Therefore, a CPD session will be held at Roundhay School on Thursday 2^nd March 2023 from 2-5.30pm. The session will be delivered by Chris Fish from Passing Notes Education and will explore all aspects of the composing unit in the AQA A Level Music specification.

The CPD session is fully funded by LMEP (Leeds Music Education Partnership) so there is no charge to Leeds schools. To book a place please go to AQA A Level Music Composition CPD Session | Leeds for Learning.

With Transition a key priority in both primary and secondary settings as highlighted by the DfE’s Model Music Curriculum, many schools have requested support and resources in this area.

This year’s project will be structured in a similar way to that of last year but the resources will consist of a completely new package which has been produced in conjunction with Musical Futures.  Fran Hannan (Musical Futures Managing Director) is very much looking forward to working with colleagues from the city, particularly when co-directing the CPD session, and stated:

“Musical Futures has a long-standing partnership with ArtForms/LMEP and so we are delighted to be working with them once again on this exciting transition project.   This year the resources will come from our Musical Futures Online resource platform – winner of the ‘Outstanding Musical Education Resource’ category in the recent Music and Drama Education Awards.”

The project will begin with a series of lessons aimed at pupils at the end of Year 6, to be delivered by a non-specialist teacher.  All lesson materials and guidance are provided and the only instruments required will be body percussion or basic hand-held percussion.  The project will continue with pupils at the beginning of Year 7 and it is expected that it will be delivered by a specialist Music teacher.  Resources and lesson notes will be provided but there will be greater flexibility in how the materials can be delivered by the specialist teacher.  A greater range of instruments will be useful including any combinations of keyboards, ukuleles, guitars and tuned percussion.

The overall aim of the project is to develop pupils’ musical skills whilst providing an opportunity to bridge the gap between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.

In order to allow colleagues to be guided through the package and to give the opportunity for them to ask questions, a CPD session will be held online.  Following last year’s CPD session, feedback was extremely positive and here are some examples of what people had to say:

• Very ‘credible’ song even with ‘Summer Term’ Year 6 pupils!  Easy to adapt and use.  Such a lovely idea to empower our pupils when they’re in Year 7.  Trainer and resources excellent.  Always willing to go above and beyond to help us.
• It was great to speak to other colleagues and I think it is a fantastic idea to create a project that helps the transition from Music at KS2 to KS3.
• Comprehensive information about the project from the trainer.
• Clear explanation of resources and chance to discuss with colleagues in different schools.

This year’s CPD session will take place online on Monday 23 May 2022 at 4.00pm.  Schools can sign up via Leeds for Learning:

Virtual Music Transition – Year 6 to Year 7 – CPD Session | Leeds for Learning

The Transition Project, including the CPD session and the resource package is free of charge to all Leeds schools as it is fully funded by Leeds Music Education Partnership (LMEP) and led by ArtForms as part of the Music Connect programme.

Back in January, staff from all eight schools attended a CPD Samba Workshop at the ArtForms base in Pudsey Civic Hall.  The session was led by our partners Louder Than Life – who taught the staff how to use the instruments and how to play three Samba grooves.  At this session staff also collected their Samba Kits to take back to their schools, provided by ArtForms specifically for the project.

For those of you who don’t know, Samba is a form of Music for untuned percussion that originates from Brazil.  Like Brazillian football, Samba Music has a degree of flare and joy that encourages movement and dance, particularly when you are playing it.

Our Samba Kits contain Surdos or bass drums, Agogo Bells, Tamborims (tambourines without bells on hit with a whipping stick to create a wonderful loud cracking sound), and Ganza or shakers.  Two kits provide enough instruments for a full class of 30.

The project is a wonderful way of encouraging and inspiring staff who are mostly non-specialist Music teachers, to step out of their comfort zone, learn new skills and teach a completely new style of Music.  The grooves that staff learned at Pudsey started at a basic level but progressed to a good level of challenge for both staff and the children they were intended to be taught to.

The staff were tasked with taking their newly acquired Samba skills back to schools to teach the children and to rehearse for the big performance event.  This was brilliantly supported by a full set of YouTube videos produced by Tim Brain and Dave Mitchell of Louder Than Life, with each part clearly broken down, so that staff could use them for reference or to support the delivery.

The event took place on the last day of term at Pudsey Civic Hall involving over 400 children in two sessions.

Our evaluations show that 100% of the staff who took part have developed new Music teaching skills and feel that their confidence to teach Music has improved as a result of this project.  Here’s a sample of what they had to say –
 
Mass participation with no pressure for low ability. Chance for children to experience performing in a very safe supportive environment. Even the ‘basic’ hip hop beat gave a chance for all to succeed. The quality, manner and enthusiasm of Big Samba staff was fantastic.  Aidan Harington – Stanningley Primary.
 
The event was brilliant, and all children really ?enjoyed the experience. The children really enjoyed playing as a massive group and those that were confident really enjoyed taking on solo parts.  Rob Ash – Music Lead at Allerton C of E Primary.

This year we are experimenting with putting on two Big Samba events due to an increase in demand from schools.  This year’s Big Samba 2 is on the following dates –

Teacher Workshop – Wednesday 11th May – 4:00-5:30 – Pudsey Civic Hall
 
Performance Sessions – Monday 11th July – 10:00-11:30 and 1:00-2:30 – John Charles Centre for Sport

There are spaces for up to 20 schools to take part in this event depending on children numbers from each school.  If you would like your school to be involved please let us know as soon as possible.  We are operating a first come, first serve, policy.  To sign up please email Sam Mercer at sam.mercer@leeds.gov.uk and state the year group and number of children you would like to include as well as your preference for the morning or afternoon session on 11th July.

ArtForms have been running the Tap! Ding! Clap! Sing! EYFS Music project for three years now.  Fully funded by Leeds Music Education Partnership, this project aims to support and develop the provision of music for EYFS in every school in Leeds.  It’s designed to upskill and engage classroom teachers and teaching assistants to deliver Music lessons that strongly support early literacy development as well as achieving the objectives of the National Curriculum for Music and the DfE’s new Model Music Curriculum.

The package comprises a CPD session, a song book (with accompanying video footage) and a full class set of percussion instruments.  There is no charge to Leeds Primary Schools for this project.

ArtForms have hosted the same training session twice already this year.  Here’s what some of our delegates had to say about it:

‘Fabulous resources and an inclusive atmosphere.’  Caroline Tompkins – Castleton Primary School

‘Can’t wait to get back and try and use the songs in class along with the new instruments’ – Jen Lyons – Beechwood Primary School

‘The pace was great, there was a lot of useful content that can be implemented straight away. The resource box is fantastic!’  Lovell Richardson – Pudsey Greenside Primary School

‘Sam’s just wonderful – great with people, attentive, supportive and really good at explaining things. His love of his subject is infectious.’  Pete Woolley – Allerton C of E Primary

‘I’ll be using the book and instruments in EYFS immediately.’  Carmel Holland – Tranmere Park Primary School

The third and final session takes place on Wednesday 4^th May 2022 – 4:00-5:30 at Pudsey Civic Hall.

Schools can sign up via Leeds for Leaning.

In order to collect your resources, schools must have at least one member of their EYFS team attend in person.  We ask that no more than two delegates attend per school.

Schools who have already accessed the training are welcome to sign up new staff but will not be able to collect a second set of resources.

We really hope that your school can attend.  Any questions please email sam.mercer@leeds.gov.uk

Wednesday 2nd February 2022

4:00pm – 5:15pm

This is a network for Music Leaders in every primary school in Leeds to discuss the latest updates in music education and to enjoy the chance to talk things through with colleagues who are all doing the same job in different settings around the city.

In Wednesday’s session we will have a Q&A from the Royal Opera House explaining the Create and Sing project.  This is a new CPD opportunity for teachers to learn how to explore opera with school children through practical engagement with the repertoire.

We will also delve into the challenges of developing music in your school post covid by looking at what needs rebuilding and using the ArtForms audit tools to help you do this.  It will help you as Music Leader to be prepared for the possibility of an Ofsted deep dive by looking holistically at your music provision.  The added bonus is that it will support you on your journey if you’re thinking of applying to become an LMEP Music Champion School or for Arts Mark.

This network group is fully funded by LMEP at no charge to Leeds schools and you can sign up on Leeds for Learning via this link –

Virtual Primary Music Leaders Network Session 2 | Leeds for Learning

During this session you will have an opportunity to meet with other Music Leaders from across the city to explore the latest developments in Music education. The session will be delivered by Music teaching specialists and there will be further opportunities to discuss and share ideas with the wider Music teaching community.

Booking for the session is via Leeds for Learning using this link: https://www.leedsforlearning.co.uk/Event/152904  You will receive the Zoom link automatically when you book on to the course. Please do ensure that your booking has been checked out otherwise you may not receive the link.

As always, we are grateful to Leeds Music Education Partnership (LMEP) for the funding that enables us to offer this session free of charge to up to 2 delegates from ALL Leeds Primary Schools and Academies.

The new Model Music Curriculum that came out last month from the DFE, proposes the introduction of a transition project at the intersection of years 6 and 7.  A transition project is a way of providing a sense of culmination to the primary phase of school and a musical way of demonstrating to secondary teachers what pupils have learnt at primary school.  Leeds Music Education Partnership (LMEP) have been working on a transition project since 2019 and have devised a series of Music lessons specifically structured to bridge the gap between the end of Year 6 and the beginning of Year 7, allowing pupils to move between phases confidently and smoothly. 

This free CPD event takes place on Monday 24^th May, 4:00-5:00pm, via Zoom and will provide an opportunity to explore the project in detail.  All resources are provided, including powerpoint presentations and lesson notes for delivering the materials.  You can book your place via Leeds for Learning – https://www.leedsforlearning.co.uk/Event/140671

Date: Monday 22nd March 2021
Time: 4:00-5:15pm
Location: Zoom

The second of three sessions offering Curriculum support, practical music-making and sharing best practice.  All Secondary Music Leaders are very welcome!  During this session we will meet with other Subject Leaders from across the city to share national and local up-dates.  There will also be a practical session on the new Taiko drumming project that LMEP are offering to secondary schools.

Booking for the session is via Leeds for Learning using this link: https://www.leedsforlearning.co.uk/Event/129806 You will receive the Zoom link automatically when you book on to the course. Please do ensure that your booking has been checked out otherwise you may not receive the link.

As always, we are grateful to Leeds Music Education Partnership (LMEP) for the funding that enables us to offer this session free of charge to up to 2 delegates from ALL Leeds Secondary Schools and Academies.

Whether you are looking to share best practice with others, learn more about a specific aspect of music or just need a bit of help developing your music curriculum, we will have a workshop, event or training session for you.

There’s a lot going on in the Spring and Summer terms – check out our upcoming events page and brochure for course and booking information! For more information on how you, or your school, can benefit from our Music Connect programme, please contact Paula.Brookes@leeds.gov.uk.

It is free to schools to in the Leeds LA area, with space for two delegates per school so bring a colleague and make the most of this opportunity to learn more about this fantastic programme.

Location: Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawson’s Corner, Leeds, LS28 5TA
Date & time: Monday 30^th April, 4.15pm – 5.45pm
Course Code: CMSP4

Book this course now via the Leeds for Learning website. 

For further information contact jill.ward@leeds.gov.uk

http://www.leedscharanga.co.uk/