Academic year that this summary covers

2024-2025

Date this summary was published

01/09/2024

Date this summary will be reviewed

01/01/2025

Name of the school music lead

Nicola Redman

Name of school leadership team member with responsibility for music (if different)

Michelle Khambhaita

Name of local music hub 

Bradford Music Hub

Name of other music education organisation(s) (if partnership in place) 

Leeds Diocese Singing Programme

Henry Parker Music Tuition 

At Co-op Academy Penny Oaks we believe in the power of music to support good mental health and wellbeing and we aim to foster a lifelong love of music and the wider arts throughout our bespoke curriculum. We believe that performance builds lifelong confidence and our children are proud to perform to the school community multiple times a year. 

At Co-op Academy Penny Oaks, our music curriculum ensures that children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is implemented in classroom activities as well as through music performances. Our music overview clearly outlines our bespoke music curriculum for children in our Early Years through to our Year 6 children and can be found here.

At Penny Oaks every student in KS1 and KS2 has a minimum of 40 min singing tuition per week. We work with The Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme which is recognised as the UK’s leading choral education programme, striving to make outstanding singing tuition, music education and performance opportunities accessible to children and young people in communities which are least likely to encounter them. These pupils also have an additional weekly 30 min singing assembly where both KS1 and KS2 children come together to learn and sing specially selected songs which inspire and motivate as well as broaden the children’s musical repertoire. 

There is a strong ethos of inclusion and all students are encouraged to participate, regardless of ability. SEND students are supported in a variety of ways, which include peer support, use of TAs, and reasonable adjustments and adaptations to instruments or the space where necessary. The climate for learning is supportive of individual behavioural needs. Please see our SEND POLICY for more information.

Our children experience music in many different ways:

Whole School Music

• Singing assemblies for children in KS1 and KS2 provide an opportunity for children to perform together

• Events such as Assemblies, Christmas performance, and end-of-year performances which are held at a local theatre in order to give all children in school the experience of performing on a professional theatre space. 

Classroom Music

• In the Early Years, music is incorporated consistently into daily routines and is 

used to enhance teaching of the core curriculum. The class teachers have worked with a local music expert to introduce the Kadai ethos into music teaching in Early Years. 

• In KS2 all children receive 45 minutes and week of musical instrument tuition. We work with a local musician, Henry Parker, who provides musical tuition across KS2. In Y3 and 4 the children learn Ukulele and in Y5 and 6 they progress to the guitar. 

Pupils at Penny Oaks have a wide range of opportunities to perform and develop their musical ability outside of the music curriculum. We offer children the following opportunities:

• School Choir – Our school choir take part in various events across the academic year including Bradford Schools Choir, singing carols at the local Broadway shopping centre and performing at in-house events such as our annual Mother’s Day tea party. 

Talent contest - Pupils are given the opportunity to audition for the Co-op has talent music talent competition.

Many of our pupils also join the Bradford Cathedral junior schools choir which performs at Bradford Cathedral weekly and weekends. The choir have various opportunities to perform including on national TV and radio and in competitions in other counties. 

We offer a number of exciting opportunities for students over the course of the year. 

Perform at Broadway – choir sing carols 

Christmas performance

Choir Performance at Mother’s day Tea

Easter performance

End-of-year productions at Bradford Playhouse

We intend to further enhance our music curriculum plans to ensure better progression throughout school and more opportunities to work with un-tuned instruments

Invite more music performances into school 

Embed more music opportunities across the curriculum