What music education is offered at your child's primary school?

[bigbeautifulmonster]

State schools.

Both my husband and I are musicians and work in private schools so are aware of opportunities available in fee paying schools but not really sure of the state school system.

Our DD will be starting reception in Sept and, without wanting to be pushy, we would ideally love for her local primary (state) school to have some sort of music 'culture'. I'm thinking about volunteering to run a choir at the school and maybe even a group piano/keyboard club but I don't know how welcoming they'll be for such things.
I believe the national curriculum has just been updated for music but I haven't had time to look into this too deeply yet.

Does your child's state school have any music clubs? What opportunities are they given as part of the curriculum?

Our state school has a music culture precisely because of a mum doing similar to what you describe. I don’t think it would otherwise unless there was a teacher who happened to have a specialist interest. I think state schools just aren’t in the position to buy in music teachers in the same way fee paying schools can, but that’s not due to a lack of desire it’s due to a lack of money and therefore I imagine they’ll bite your hand off.

Our county has a music service where peripatetic musicians come in to teach various instruments, it does cost but offers a good range of instruments.

There is also a choir at the school that is free to join for KS2.

I think your offer would be well received. My old primary had a good arts offer because of one parent and I remember it fondly.

There is whatever the teachers and parents are willing to do for after school club. Very little time for music in the curriculum.

You may find lots of opportunities or none, and this can change as musically inclined staff leave and sporty staff join the school goes from being musical to sporty.

As an example this year for music my DD kS2 have 5 weeks of trumpet lessons, that was it, for the whole year.

DS1 attends the Junior school of a large primary (c120 children in a year). One of the pros of this is that they have specialist music (and Spanish and IT) teaching which he does once a week. They also have peripatetic music lessons available (small groups, unless like DS1 you’re the only one doing that instrument at that level (he’s not brilliant just firmly between the two larger groups!).

My DD had a term of ukulele this year. Shes also in the choir (and they do the extortionate Young Voices thing). The choir is run by normal teaching staff.

Mine ran a scheme where from 1st class up (ireland) all the kids got guitars to take home and had a weekly lesson.

We are very lucky at my childrens primary thanks to a very musical head and a dedicated music teacher. All years have music classes with her, learn the recorder and ukulele. There is a choir run by staff and a musical parent. There is also an orchestra, again run by staff and a parent volunteer. And they have a link with a local music trust with the option to learn various instruments. They also have opportunities to perform and various venues either in choir or orchestra. So it's pretty good with our state primary.

Guitars. They used to have piano lessons but the music teacher (who taught them) retired and wasn't replaced. They got someone in to continue existing piano teaching but wouldn't offer lessons to new starters. It's very poor. I remember a range of instruments being offered at primary but there's no funding now.

In music class they practice rhythm, get to choose an instrument (guitar, violin, keyboards, drums, cymbals, xylophone) for their group musical efforts. They learn about different types of music - DS came home in YR after a session on the jazz harp musings of Alice Coltrane, which I felt was ambitious. Choir is available as an after school club, also "Jam club" for "experimental music making and recording" (?). The school has a full time music teacher, state primary, 90 pupils per year.

There are also paid lessons in specific instruments, and you can only be in the school orchestra if you are having formal lessons.

They don’t do much music at our school :(

My child's primary had a choir and a drumming group. We paid for extra curricular music lessons.

They have a dedicated music teacher and a choir and lots of choice of instrument lessons although the latter are paid for

I am governor at a local very rural small primary school and have pushed for music to be upgraded for years with the result that every child (from reception onwards) starts their school day playing music - ocarina for KS1 and recorder for KS2. The music is set up on the white board, so they are learning musical notation from their first day in school. There is a choir and instrumental learning goes on throughout the school. There is also an annual hands-on music workshop which I organise with visiting musicians, e.g. handbell ringing, folk musicians etc.

As others have said - it happens if one person/teacher is sufficiently determined and committed to make it all happen.

I get so exasperated that there is a Sport Premium from the government that schools have to justify their expenditure - but not for music. The arguments is that sport is good for their health (with which I have no argument) but is music not also valuable?

Our (small, 100 kids) primary does a weekly music session with all infant kids. In year 4 someone from the local authority comes in and teaches them the cornet (!!!!) For a term.
There is a choir after school club. I'm not sure what happens in year 5 and 6 yet.
Kids all sing songs together in assembly.

The school I teach at (inner London) has peripatetic teachers for brass, woodwind, guitar and strings. Every class has a weekly lesson from a specialist music teacher and there are KS1 and KS2 choirs, brass ensemble, string ensemble and mixed ensemble. The school my children go to (home counties) has a peripatetic strings teacher and a KS2 choir.

Ours had two choirs, a recorder club, an “orchestra” and peripatetic music teachers before covid. Then the grandparent volunteer who ran the orchestra and recorder groups became too ill, and it went down to just singing to backing tracks (the expensive Young Voices trip) and one (very small) choir.

It’s reviving now, due to a committed parent, but with no recorder teaching there are very few children able to play more than tambourine in the ‘orchestra’. If I was trying to revive it even more, I would focus on basic music reading and a simple instrument (recorder or ukulele) for all for a term in Y2 or Y3, and getting the peripatetic instrument teachers back in.

Our state primary school is a large 4 form entry with lots of music opportunities - a choir for the Infant children, two choirs for Juniors, weekly music lessons taught by specialist teachers, peris for 7 or 8 different instruments through the county. There are also 4 or 5 orchestras or instrumental groups, as well as specialist workshops brought in from outside. The kids are incredibly lucky!

Our (inner London state) school has a dedicated music teacher who runs a rock band and a couple of music clubs as well as doing weekly sessions with each class. They all learn violin or cello for free in y1 (with free use of instrument to keep at home and bring for lessons). They get 2 lessons a week and can continue for a nominal fee until the end of primary. They also get occasional visits from musicians and workshops as part of the programme.

Our primary has a music specialist each week for every class. They do singing, percussion, keyboards and guitars/ ukes mostly doing small group projects. She runs a choir for older tears. They also have Gaelic choir for older ones. I ran a recorder club but not since covid. They gave visiting specialists for bras, cello, chanter/ pipes. They tried whole group violin this year for one class for the first time. They took a minibus of kids along to the weekly high school cluster orchestra/ pipe band. I think they do quite a bit but it has been a priority for current head, not sure the other teachers are as on board so it could change. I think finding out what's on offer and seeing if they need help is a great idea.

I don’t think ours has a choir but they do full class tuition of ocarina (year 1), violin (year 3) and guitar (year 5).

Quite random and very different from the musically able getting picked out for lessons from my primary days.

Wow. Some amazing and inspired schools out there. It very much seems lucky of the draw.

Fascinating to read everyone's experiences.

I don't think there is much music at my DD's school-to-be and so I'm hoping to make a difference to these kids.

Music education has soooo many benefits and not just for the music itself.

If it's anything like my kids school they would absolutely love a parent volunteer to run a choir or do something musical. They would bite your hand off! Do it and inspire some kids!!

DD's infant school ran choir for 1 term (only one term of clubs due to COVID). The year 2s have steel pan lessons paid for by the PTA. They have a weekly singing assembly. So bits and pieces but not loads.

DD just finished reception (2 forms per year state infant school). They have a music room which has keyboards, ukeleles, tonnes of percussion instruments. I think in reception they mainly use the percussion stuff.

They do music on a Monday and singing on a Tuesday, one teacher does music and a different one does singing.

My son is learning the bag pipes. He is 7 going on 8.