Overview

This is a summary of how Holy Cross delivers music education to all pupils across three areas – curriculum music, co-curricular provision and musical experiences – and what changes we are planning to implement for future years. This information is to help pupils, parents and carers understand what our school offers and who we work with to support our pupils’ music education.

Music Development Plan

At our school, music plays a central role in helping children grow as confident, creative and expressive learners. We use the Oak National Academy Music Curriculum as the foundation of our provision, adapting and extending it to ensure a rich, inspiring musical journey for every child. Our approach is built around four key strands.

1. Curriculum

Our classroom music curriculum is based on the carefully sequenced units provided by the Oak National Academy. These lessons follow a clear progression of skills in listening, performing, composing and evaluating, ensuring every child builds secure musical knowledge year by year.
 

Teachers use Oak’s high-quality video content, modelled examples and structured resources to introduce new musical concepts, such as rhythm, pitch, melody and notation. These core materials allow pupils to hear and observe expert demonstration, while teachers guide children through practical activities, small-group work and whole-class performances that bring each concept to life.
 

Each lesson starts with a group warm-up to settle the musical mind, followed by engaging activities that introduce the new learning, before embedding this new concept through practical application and repetition. Finally, children are given the opportunity to perform and reflect on their learning.
 

We enrich the Oak curriculum by incorporating weekly singing assemblies, opportunities for whole class musical tuition through Bristol Beacon, and opportunities for each year group to perform in front of an audience, whether through ensemble singing or instrumentally. This blended approach ensures that pupils experience a broad range of musical styles, traditions and cultures, while maintaining the strong progression and clarity provided by the Oak scheme.

Disabled and SEND Pupils
We consider how specific activities or pedagogy may need to be adjusted to ensure all pupils are able to access learning to participate fully. Making Music accessible to all, including SEND, disabled, disadvantaged and EAL pupils includes:

• having high expectations and promoting equal opportunities
• creating a positive environment of understanding, small-group and 1:1 support
• effective liaison with LSAs
• additional scaffolding, flexible grouping, longer attempts and more practise time
• differentiated support: e.g. using a simplified or reduced number of notes when learning an instrument
• access to instrument lessons

2. Co-Curricular Music Activities

Beyond the classroom, we offer a growing range of musical activities that encourage children to explore music in new ways and nurture their developing talents. Bristol Beacon is our local music hub and we work closely with them, to ensure that children are given a range of opportunities throughout their time at Holy Cross.

• Key Stage Two choir: Open to pupils in Key Stage Two, the choir rehearses weekly and performs at the Bristol Beacon for winter and summer events, as well as community events such as in local care homes.
• Bristol Beacon peripatetic tuition: A tutor comes in each week from Bristol Beacon to offer children 1:1 piano tuition.
• Singing in Key Stage One: Children in Key Stage One take part in the Bristol Beacon Winter Sing at the Spiegel tent, as well as the Summer Sing in the main concert hall.
   

These activities complement the Oak curriculum by providing extra time for creativity, rehearsal and performance, helping children apply the skills gained during lessons in a joyful and supportive setting.

3. Musical Experiences

We believe that memorable musical experiences are essential in developing a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Each year, pupils take part in a range of events designed to broaden cultural understanding and inspire their imagination.
 

These include:

• Weekly singing assemblies: Singing is a big part of life at Holy Cross as children learn school hymns to sing during mass and take part in weekly hymn practice. There are multiple opportunities throughout the week for children to sing in assemblies, as well as in the classroom.
• Instrumental Groups: We are a member pf the Bristol Beacon, which means upper Key Stage Two is able to enjoy 10 sessions of whole class instrumental tuition. At the moment they are playing brass instruments and are given an opportunity to perform in front of their peers and parents at the end of this unit.
• Whole-school performances: Key Stage Two Christmas concert, Key Stage One nativity, Lower Key Stage Two Easter show, Upper Key Stage Two end of year show, Key Stage Two talent show.
• Opportunities to experience live music, through theatre and concert trips.
   

These experiences are planned to enrich the Oak curriculum, giving children real-life context for the musical concepts they learn in class and allowing them to see music as a vibrant and accessible part of daily life.

4. Plans for the Future

We are committed to strengthening our music provision so that every child continues to benefit from high-quality, joyful and inclusive musical learning.
 

Our upcoming priorities include:

• Expanding instrumental opportunities through local initiatives and school extra-curricular clubs, but also in providing instrumentalists with more opportunities to perform at school. For example, they could accompany the singers at the carol concert.
• Building stronger links with local arts organisations, enabling more workshops, performances and community music opportunities.
• Developing staff confidence and expertise, through training and collaborative planning that build on the strong foundations of the Oak curriculum, as well as benefitting from the range of CPD which Bristol Beacon has to offer.
• Increasing pupil leadership opportunities, such as music ambassadors, performance hosts and student-led ensembles.
• Upgrade the school music equipment and expand the school’s instrument bank, allowing children to access a wider range of instruments and have enough time for individual practice.
• Informal music sessions, either at lunch time or after school where children are given additional space to enjoy music, experiment with sound and develop a love for performance.

Through these developments, we aim to ensure that music remains an exciting, inclusive and valued part of our school’s identity, supporting children’s confidence, wellbeing and creativity.