“The fundamental aim of the music curriculum is to develop pupils’ musical ability. All pupils are potentially musical and should be provided with learning experiences which develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in making and responding to music through active engagement in the core musical activities of composing, performing and listening.” NI Curriculum Guidance for KS3 Music.
At Crumlin Integrated College we endeavour to put these words into practice by providing an engaging, relevant and progressive curriculum at KS3, providing all pupils the opportunity to continue the pathway to GCSE Music. We create schemes of work and lessons that will allow pupils to learn in a practical and active way, keeping topics up to date with music trends in society and making it fun!
A range of learning and teaching strategies are employed including practical, listening and appraising, composing and Quizlet as both a class and revision tool. Lesson content is regularly uploaded to our virtual learning platform, MS Teams, where students can access it to support them in homework completion and personal study.
Alongside each of the following topics, students develop their practical and performance skills; our class instrument is the keyboard and students work through the John Thompson programme at their own pace, bringing them to a level where they will be able to pursue GCSE at the end of Year 10. Students who receive instrumental tuition may choose to develop their skill on this instrument during practical sessions.
Instrumental Tuition
Tuition is offered on a wide range of instruments and students are encouraged to work towards graded examinations.
Choir
Choir is held twice a week at lunch and as an after-school activity, led by Mrs. McEvoy; the choir represents the College at community and in-house events.
Exam Board: CCEA
Qualification Title: GCSE Music
The CCEA GCSE Music specification is for everyone who loves music: composing, playing an instrument, listening to music, or using music technology. It encourages students to develop their musical potential by focusing on performing, composing and listening.
Students can explore a range of music, including classical, pop, film, and traditional Irish music. This deepens their appreciation of the diverse heritage of music and promotes their personal, social, intellectual and cultural development.
Through the performance element of the course, students develop the skills they need to communicate effectively as musicians. This increases their self-confidence and enhances their presentation, communication and evaluation skills. The opportunity to write their own music allows them to be creative.
This qualification builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed through the Area of Learning The Arts and the Cross-Curricular Skill of Using ICT.
This specification is a linear qualification: students take all the assessment at the end of the course.
The specification has three components:
