included in the GCSE Music specification. The Key Stage 3 curriculum culminates in a term-long Song Writing project, effectively preparing students for the GCSE course. 

In Key Stage 4, students will follow the Eduqas GCSE Music course which comprises three components: Performing, Composing and Appraising. In the classroom, students will have two appraising lessons and two composition lessons every fortnight. Outside the classroom, students will receive weekly one-to-one lessons from a professional musician and instrumental teacher on an instrument of their choice. The Academy fully funds these lessons for all students who choose GCSE Music. 

Enrichment is an essential part of the music department at Harris Academy Clapham and a variety of activities run daily to support the personal development of our students. We believe that music is for everyone, regardless of ability or prior experience, and all our students will be welcomed into musical enrichment activities and support to express themselves in the way they want and participate in performances.