Year 7 Music
Brief summary of the syllabus:
- Pulse and rhythm Work
- Sounds of the environment
- Graphic scores
- Drone and ostinato
- Drone and pentatonic Scale
- Composing a piece of programme music based on a prescribed story. (Extended project to include aural analysis of related music and listening worksheets)
- Keyboard skills based on folk music and modes
What skills/attributes are being developed and examined?
- Performing:
- Perform in a range of styles, interpreting signs, symbols and musical instructions
- Perform a solo part with fluency and expression
- Perform in a group maintaining a part independently of a group
- Composing:
- Compose, arrange and improvise music with musical structures
- Revise composition and notate them appropriately for subsequent performances
- Listening and appraising:
- Listen with understanding to a wide variety of music of increasing complexity, identifying and discriminating within musical elements, and demonstrate knowledge of different forms of notation
- Show knowledge of the historical development of music and an understanding of a range of musical traditions from different periods and cultures
- Show knowledge and understanding of a range of individual musical works and critically assess particular performances live or recorded
What can parents expect to see?
Much of the class work in the Year 7 curriculum is of a practical nature and due to restrictions of equipment and resources is it unfair to expect boys to work on some of the projects at home, particularly the keyboard-based projects.
Pupils will receive revision guidelines one week before the test is due to take place and the boys will make a note of this in their diaries. Revision material will be available on the School's learning resources area.
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What can parents do to help?
Parents should be aware of when a half-term test is approaching and help the pupils revise form the revision sheet provided.
Also if a boy wishes to play any music, it would be encouraging if parents were able to listen supportively rather than critically.
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Setting and course schedule:
The Music curriculum in Year 7 covers a wide range of different topics (as detailed above) which contribute towards the Key Stage 3 assessment at the end of Year 9. All teaching groups in Year 7 are mixed ability.
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Final examination:
There is no end-of-year examination for Music, although the marks for the three half-term tests and a number of the practical projects will be used to assess the pupils' progress toward their interim key stage level, generated from the initial base-line assessment. An average of these marks will be used to ascertain the overall year order at the end of the year which will also guide the decision on those who will be in the selective sets in Year 8.
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Tests:
A half-term test will be sat around the half-term of each of the three terms. It will be a written test, testing theoretical knowledge and/or listening analysis skills, and will be mainly derived from the work covered during the preceding term and half-term. Marked tests will be returned in the lesson following the test and the mark, given as a percentage, and improvement targets, will be recorded in the boys' diaries.
Marks are also given for the large-scale practical projects, and boys will also record these in their diaries.
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Revision:
Boys will receive revision guidelines in the lesson immediately preceding the test, and are therefore given one school week to revise. Revision material will be available on the School's learning resources area. All knowledge required for the test will be covered and if learnt properly and applied effectively can result in a mark of 100% for every pupil.
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Pupil target-setting:
For each practical project both short-term and long-term targets will be set both for the class and also individually. The class teacher will have a grid with these targets on and will tick off the targets as each boy achieves them. In written work targets will be inherent in the marking and feedback given on the test paper.
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Working towards Target National Curriculum Levels:
In the Autumn term, each pupil and his parents will be made aware of a target National Curriculum Level which he should be aiming to achieve by the end of the academic year. Progress towards this target will be reviewed at the end of each half-term and in the mid-year review of pupil progress, which is reported home in the Spring term. The criteria for each National Curriculum Level in Music can be read here.
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