Swiss Gardens Primary School

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.   Plato

Central to our vision for music at Swiss Gardens is that children develop a love of music through listening to, responding to and creating it. Music is the level playing field for learning, as children who struggle with academic subjects can find an outlet for their talents that can become a lifelong love and help children feel connected to the world around them.

Through our cross curricular approach we aim to set music learning in context, from learning multiplication tables with different popular songs, listening to the music of the 1930s and 40s during the WW2 topic, singing sea shanties in the pirates and smugglers topic to the music of the West Indies in the Islands topic.

Our curriculum ensures children are exposed to the creative, collaborative, celebratory aspects of music. Through group, class and whole school singing, the joy of music is celebrated across the school.

We aim to introduce children to a range of music and percussion from early years, developing their skills in playing unpitched instruments. By the end of Key Stage One, children are playing and composing melodies using the glockenspiel and by the end of Key Stage Two they have developed their skills further alongside written notation.

We believe that the joy of music is most apparent when performed by children and we ensure that children have opportunities to share their musical talents and experiences with their peers, their families and in the local community.

The school has links with Sussex Academy of Music, West Sussex Music Service and lessons are available from peripatetic teachers. We offer the chance for children to perform with the Angmering Chorale each year and for children to attend professional productions including opera performances at Glyndebourne.