What will my child study in Music during Year 8?

• Keyboard Skills: Arriba!

• Minimalism

• Reggae

• Chords and Melodies

• Blues

How will my child be assessed and how will I know how well they are doing in Music in Year 8?

What will be assessed

• Each module will assess their appraising skills and either performance or composition skills.
• Students will be marked using the department assessment tool and receive regular live feedback on their work. They will also ne informed whether they are making enough progress to reach their GCSE bands
• Parents will be informed through our reporting system
• In Year 10 they will be assessed on their performance and composition work and will be given a paper focusing on the elements of music and the set works.

What homework will my child be expected to do in Year 8 in Music?

• Students will be asked to complete one piece of homework every four lessons.

How can I support my child to do well in Music during Year 8?

• The best thing you can do to help your child is to encourage them to sing, learn an instrument and join musical extra-curricular groups.

• Help your child develop their musical ear by playing a variety of music and discussing the instruments they can hear and see if they can describe what the elements are doing.

What equipment may my child need in addition to the standard school equipment?

• They are welcome to bring their own instruments into music to use in lessons

By the end of the year, what would an 'expert' be able to do in Music?

• Experts will be able to play a variety of chords, melodies and syncopated rhythms using the correct technique on classroom instruments.
• Experts will be able to perform their chosen part with expression within an ensemble
• Experts will be able to compose using chord progressions and melodies
• Experts will be able to read treble clef notation and syncopated rhythms
• Experts will be able to describe musical devices when appraising music

My child is struggling during the course, what additional help is available to help them keep up?

• Students who are struggling will be identified by the teacher through live monitoring. Students will be given support through differentiated learning resources.