T-Time: Music in the Primary Classroom

Facilitated by Music Mark’s Schools Manager Abi Marrison, T-Time is a shorthand for ‘Music Teachers’ Time to Talk Termly on Topics and Themes (with Tea if they like)!’ We host an online space for one hour every term, exclusively for classroom teachers across the UK to share peer-to-peer and have professional debate about music in education. Every session begins with a guest speaker who will provoke reflections and talking points on the given theme.

Reflections on ‘Experiences in the Primary Classroom: Delivering the Music Curriculum’ 

Amidst much noise about curriculum, and timed as the Curriculum and Assessment Review interim report has been published, our session this Spring term (2025) focused on experiences of curriculum in the Primary Classroom. Our provocation was provided by Jimmy Rotheram, who has so much experience to share on the subject that we had to break his video into bite-sized chunks to send after the session. Here is a summary: 

Different approaches to curriculum design 

What Jimmy presented from his experience, and what many of the attendees could relate to, was the vast variation of how music is planned and delivered in primary schools. He presented nine different approaches, and we heard the potential challenges and benefits for each of these. 

One junior school teacher related best to the “magpie” approach, combining resources from various sources; another mentioned that their school uses a mix of the spiral curriculum and off-the-shelf (purchased programmes for schools) approaches, with a focus on making the curriculum relevant to their school. 

Teacher confidence 

Whatever the experience level of the teachers in delivering music, the message was clear that none of the approaches to curriculum design is the correct or only way to design a curriculum. Different styles work for different contexts: Jimmy proposed that the music curriculum isn’t quick, easy, pain-free, magic, perfect, or set-in-stone! 

One teacher emphasised the importance of subject knowledge in teachers. This calls for CPD to be planned in line with the design of the curriculum. Another teacher highlighted the challenges of being the only person in charge of music and the struggle to balance teaching their own class with leading music activities. We also touched on the positive impact of regular music lessons on teacher confidence and the importance of ownership of the curriculum you are teaching. Abi asked about the confidence of colleagues in delivering the curriculum that is given to them; there was a mixed picture: some have adapted, and others still lack confidence. 

Skills, schemes and resources 

Abi led the discussion element of the session, emphasising the importance of a holistic approach that develops skills continuously rather than in isolation. Teachers shared their experiences using various resources and schemes, highlighting the challenges of developing a curriculum as a non-specialist and the need to adapt to different cohorts of students; what works one year may not work with a different class of young people.  

Various resources/schemes were mentioned, including Sing Up, Kapow, and free resources from organisations like the Royal Opera House (now Royal Ballet and Opera), English National Opera’s ‘Finish This’, Primary Arts (with A New Direction), BBC Ten Pieces, Chrome Music Lab (on iPads), Charanga, Benedetti Foundation, London Philharmonic, and London Sinfonietta, as well as one teacher talking about the resources they find useful from their local music service in Hampshire.  

One challenge of developing a curriculum for music as a non-specialist was finding the time among other pressures. Jimmy said in his introduction that over a career spanning more than 20 years, it has taken seven of those to craft a curriculum that he is content with.  

Takeaways  

For non-specialist music teachers, the foundation or skeleton of a model or scheme gives reassurance at the beginning of their music subject leader journey. There would be benefit in them having dedicated time to get to know the programme, to know its limitations and understand the ‘what’ and ‘why’, so they gain confidence if interrogated on their music provision and can adapt it for their context.  

In the complementary materials to this session, Jimmy gives an overview of some of the music philosophies he takes elements of into his curriculum. These include methods known by the names of the musicians/composers: Kodály, Dalcroze, Orff and Green. Along with these, he stresses that in his school, teachers are given training in the delivery of these different approaches.   

This comment from one attendee is such a crucial addition to everything we shared and a reminder of the importance of a rich and diverse curriculum for music that reflects ourselves and the variety across the world:

I do think that being context-specific matters, however as suggested in Jimmy’s presentation, it’s important to try and cover a range of genres no matter what context we are delivering in, as music is global and there are many cultures we can learn so much from.

We heard today that along with the concerns of autonomy, cost and time, attendees would welcome ideas on how to advocate for music in their school. If this resonates with you and you are currently a class teacher in a Primary, Secondary or SEND setting, then go ahead and book your place for our next session. Spaces are limited!

Book your place now for the Summer Term T-Time!

The next T-Time is available for booking for current teachers in education settings. It is taking place on 19th June at 4pm and will be on the theme: ‘Advocating for Music Education – Talking to Senior Leaders’.