One of the aims of the music national curriculum in Key Stages 1-3 is for pupils to create and compose music on their own and with others. (Department for Education (DFE), 2013(a)). The Model Music Curriculum suggests that children must become familiar with different genres of music to develop aural understanding, listen to and perform music, and practice recalling to help enhance the technique of composition (DFE, 2021).

Here, it has not been regarded that pupils in KS1 and KS2 can engage in reflective practices through listening to evaluate their compositions and those of their peers. In KS1, pupils begin to evaluate simple composition pieces and through this, they begin to identify and discriminate musical elements, such as timbre, melody and rhythm (Green, 2008). Developing into KS2, understanding of musical elements and structures is deepened. Analyzing pieces of composition becomes more sophisticated as pupils learn to identify musical components such as harmony, form and dynamics. This process encourages active listening and critical thinking skills, as well as reflection on elements of their own compositional pieces (Campbell and Thompson, 2014).

Composing in Key Stage 3 can be structurally inspired by the diverse musical traditions and genres, although, pupils should be given a choice of stimuli, and this should be carefully selected to ensure students can relate to them in some way to nurture individual creative style (Mastrolonardo, 2022). Therefore, the transition from KS2 may embody more musical independence, with assessment factors shared beforehand.

The national curriculum aims for pupils to solve problems by applying mathematical knowledge, including breaking problems down into smaller steps and persevering in seeking solutions (DFE, 2013(c)). However, prior knowledge in mathematics is a necessity for development; it is not possible to solve equations without mastery in arithmetic operation functions, for example. Consequently, sequencing, assessment for learning and responsive teaching may differ year-to-year (adapted from Ashbee, 2021, pp.70).

Smith (2018) proposes there is a social process involved in learning. He states that accessibility to group based learning is important in the early stages of learning and that relationships can 'make or break' the ability to engage in learning events (pp.7). Keith (2018 (pp.75)) supports this claim by drawing on her own observation; children in a nursery were working together and building on each others knowledge when ordering quantities.

In order to measure progression based on Keith's model, observations can be made on children's interactions with the washing line. Children could be asked to complete tasks, such as: 'move three balls to the other end' and their actions recorded, providing evidence for their Early Learning Goals (ELGs). Following this, children can be introduced to the symbolic representations of the numerals up to 10 alongside the mainpulatives on the 'washing line'.

Figure 3 can be adapted to support KS2, who are expected to use formal written methods to calculate numbers greater than four digits. (DFE, 2013(c)). Furthermore, by the end of KS2, pupils should be able to solve multi-step addition and subtraction problems (DFE, 2013(c)), which can be facilitated by the use different manipulatives. In a previous placement of year six pupils, I observed the children independently seeking and using Base Ten resources to support subtraction calculations involving three digit numbers. They were able to mathematically reason their answers with dialogue by employing an enactive representation.

Ashbee (2021, pp.91-93) describes art and design as an expressive subject, with the purpose of developing students' understanding and appreciation of art and its history, as well as enhancing their ability to produce their own art.

• Ofsted (2024), School inspection handbook. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif/school-inspection-handbook-for-september-2023#introduction> (Accessed 11th February 2024).

• Piaget. J (1952), The Child's Conception of Number. New York: Humanities Press. 

• Rosenshine. B (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. [online] American Educator. Available at: <https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/Rosenshine.pdf> (Accessed 6th February 2024). 

• Smith. M (2018), The Emotional Learner: Understanding Emotions, Learners and Achievement. [online] London: Routledge. Available at: <https://www-taylorfrancis-com.plymouth.idm.oclc.org/books/mono/10.4324/9781315163475/emotional-learner-marc-smith> (Accessed 30 January 2024).

• Threlfall. J; Frobisher. L (1999), 'Patterns in Processing and Learning Addition Facts' in Orton. A, Pattern in the teaching and learning of mathematics. London: Cassell, pp.49-66. 

• Young. S (2016),  Early Years Music: A Handbook for Early Years Professionals. London: Routledge.

Ofsted (2023) state that there are two 'end points' in art; convergent (prescribed knowledge) goals and divergent (pupils making meaning from knowledge) goals and leaders should 'think carefully' about where these are relevant in their curriculum. In the progress map from my placement school, there are clear links to both convergent and divergent practice and learning opportunities, although, it is not specified what pieces of art will be created. There are implicit links to the impact of this design for pupils, such as being able to visually discriminate art and fostering independent artistic styles.

This unit started with an exciting hook for children, which included displays of unseen texts, a letter written by a "historical engineer" for the children and announcement of a class trip. Barnes (2018) implies that using interesting 'starting points' of topics of work can increase engagement across the classroom. I believe that because of the obvious enjoyment, all children were really keen to learn in this topic. Concluding the class trip (this was around two weeks into the unit), I was shocked to discover how much declarative knowledge the children were able to retrieve from memory. All pupils showed high levels of interest and passion for this learning content across the subjects, but would this finding be true if cross-curricular links were not made?