Year 5 – Music – Ukuleles
08-10-2026
In Music, Year 5 have been continuing their ukulele learning by playing notes and strumming chords along to songs with Carmel.
Intent
Our intent is to provide a broad, inclusive and ambitious music curriculum through the Charanga Creative Scheme that inspires all pupils to develop a lifelong love of music. The curriculum is built around exploration, creativity and musical understanding, ensuring every child can engage in singing, performing, composing, listening and improvising, reaching their full potential.
We aim to ensure that every child, regardless of background, ability, or additional need, experiences high-quality music education. Charanga’s Creative Approach enables pupils to learn through doing, creating and reflecting, with adaptive pathways that support all learners.
We are committed to:
– Delivering a sequenced and progressive curriculum through Charanga units focused on musical learning strands.
– Ensuring adaptive teaching so all pupils can access and succeed through flexible outcomes and creative responses.
– Promoting inclusion and representation through diverse genres, styles and cultures embedded in Charanga.
– Embedding high expectations for musical outcomes and engagement.
– Supporting teachers through high-quality Charanga resources and training.
– Providing meaningful performance opportunities and enrichment, within and beyond the classroom.
Implementation
Curriculum and Teaching:
– The Charanga Creative Scheme structures learning through progressive units that integrate listening, performing, composing and improvising.
– Lessons are enquiry-based, encouraging pupils to explore musical ideas and develop understanding through practical engagement, promoting perseverance through exploration and enquiry.
– Teachers model musical skills and vocabulary, ensuring clear progression.
Adaptive Teaching and Inclusion:
– Charanga enables adaptive teaching through flexible tasks, open-ended outcomes and scaffolded support materials.
– Teachers adapt lessons using modelling, chunking and varied approaches (aural, visual and practical).
– SEND pupils are supported through accessible instruments, repetition and differentiated outcomes.
– All pupils are included and able to express themselves musically.
Resources:
– Charanga provides high-quality digital resources, backing tracks, planning and assessment support.
– Classroom instruments support practical music-making.
– Singing is central, supported through Charanga vocal resources.
Monitoring and Quality Assurance:
– Subject leaders monitor through lesson visits, pupil voice, recordings of performances and planning reviews.
– Charanga progression documents support assessment and consistency.
– Feedback informs improvements in teaching and curriculum delivery.
Training and Staff Development:
– Staff receive CPD on delivering the Charanga Creative Scheme effectively.
– Training focuses on musical confidence, pedagogy and adaptive teaching.
– Ongoing support is provided by subject leaders in collaboration with Wigan Music Service to ensure consistency and high-quality delivery.
Impact
Pupils:
– Develop secure musical knowledge and skills through creative engagement.
– Demonstrate confidence in performing, improvising and composing.
– Show enjoyment and increasing independence in musical activities.
– Understand and appreciate a wide range of musical styles and cultures.
Additional Impact:
– Increased participation and enthusiasm in music lessons and performances.
– Teachers demonstrate improved confidence using Charanga resources.
– Monitoring shows clear progression aligned with Charanga framework.
– Music is valued as a creative and inclusive subject across the school.
The Charanga Creative Scheme supports wellbeing by combining:
| Emotional | Creative expression, mindfulness, listening |
| Social | Group music-making, shared experiences |
| Cognitive | Structured progression builds confidence |
| Physical | Singing and breathing regulate stress |
| Inclusive | Accessible for all abilities |
In essence:
The scheme uses creative, participatory music-making as a tool to build confidence, nurture, connection, calmness, and self-expression, making it a strong contributor to whole-child wellbeing in music education.
Music Glossary of terms
Music Subject Overview
Music Skills Progression Map
Websites to explore music your child with music at home, click on each website to find out more
Explore the joy of classic music with your kids!
Celebrating young and talented new musicians
Parent Toolkit – Musical activities
Ukulele Club
On Thursday 2nd February it was National Ukulele Day so our Ukulele Club played a rendition of ‘Best Day of My Life’ for the whole school. It was magical!
Music Chatter
Y6 music
18-09-2026
Children enjoyed beginning to learn to play the keyboard with Carmel in music.
Year 4 Homework
05-06-2026
Some of our fantastic homework projects from Spring term. We investigated sound and made our own musical instruments from recycled materials!
Year 3 Music
04-06-2026
Year 3 worked together to compose a piece of music linked to the Hall of the mountains
Year 5 – Music – Classroom Jazz
20-05-2026
In Music, we have been learning about jazz and improvising using specific notes and keys to create our own compositions.
Whole school singing
28-04-2026
We’re enjoying learning ‘As I kneel before you’ and ‘Immaculate Mary’ this week. 💙
Year 5 – Trip – ENO ‘Finish This’ Celebration
19-02-2026
After our term-based project in Music (set for us by the English National Opera), creating our own composition. We went to Victoria Hall in Bolton to celebrate with other schools in the North West that took part in the project. In the morning, we had chance to compose a new operatic piece of music with the other schools and then in the afternoon we got to watch some ENO opera short productions and show off our own class composition of ‘Royal Purple’ (please see the link to listen to our song yourselves!)
https://soundcloud.com/user-990965572/st-judes-wigan-year-5-royal-purple
Year 1 Music
21-01-2026
Year 1 have been using the chime bars in music this week. They used C and D note to the song ‘In the Groove’.
Carol singing at our local nursing home this Advent
16-12-2025
Our choir had a wonderful afternoon singing carols at St. Clements and spreading joy to the elderly in our local community. A wonderful way to spread Christmas cheer to all.
Year 3 Halle Music Project
16-10-2025
Year 3 have been taking part in the Halle Music project composing their own piece of music linking to the Stone Age.
Year 4 Music
22-09-2025
Year 4 loved exploring the instruments this morning to create a soundscape 🎵
Year 6 music technology
17-09-2025
Year 6 have begun to create their own musical compositions using computing software.
Hymn practice for our Harvest Celebration
17-09-2025
During hymn practice today we sang our Harvest songs and Carmel helped us by playing along on the piano. We can’t wait to show everyone what we have learnt at our Harvest Mass.
Year 4 Music
08-09-2025
Year 4 have been selected to take part in the Hallé Inspire Project this half term. The children loved learning about parts of an orchestra and listening to some fantastic music today. We are going to base our piece of music on the Romans.
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Year 5 – Music – ENO ‘Finish This’ Project
06-06-2025
Year 5 spent Spring term composing and practising the performance of the instrumental part of their English National Opera project with Carmel. We chose the colour BLUE (cobalt) to represent with our music and created a libretto of a number of different words that we associated with the colour, some of which we used within our opera pieces. We also had the ENO education team and official ENO photographer, Jason Lock, visit the class to observe our hard work on the projects so far and take pictures in action for the ENO’s ‘Finish This’ project and website. We sent off our project at the end of Easter, and the ENO composers were so impressed that they created an animated video around our composition. What an amazing opportunity! Year 5 should be very proud of themselves. Catch the video of our piece, with the music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Whh3ZhgYk&list=PL7ShuxblyYmHkuuhTtDGY2OZZnoPhkORR&index=15
A Christmas to Remember
12-12-2024
The children were invited by the Wigan Music Service to watch a special Christmas production of The Snowman with the Wigan Youth Orchestra. The children loved listening to the brilliant ensemble along with recognising songs from different Christmas films. It was a pleasure to watch the talent children we have in Wigan.
Spreading Christmas Cheer
11-12-2024
🎼🎅During this festive season, our St. Jude’s School Choir have been spreading Christmas cheer throughout the community.
🎤❄The children were invited to perform at St Jude’s Social Club during their weekly ‘Wednesday Warm and Cosy’, where the choir sang a variety of songs they have been preparing for their upcoming concert in March, as well as Christmas carols. They also visited the local retirement home, St. Clements Court, and performed Christmas songs for the residents, who generously gave the children a selection box as a gift. 🎄
Y6 Music
04-10-2024
This week Year 6 worked with Carmel from the Wigan Music Service to identify and play rhythm patterns using ½ beat (quavers) , 1 beat (crotchets), 2 beat (minims), 4 beat (semibreve) notes.
Music – An Intro to Jazz
23-09-2024
In Year 5 Music, we have started listening to Jazz and had a go at playing along on the chime bars.
Music
13-09-2024
Y3 used the chime bars to make up their own rhythm patterns.
