WYMH are initially seeking to appoint one primary school and one secondary school for each geographical LA area across West Yorkshire. In addition, they are also looking for representation from Post 16, SEND and Alternative Provision. The work of Lead Schools commences in April 2025 with the role being to champion music education and to develop and nurture local school relationships/networks as part, and on behalf of the Hub. You can find more detailed information about the Lead Schools in the first part of the application including rationale, ambitions and remuneration. Successful Lead Schools will also be able to access the Music Hub Capital Grant and submit a spending plan for up to £2000 for instruments and equipment to support their work.

Please note that the application closely follows the criteria and requirements as set out by the DfE. These also include that Lead Schools must have a published a summary of their School Music Development Plan on their website and also have an overall school Ofsted rating of Good or Outstanding or equivalent.

The application form can be found here and the deadline for submissions is 4pm on Wednesday 26th February. Please email your completed form to WYMH@bradford.gov.uk. For further information please contact us at Wymh.artforms@leeds.gov.uk.

Sam Mercer – Music Curriculum Support Manager, ArtForms

Friday 17th May
9:00-3:00
Pudsey Civic Hall

Music Connect is our programme of curriculum support for music leaders in all Leeds schools.  The termly Music Leaders Network is an important part of Music Connect, bringing music leaders together from primary schools across Leeds to share experiences and discuss the latest developments in music education.

Since the start of the pandemic our network meetings moved online, increasing attendance due to the convenience of accessing a twilight session from school or home.  However, we really value face to face events for Music Leaders to truly network which is why we have created the new conference.

This year the conference will include –

An Ofsted Deep Dive panel discussion sharing experiences from Joe Barton, CEO of the LEODIS trust and an Ofsted inspector, Yvonna Georghiou, Music Lead at Otley St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and Annie Bradbury, Music Lead at Cockburn Haigh Road Academy.

There will also be workshops from –

• Sue Nicholls – A Fresh Look at Composition for key stages 1&2.  Sue is a vastly experienced music teacher who works nationwide as a music education consultant delivering workshops, seminars, keynotes and CPD as well as being published author for Collins (Music Express) and OUP.
• Sing Up – Sharon Durrant from https://www.singup.org will explore the new Sing Up curriculum and provide Music Leaders with free access to resources that can be shared with the non-specialist Music teachers in their school.
• Musical Futures – Fran Hannan from www.musicalfuturesonline.org will lead an interactive session on the chair drumming resources from their free resource library which attendees can use with both their classes and share with colleagues.

Music Connect receives funding from LMEP which enables ArtForms to offer the programme to Leeds Schools and Academies at no charge.

Sign up here – Primary Music Leaders Conference.

For more information please email Sam.Mercer@leeds.gov.uk

Sam Mercer – Music Curriculum Support Manager, ArtForms

Join us at Pudsey Civic Hall on April 18th for an exciting percussion extravaganza tailored for Grade 1+ percussion players from Year 7 and upwards! Get ready to unleash your inner beats as we explore a wide array of percussion instruments under the expert guidance of Jordan Ashman, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2022. You will have a chance to workshop on orchestral percussion and dhol and taiko drums.

Throughout the day, participants will have the opportunity to try their hand at various instruments, learn essential techniques, and expand their musical horizons. Alongside honing their skills, attendees will also gain valuable insights into different percussion styles and cultures, fostering a deeper appreciation for the art form.

To sign up for the day, please complete this google form – Percussion Day Permission Form

You will need to seek permission from your child’s school please use the letter here:

https://artformsleeds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Percussion-day-letter-to-parents-1.pdf

Any enquiries, please email educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk.

The process can include a look at:

• Planning
• Resources
• Staff CPD
• Inclusion and SEND support
• Assessment
• Live music and visiting artists
• Non-curricular music
• Performances and events
• Documentation
• OFSTED preparation

We are able to offer support and advice or sometimes just a second pair of eyes to look over it all! If you would like to book in a review meeting at your school, please send an email to educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk.

Lee Muncaster, Senior Curriculum Leader, ArtForms

Around a year ago it was announced that 5 current nearby hub areas (Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale) would be combining to form one large West Yorkshire Music Hub. Organisations were invited to tender to be the new Hub leads and the 5 current area hub leads worked together to submit a joint bid in the Autumn. Currently, we are still waiting to hear whether that bid has been successful and we expect to find out in April according to the government’s timeframe.

What this means for us in practice is that until we receive word that we have been successful in our bid, we are unable to be 100% sure about our LMEP offer for schools for next year. Usually by now, we would have released our LMEP offer for 24/25. We hope and expect that it will stay the same, retaining current levels of cashback subsidies but until we receive that final confirmation, we are unable to publish it in the usual timeframe.

For now, we ask that schools go ahead and book music provision on Leeds for Learning as usual for next year based on current levels of cashback and bursaries. We will then issue a quote as usual for the work based on next academic year’s prices. In the highly unlikely event that there is a change in the cashback levels for next year following the announcement in April, we would then contact all schools and they would have the option to adjust their booking as necessary. Thank you to all for your understanding in this matter, we will keep you updated as and when we hear any new information.

Lee Muncaster, Senior Curriculum Leader, ArtForms

As part of LEEDS 2023 Year of Culture, LMEP teamed up with Leeds 2023 to bring you a new commissioned song with free resources for all schools, as part of Leeds Language Week 2023.

Created by LMEP partners Musical Futures for the Year of Culture, ‘City Of Our Dreams’ celebrates multiculturalism in Leeds and invites learners to sing in multiple languages!

Get involved!

Free online resources are available for teachers to guide classes through learning and performing the song.  The resources are suitable for primary and secondary schools.

We would love as many schools in Leeds as possible to get involved and use these resources, which can form part of Music lessons, or even Modern Foreign Languages or Citizenship. This FREE resource includes backing and performance tracks, and sheet music to allow instrumental performance to accompany voice performance if you want to.

The song encourages learners to learn to sing in French, Spanish, Romanian, Polish and Urdu, but we encourage you to add in other languages you may have in your school.

Resources

To access the song resources please click on the following links:

Video resources – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6WV9wEVdssgwikG-yDybeYC2SmjYDPX4

Lyrics, audio and chord sheets – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-DzJxi6Hr3e1Fno2obDLSeehnzGZWj8E?usp=drive_link

We would love to see you share any images and clips of your school practicing for the challenge on social media by tagging @LEEDS2023, @ArtFormsLeeds and #LeedsMultilingualSong.  

Please note that all children and young people captured on your video must have photographic and video permissions, as these images will be shared on the internet and social media where necessary.  

Our first event was our ‘Winter Voices’ concert, held in Pudsey Civic Hall on 29^th November 2022. Six ‘Satellite’ primary choirs who had signed up to the Network were invited to join together to sing Christmas music, from Benjamin Britten’s ‘New Year Carol’ to Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas Everybody,’ alongside Secondary Choirs and a live band – giving cherished experiences and memories for the children and their families. One of the choir leaders said:

I loved the children’s comments about the senior choirs and how they loved them and wanted to sing like them, I think it gave them real inspiration and purpose for singing. The parents and children were buzzing at the end.

Elizabeth Eales, Shadwell Primary School.

In spring 2023, we launched our first ‘Sing and Swing’ events in the north and west of the city, which brought together local school choirs to sing Jazz and Swing songs, accompanied by a live band. The aim of the project has been to give choirs an event to work towards, to introduce choirs to new repertoire and give them the experience of performing with professional musicians. The events have also helped to reinforce links between local schools.

After our first event at Alwoodley Primary School, Caroline Pattenden (Assistant Head teacher/Choir lead) said:

It was a fantastic event and I felt so proud to be hosting it at Alwoodley. It was so lovely to see so many children singing together again and the smiles on their faces just said it all. Having parents back in school was great and the comments after the event were so positive from staff and parents/carers. I heard some children saying that it was one of their best days ever! Memories I know will last a lifetime for them all.

In addition to running events, we have offered practical support to schools who have wanted to run a choir for the first time, by modelling good practice and signposting choir leaders to useful resources.

Our Schools Choir at Leeds Arena has been our biggest one yet, and we are proud to have given every primary school in Leeds the opportunity to be represented. We had a 400-strong Leeds Schools Choir at the event, including pupils from 48 primary schools across the city, with pupils from Y7 and 8 from two of our secondary Champion Schools joining us too.

It’s not too late to join the network! We have a live link to a Google Form which schools can sign up to at any time in the year: https://forms.gle/TxwV1nU8gHs58Ksb7

Claire Rivers

Leeds Schools Choirs Coordinator, June 2023

Music Champion School status is awarded to any schools in Leeds who have made a significant impact on their pupils’ lives through their music offer and who have an outstanding commitment to music education. Recipients of the award receive a Music Mark membership (the strategic lead organisation in the UK for Music Education), a framed certificate, a large outdoor banner and a digital Music Champion logo to include on all school publicity. Champion Schools also have access to other music events and workshops provided by our partners during the year. This year, we will be inviting successful schools to accept the award at one of our Youth Music Summer Festival events in the city. The award will be reviewed every 3 years from the date you receive the status to maintain consistency across all Music Champion Schools.

There are currently 36 Music Champion Schools in Leeds including 26 Primary schools, 8 Secondary schools and two Special schools. Last year we were pleased to welcome Corpus Christi Primary, Farsley Springbank Primary, Highfield Primary, Low Road Primary, Stanningley Primary and Windmill Primary.

Some comments from Music Champion school colleagues:

‘Achieving Music Champion Status shows just how much we value music in our school’

‘It has been a joy to watch the school grow in musical stature over the years and develop our music offer to all children’

‘The Arts are much valued in our school and music plays a huge part in it maintaining a high profile.’

‘Music has always been at the heart of our school, creating a strong community’

If you would like more information about becoming a Champion Music School, please contact LMEP.ArtForms@leeds.gov.uk .

All nominations for this year’s award should be submitted by Thursday 25^th May 2023.