Since 2025 we have adopted the scheme Kapow to support and improve the quality of music teaching that children receive at our school. Kapow works seamlessly with the National Curriculum, ensuring that learners revisit the interrelated dimensions of music: pulse, voice, pitch and rhythm, building upon previous learning and skills. The learning within this scheme is based on the four elements of performing, listening, reviewing and evaluating music in a wide variety of genres of music.

Music is taught as a separate subject, but links may be made to other learning, such as the children’s topic work for that term. All learners from EYFS to Y6 receive a weekly music lesson supported by Kapow. KS2 learners are taught music for approximately 1 hour a week and KS1 for 30 minutes a week.

The Kapow music scheme allows children to experience a new topic and style of music every half-term. Due to being a 1 form entry school with mixed age classes, we have adopted the Kapow scheme and created a two-year rolling plan to ensure that all children receive a broad and balanced music curriculum. Lessons provide children with the opportunity to listen and respond to different styles of music, use their voices and instruments to listen and sing back and have a go at composing their own pieces of music. The lessons are planned as part of a spiral curriculum which allows for retrieval opportunities alongside new learning, to ensure clear progression is evident across the school.

Kapow has been selected for many reasons, including the broad range of genre and cultural links, the built-in retrieval opportunities, the support for teachers to enable them to develop their subject knowledge to deliver high-quality music teaching and the variety of activities and opportunities it gives children to meet the Music National Curriculum.

In Year 3 children receive expert tuition from Derbyshire Music Partnership as a curriculum lesson. During this lesson, children are taught the aims of the National Curriculum whilst learning to play a musical instrument. This tuition lasts for the whole school year and replaces the Kapow scheme. To ensure progression is made through the Kapow Scheme and nothing is missed, all the Kapow units of work for KS2 are covered throughout the remaining years of music teaching.