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

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

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

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

To view the full newsletter, please follow the link below:

Secondary Music Newsletter – February 2024

To receive it directly by email, please sign up through Leeds for Learning. If you would like to be included in our next issue, please contact Jane.Roe@leeds.gov.uk.

Teacher Workshop

Date: 20th May 2024
Day: Monday
Time: 4:00-5:30
Venue: Pudsey Civic Hall

Session detail

Date: 17th April 2024

Day: Wednesday

Time: 4:00-5:30

Venue: Microsoft Teams

Course code: MLDEV

For more information and to sign up for this event, go to Sue Nicholls – Developing as a Primary Music Leader | Leeds for Learning