Venue: Pudsey Civic Hall (upstairs in the Woodhall Room) 

For more information and to book your place, please click here.

The Little Sing is an interactive Performance Event for Key Stage 1 from Music Connect, with funding from the West Yorkshire Music Hub (WYMH). 

On Friday 20th March 2026, Music Connect, led by ArtForms, will host our ninth annual Little Sing for Key Stage 1. This is an immersive Musical Experience for children, where they are the performers as well as the audience.  

The children always love the session of singing, playing instruments and moving, as do the adults who attend. The theme this year will be all about the sea: a journey over the waves, singing songs as we go. The band and singing leaders will be dressed for the theme and the stage will be filled with sea creatures and colourful backdrops, ready to welcome over 1000 children throughout the course of the day over two sessions.  

Here’s some feedback from Little Sing ’25: 

It was great to have the music beforehand so we could learn with the children. We loved the costumes and the setting of the event. The mini beasts were great! We really enjoyed the choice of music and the fast-moving pace of the event. Children were engaged throughout. It was great to see so many children using the sticks. Y1 teacher, Stanningley Primary School.

Children have been singing the songs in the playground, and they really enjoyed being outside of their classroom environment.  Y1 teacher, Park View Primary Academy 

It was brilliant! Music leader, Pudsey Southroyd Primary 

Feedback from a selection of the young people who attended the event: 

We liked the Minibeast Rave and the opportunity to play the instruments. Daisy 

We liked that the singers came to the back with us to sing and dance. Katie 

We loved the minibeast outfits and singers. Ibraheem 

This is the best day ever! Jacob 

Session detail

Date: 16th May 2025
Day: Friday
Time: 08:30 – 15:30
Venue: Pudsey Civic Hall

Course code: PMLN3

Booking information to follow

A support session for new primary music leaders or those who feel the need to refresh the various responsibilities of leading music in schools.

Session details

Date: 21st October 2025

Day: Monday

Time: 16:00 – 17:15

Venue: Microsoft Teams

Course Code: PMLR

For more information and to sign up for this event, go to The Role of the Primary Music Leader | Leeds for Learning

Date: 23^rd June

Day: Monday 

Time: TBC

Venue: TBC

Course Code: TBC

YAMSEN (Yorkshire Association for Music and Special Educational Needs) hosted ‘YAMSEN Flies to Neverland,’ its yearly set of full-day, immersive, multi-sensory events for pupils with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties) and musical activity events for autistic pupils and pupils with moderate to severe learning disabilities.  The days are funded by LMEP (Leeds Music Education Partnership, the local music hub) and supported by the SEND team at ArtForms music service.  Pupils from special schools in Leeds and across West Yorkshire attended—so many that each event was repeated, for a total of four days of music and fun.  Because of Pudsey Civic Hall’s accessibility, over 40 pupils in wheelchairs were able to attend each multisensory day.

The multisensory and music days are a rare chance for special school staff and pupils to mingle with other special schools.  Each day features a range of activities designed to be repeated or adapted in the classroom, with big instruments for feeling vibrations and props that help pupils make sense of the activities at their own pace.  The days are meant to be both educational and promote a sense of playfulness and stimulation, which can be a challenge particularly among pupils with PMLD.  The multisensory days feature a live band who are experienced in working with children who have additional needs, and they move throughout the room so that the children can experience music up close.

Several of the groups are taught by the ArtForms SEND Music Team.  It was fantastic to see the children reaching out to engage with objects and instruments they enjoyed, bonding with their staff, smiling at people in costume and reacting to big sounds and movement.  Many of the children arrived in style, dressed in costume.  They enjoyed getting up from their seats to dance around, acting out their characters with staff.  The pupils at the Music Days made art, learnt a tune and some rhythms on steel pans and percussion, and helped the crocodile to get Captain Hook in the end.  A teacher from Greenmeadows spoke of one pupil who is particularly motivated by music.  She is normally very quiet and reserved in class but becomes a completely different, confident person with music.  It was fantastic to see her shine and engage in so much.

To find out more about YAMSEN and the Multisensory and Music Days, visit yamsen.org.uk or contact yamsen4@gmail.com.

To enquire about ArtForms SEND provision in schools please email Joanna.Winster@leeds.gov.uk

Joanna Winster – ArtForms Music SEND Team and Inclusion Coordinator, and YAMSEN Chair of Operations Group

As part of the new West Yorkshire Music Hub, ArtForms is committed to supporting schools with their music development plans and to that end we have produced a bespoke, user friendly, ArtForms development plan template. This is designed to support primary schools at all stages of curriculum development including schools that have little or no music taking place, right up to the schools who already have a robust curriculum and co-curricular offer.

We are also able to offer a free music development consultation to all Leeds schools.  We can offer support and advice or sometimes just a second pair of eyes to look over your plans. If you would like a member of the ArtForms leadership team to visit your school, please either book through Leeds for Learning or email educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk.  It is helpful if you could give some indication as to when the best days/times in the week would be for a visit.

The DfE have also created a template to support schools to publish a summary of their Music Development Plan on their website.  They worked with teachers and leaders at both primary and secondary level to design this.

These templates are not mandatory, and schools should feel free to adapt them or use their own format to publish on their websites.

Publishing a summary of their development plan will help schools to:

• raise awareness of their music development plan
• promote the school music offer to parents and prospective parents
• give greater opportunity for schools and music hubs to work together

ArtForms are always willing to work with Leeds schools.  Please send any queries or requests for music development reviews to educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk.

Sam Mercer – Music Curriculum Support Manager, ArtForms

In 2023, Arts Council announced a national retender for Hub leads and included a reduction to 43 Hub areas nationally and, from 1st September 2024, the Leeds LA area will fall into a wider Music Hub covering all of West Yorkshire and encompassing Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees.

A rigorous application process opened in summer 2023 for interested parties to apply to be the new hubs leads, of which ArtForms along with Bradford Music and Arts Service, Calderdale Music Trust, Musica Kirklees and Wakefield Music Services worked relentlessly to propose a strong West Yorkshire Hub model to secure ongoing funding and to further increase opportunities in each area that both addressed the needs of each locality, as well as achieving the aims and ambition of the new National Plan for Music Education.

Following a national announcement from Arts Council England in May, we are excited to announce that the strategic consortium group of ArtForms, Bradford Music & Arts Service (representing the group as named Lead Organisation), Calderdale Music Trust, Musica Kirklees and Wakefield Music Services have secured ongoing £3.5million of annual funding into the region and a further £1.2m for refreshing Music Instrument resource.  You can read the Arts Council release here Arts Council England announces new Music Hub Lead Organisations | Arts Council England.

We look forward to being able to not only continue our exciting range of opportunities for Leeds but also to developing it further for West Yorkshire by:

• appointing a range of Lead Schools to share good practice (information to be released in 2024-25)
• increased progression routes for children
• collaborative activities with a range of local, regional and national partner organisations
• increased support and opportunities for Musical Inclusion
• secure more funding streams to support high quality music experiences for children
• and so much more!

From September, look for information from both ArtForms AND the West Yorkshire Music Hub!

You can find out about all cashback and bursary offers for schools in Leeds here.

Friday 17^th 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 Otley St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and Cockburn Haigh Road Academy plus a head teacher from a local academy chain TBC.

Followed by 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 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

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