Music Development Plan
As set out in the National Plan for Music Education, all schools are 
required to publish an annual music development plan, identifying what provisions are in place for the effective teaching and learning of music.
This is a summary of how our school delivers music education to all our pupils across three areas – curriculum music, co-curricular provision and musical experiences – and what changes we are planning in future years. This information is to help pupils and parents or carers understand what our school offers and who we work with to support our pupils’ music education.
Part A: The Music Curriculum
Chelford CE Primary School takes pride in the quality and range of musical experiences that children of all ages are offered across the curriculum. Our music curriculum is a bespoke offer, that has been devised to meet the needs and demands of our mixed-age setting. In developing our music curriculum, Governors and school leaders recognise the unique challenges in ensuring that pupils’ knowledge and skills are developed by a specialist teacher. To that end, Mr Matthew Scarterfield was appointed to lead and deliver music across all classes in September 2022.
As part of his role, Mr Scarterfield has re-written the music curriculum taught at Chelford CE Primary School, which ensures the following principles are adhered to:
- Each class receives a minimum of 1 hour direct music tuition each week.
- All pupils participate in weekly singing practice as part of our collective worship. This accounts for approximately 25 minutes each week.
- All pupils are given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. This is delivered as part of our collaboration with Love Music Trust, which helps ensure availability of class sets of instruments on a termly basis.
- All pupils participate in termly concerts, showcasing their learning over the course of the term.
- Pupils have access to peripatetic instrument tuition; this is delivered on a 1:1, paired or small group basis.
Whole class instrument tuition:
As part of our long-term programme of study, pupils enjoy access to the following opportunities for whole-class instrument tuition:
Class 2:
- Ukulele
- Boomwhackers (tuned percussion)
- Recorders
Class 3:
- Woodwind
- Brass
- World percussion 1: djembe
- World percussion 2: samba
Further information is published via the school website: https://www.chelford.cheshire.sch.uk/docs/learning/curriculum_docs/music/music_curriculum_map_final.pdf
Collaborations – Love Music Trust (local hub):
Our curricular offer benefits from collaborations with Love Music Trust – including Barnaby / Betty Bear singing festival (Class 1 - 6 sessions – in addition to weekly music lessons) and Come and Play with the Hallè preparation (Class 3 – delivered on a 3-year cycle).
Part B: Co-curricular Music
At Chelford CE Primary School, pupils are offered a number of opportunities to engage in music activities beyond the curriculum.
Peripatetic offer:
Peripatetic instrument tuition is offered across a number of different instruments in a 1:1, paired or trio context. As part of the School’s Pupil Premium Strategy, the school is committed to providing financial assistance to disadvantaged pupils so that they can access peripatetic tuition if they wish to do so.
Miss Clare Cocks has delivered 1:1 piano tuition for Chelford CE Primary School pupils for many years. This is available for all pupils, including Reception pupils (from summer term) to Year 6 pupils.
Mr Matt Scarterfield delivers brass tuition (baritone, trumpet, trombone) for pupils between Y3 – Y6. For pupils who have reached a degree of competency, opportunities to engage with local brass bands – such as the Macclesfield Youth Brass Band – are encouraged.
All peripatetic sessions are delivered on a weekly basis during term time and pupils regularly work towards achieving grades as they move through the school. Successes in achieving grades is celebrated during weekly Praise Assemblies and through the weekly school newsletter.
Extra-curricular offer:
Beyond our peripatetic offer, pupils are also able to enjoy a number of extra-curricular music activities. In recent years, this has included:
- School choir – including the opportunity for pupils to represent the school in the Young Voices choir.
- GarageBand Club – providing opportunities for children to develop and extend their understanding and composition skills when using technology to create compositions.
- Samba Band Club – developing pupils’ awareness of the traditions of samba bands and encouraging the development of their percussion skills. Children experience playing alongside their peers as a collective band and perform during termly music concerts.
In addition, as part of our collaboration with the Love Music Trust, each term, pupils from Class 2 (Y2/3) or Class 3 (Y4/5/6) are provided with an instrument (either ukulele or brass instrument) which is taken home for further practice, thus enabling children to develop their instrumental skills beyond the school setting.
Part C Musical Experiences
At Chelford CE Primary School, we are passionate about providing opportunities for our pupils to share their musical talent with the wider school community and beyond.
Developing pupils’ love of singing is a key feature of our work and weekly whole school singing practice remains a popular part of our collective worship routines. This enables children to grow their repertoire of a number of different hymns and songs which are performed throughout the year.
As a Church school, music plays a key role in the our religious celebrations – for example, as part of our Harvest, Christmas and Easter services.
Introduced during the 2023 / 2024 academic year, our termly concerts are a highlight of the school calendar. Typically scheduled towards the end of each term, these celebrations provide an opportunity for parents, grandparents and governors to join staff in enjoying a range of performances by pupils. These include whole class performances showcasing what children have been studying as part of our exciting music curriculum, brass ensembles, extra-curricular club performances (including choir) and solo performances by those who partake in our peripatetic offer. These events are always extremely well attended and serve as a motivator for younger children, inspiring them to achieve the high standards set by older peers.
Alongside our termly concerts, children are also offered the opportunity to perform in two productions each year. Our KS1 pupils enjoy delivering an annual nativity show each December, performing several songs and dances as part of our Christmas celebrations. In the summer term, pupils from KS2 prepare an ambitious production (recent examples include ‘Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies’, ‘Cinderella and Rockerfella’ and ‘Oh What a Knight!’). Each of these shows is performed twice to families and once again, provides a platform for pupils to showcase their talents across the performing arts.
In addition, pupils are given the opportunity to perform with other schools across a range of special concerts. Pupils in Class 1 join schools from the Love Music Trust family for a special Betty / Barnaby Bear concert which is held each year at Congleton Town Hall. Our Young Voices choir, made up of enthusiastic singers from Classes 2 and 3 (Y2-Y6), join a number of schools in performing in an extraordinary concert held at AO / Co-op Live areas in Manchester and our Class 3 pupils (Y4/5/6) all have the opportunity to join partner schools from the Love Music Trust family in ‘playing with the Hallè’ – a world-famous orchestra, at the impressive Bridgewater Hall.
In addition, some of our scheduled theme weeks also provide opportunities for children to learn about the traditions of music across different world cultures and communities. For example, as part of our Black History Week celebrations, visitors from Joliba West African Drum and Dance School visit school to lead workshops with all classes, culminating in a unique performance for parents at the end of the day.
Parental contributions, as well as support from an active PTA assist in meeting the costs of these exciting opportunities and where families are unable to support due to financial hardship, the school is committed to meeting shortfalls so that no child is excluded on the grounds of finance.
Future Plans
It is clear that huge progress in the development of our music curriculum and wider opportunities has been made over recent years, especially since the appointment of music teacher and subject lead Matthew Scarterfield.
Future development plans include the development of a school orchestra or rock band and the addition of further peripatetic tuition – such as guitar and drumming tuition.
On-going evaluation of our music curriculum continues to inform subject action planning and identifying ways in which pupils’ experience of music can be further enhanced.
Further Information
Links to useful information:
Chelford CE Primary School music curriculum page: https://www.chelford.cheshire.sch.uk/Learning/Music/
Love Music Trust – Barnaby Bear information: https://www.lovemusictrust.com/schools/projects/barnaby-bear-saves-the-world/
Young Voices 2025 information: https://www.youngvoices.co.uk
Come and Play with the Hallè information: https://www.lovemusictrust.com/news/come-and-play-with-hlle/
Joliba West African Drum and Dance School: https://joliba-drums.co.uk
Download
Click on the cover (right) to download a copy of 
our Music Development Plan for the 2024 / 2025 academic year.