Musician in Residence Toolkit

Integrating Music into the Primary Curriculum

Harnessing the Power of Music to Benefit Every Child
On this page you will find our ‘Integrating Music into the Primary Curriculum’ toolkit.
Drawing on the rich experiences of our Musician-in-Residence programme this guide explores how the power of music can be harnessed to benefit every child.

Designed to support teachers and musicians alike, it offers practical insights into how music can enhance learning across the curriculum and meet the diverse needs of all pupils.

 

About the Musician in Residence Programme

More information on the programme can be found on the Musician in Residence Programme webpage, and via the infographic below.

MishMash Productions & Scottish Ensemble

Our aim for the show was to whisk you between centuries and continents using movement and storytelling to bring you closer to the humans at the heart of the music and showcase the amazing variety of ‘classical’ music.

We hope you enjoyed in Sync.

PROGRAMME NOTES

in Sync Resource

We’ve put together this page so you can now find out more about the music, musicians and composers. If there was any piece in particular you enjoyed in the show, we’ve put together some suggested further listening lists. You can also watch some excerpts from the show again as well as listen to interviews with some of the composers and performers. We’ve also added links to some more videos, resources, and further activities, and even a list of great TikTok accounts so you can take your discovery even further.

The toolkit is separated into two documents:

  1. An overview giving details of the Musician-in-Residence programme, the context
    to this toolkit, and advice and guidance to support musicians and teachers to use
    music in school beyond the music curriculum. HERE
  2. An appendix document with a wealth of practical subject and key stage specific
    lesson ideas and plans. HERE

It’s worth noting that our experience is within English schools using the English National Curriculum. Much of the context and advice, and many of the activities will also be relevant to those working in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and beyond although the framework they sit within might be different.

Whilst the appendix document provides many practical ideas we’ve also included below some more fleshed out lesson plans and outlines.

We’re keen to hear how the toolkit is being used by musicians and teachers so please do keep in touch with us and share any thoughts or ideas you might have. You can contact the Musician-in-Residence programme coordinator Ben Armstrong on Ben@mishmashproductions.co.uk

Lesson plans and Outlines

Below you will find a series of lesson plans and outlines. The plans linked to the English writing curriculum are fully structured lesson plans, whilst the Geography and Science plans are more of an outline for teachers to adapt to the specific requirements.

ENGLISH

GEOGRAPHY

SCIENCE & MATHS

Signpost to other online resources

Below we have collated a range of other online resources you can use to support the integration of music across the curriculum.  This is simply a list of resources we have found elsewhere online, we have not tried and tested them all!

RESOURCES FROM ORCHESTRAS, OPERA COMPANIES, CHOIRS AND ENSEMBLES

Aurora Orchestra – Aurora Classroom – award-winning creative learning programme, encompassing free digital resources for schools, training for teachers, and a world-class programme of live activity for children and young people.

Philharmonia – Orchestra Unwrapped Resources– a link to all the free Philharmonia resources from their Orchestra Unwrapped Concerts. Including resources for schools and teachers.

Philharmonia – Sound Samples– free for use sound samples from Philharmonia recorded instruments.

London Symphany Orchestra – Activities and Resources for Families and School – explore and download activities, resources and online concerts, whether you’re discovering music at home, at nursery or in the classroom.

Opera North – Little School of Music – resources using ‘Carnival of the Animals’ to introduce the instruments of the orchestra with activities for KS1

Tenebrae – Free Classroom Singing Resource – video resources to demonstrate physical and vocal warm ups and songs to sing in a round with actions.

RESOURCES FROM MUSIC AND MUSIC EDUCATION ORGANISATIONS

Oak Academy – Teaching resources –  a collection of units of work where the lessons are led on the screen with downloadable slides.

Bristol Beacon – Teaching Resources – a range of Primary curriculum resources aimed at non-specialists including links to curriculum documents.

Benedetti Foundation – Teaching Primary Music – free flexible activities and lesson plans for KS1 and KS2 created by experienced classroom music teachers.

Friday Afternoons – Britten Pears Arts – resources to support singing, song writing and music making.

Music Mark – free resources to support music education within secondary provision.

Minute of listening – introduces children to a range of music and sounds with accompanying resources and follow-up questions encourage children to discuss what they heard, thought and felt

Institute for Composer Diversity – dedicated to the celebration, education, and advocacy of music created by composers from historically excluded groups through database resources and programming analysis.

The Kennedy Centre – study the science behind instruments, find out more about composers and discover how classical music is anything but boring.

Musical Futures – musical Futures free resource library is available to all non-members and is part of a comprehensive collection made up of interactive & engaging projects designed to support music learning.

Royal College of Music – Digital resources for schools – KS1 and 2 resources and videos on the instruments of the orchestra.

Guildhall School of music – Resources – features guidance on how to write a rap for KS2 and songs for KS1 and includes body percussion activities.

 

BBC AND CLASSIC FM RESOURCES

Classical 100 – Classical 100 – a free online resource for music teachers working with learners up to the age of 14. Featuring music in a wide range of styles, Classical 100 is all about bringing music to life in the classroom.

Classical 200 – Classroom 200 – Classroom 200 is an expanded repertoire with 100 more pieces and created new lesson plans for all 200 pieces, expanding to the worlds of folk, jazz, world, rock, pop, musicals, film and TV.

BBC Bitesize – The pieces and composers – BBC Teach – explore the stories and secrets hidden in these classical pieces of music. For each piece you will find free teaching resources, exciting short films, lesson plans, arrangements and more. Resources are suitable for KS2

BBC Ten Pieces – BBC Ten Pieces – opens the world of classical music to children. It contains a wide range of resources, including filmed performances, introductory videos, lesson plans and orchestra and vocal arrangements for a range of instrumental ability levels.

 

MISC. RESOURCES

Blob Opera – this musical game allows young learners to compose an original song with opera voices.

Maestro Classics – Classical Music Education – classics website designed to help you incorporate classical music into your life.  Whether you are a musician, teacher, parent or student there is something here for everyone.

Class Notes – Class Notes provides free K12 classroom resources and concert experiences that inspire students and support teachers.

Save The Music – Save The Music offers curated online music resources for students, teachers, and families, spanning music history to music theory, tailored for learners at all levels.

8 Notes – 8 notes offer free sheet music, lessons, and classroom tools for all ages. Explore free resources like audio tracks, digital metronome, chord charts, tuners, and more.

String Skills – useful and mostly free teaching materials and other resources for string players/teachers.

Muted.io – collection of interactive music theory tools & visual references to learn music online for free.