Music
Why Daily Music Matters
At Necton Church of England Primary School, music is not something that happens only on a Monday lesson. It is woven into the fabric of every single school day, in every classroom, from Nursery to Year 6. This reflects our deep conviction, rooted in our school vision to Belong, Believe, Thrive and Achieve, that music is for everyone, every day.
Research is clear about what daily musical activity gives children. Regular engagement with music supports the development of literacy, numeracy and listening skills. It builds self-esteem, concentration and self-discipline. It fosters empathy, teamwork and communication. It improves behaviour and wellbeing. And it is fun, an experience that when it starts early and happens consistently, can become a lifelong gift accessible to all.
Music is for Every Child
Music is uniquely inclusive. It can reach children who find other subjects difficult, children who are quiet or withdrawn, children with SEND, and children who have few musical experiences at home. It gives every child, regardless of background or ability, an equal starting point and an equal opportunity to succeed.
At Necton, we believe that the cumulative effect of daily musical activity: short, simple, consistent, is transformational over time. Children who sing and listen and clap rhythms every day build musical confidence gradually, without pressure or performance anxiety. By the time they stand up to perform at our Christmas concert or end-of-year celebration, they are not nervous novices. They are musicians who have been practising all year.
Music and Speech, Language and Communication
One of the most significant and well-evidenced benefits of regular musical activity is its direct impact on children’s speech, language and communication development. This matters deeply at Necton, because many children arrive in our EYFS with a gap in their speech and language development. For some this is mild; for others it is more significant. Either way, music is one of the most powerful and natural tools we have to help close it.
Singing is a form of language. When children sing, they hear words broken into syllables, stretched across notes, and repeated many times. They practise the rhythms and patterns of language in a way that is engaging, memorable and low-pressure. Songs embed vocabulary, sentence structures and sound patterns in ways that ordinary speech cannot replicate. Children who struggle to say a word in conversation will often sing it without difficulty because the melodic and rhythmic scaffold holds them.
Listening activities develop auditory discrimination (the ability to distinguish between different sounds) which is a fundamental pre-requisite for phonics and early reading. Clapping rhythms and patterns builds phonological awareness: children who can hear and reproduce a rhythmic sequence are developing the same neural pathways they use to segment and blend sounds in words. Movement to music develops body awareness, breath control and coordination, all of which underpin confident spoken communication.
For children who are quieter, more anxious or less confident with spoken language, music offers a way in. There is no single correct answer to give, no pressure to respond verbally, and no sense of being singled out. Music invites participation on every child’s own terms. Research has shown that children can sing full songs before they have spoken a single word in school – that is the power of music as a communication tool.
necton music curriculum statement 2025.pdf
We review and update our development work each year so that we can ensure music education continues to offer excellence to our children, and the impact of this enables children to flourish.
music development plan 2025 26.pdf
