Learning  »  Music

Music Round-Up

What a wonderful year of music-making we have had at Primrose Lane. 2022-2023 has been my busiest year of music at school; the covid restrictions have all gone and that has opened the doors to many, many exciting opportunities to our pupils. Some highlights:

  • Since September the (huge) School Choir have sung at St Mary’s Church, in the Spring and Summer Concerts and the PTA Summer Fayre;
  • Our most experienced instrumentalists have performed in an orchestra at Wetherby High School as part of an EPOS Inspirational Ensemble Day event;
  • 8 of our pupils represented our school and performed as part of the Leeds Youth Music Celebration at Leeds First Direct Arena;
  • We have had many music trips: Year 1 had an Into the Jungle morning of fun at Pudsey Civic Hall; Year 6 went to see a We Will Rock You at Boston Academy; Year 4 went to see a concert pianist workshop at The Carriageworks Theatre in the centre of Leeds and I attended the Leeds Music Conference;
  • Many special times have been celebrated by song: the King’s Coronation Singing Assembly, Carols Around the Christmas Tree, the KS1 Nativity, the KS1 Easter singsong, Maypole celebrations and the end of year Year 6 production to name a few;
  • Over a 120 pupils have performed in our concerts, live music sessions in Singing Assemblies – all of whom were amazing!
  • Children in Year 2 and 3 have learned how to play the recorder (and we have started a new Recorder Consort who played so well in the Summer Concert!);
  • Pupils in Year 4,5 & 6 have played the ukulele in music lessons and assemblies.
  • A large number of our pupils have peripatetic lessons in school and they make impressive progress year on year. We will certainly miss the performances of our Year 6 instrumentalists in the school concerts next year.


Alongside these highlights are the day to day highlights for me as a Music teacher – listening to children sing a song they have composed themselves so confidently; hearing Living on a Prayer and thinking of our singing assemblies and seeing our children express themselves through music in art and movement. I have said it before but we are extremely blessed to have such enthusiastic, talented and joyous music-makers at our school. Thank you to our families and children for your support in making this year such a special year of music making. I look forward to seeing what next year brings!

Helen Crowther

EPOS ENSEMBLE INSPIRATION DAY @ WETHERBY HIGH SCHOOL

This week, a group of musicians from Year 5 join with many other children from the area to take part in an EPOS Ensemble Inspiration Day at Wetherby High School. Throughout the day, pupils learned and rehearsed several pieces then came together as an orchestra to perform. The day ended with a concert for parents and carers to attend. Days like these are excellent but they are intense for the pupils! Sustained full-on concentration and performance takes stamina. I have seen videos of the performances and our children were all incredible!

Angus: I loved playing music for the whole day and loved making music with Adam who is an instrument player from an orchestra. I also liked playing in from of the parents.

Evie W: I found the music day really fun and I enjoyed playing The Blue Danube (but one of the pieces was really hard!). When we composed our own, that was really fun.

Emily: I really enjoyed making music with Adam. We didn’t name our composition but I want it to be called ‘Jungle Beat’.

Daisie: When we went to Wetherby High I found it really fun and we made friends. It was great, my all time favourite was The Blue Danube. I hope to go again next year!

Chloe: I really enjoyed Wetherby High School. We made new friends and I really liked playing the pieces. I would really like to go next year and learn more pieces!

Evie C : I really enjoyed making up music with this person called Adam who played the bassoon, between ourselves, we called it. ‘Jungle Beat’.

Year 3 Teacher

Music & Computing Lead



Music Long Term Plan 2022-23


To find out about more opportunities for music-making locally, follow this link to our local music centre which is in Wetherby.
Spring Term 2023 Music Update

Click on the link to get a taste of our music making at Primrose Lane from nursery to Year 6, Live Music to Choir. Be sure to attend our Spring Concert on 21st March 2023 @2pm to see it for yourself!

We are so excited to be making music in school this new school year! This week, we have had a rousing Singing Assembly and KS2 choir has started weekly rehearsals; we had almost 80 pupils in the first session!  Also, I am delighted that just over 50% of our pupils from Year 4 – Year 6 are taking individual peripatetic music lessons and have had their first lesson. It is clear that covid hasn’t damped Primrose Lane’s love of music. We remain the proud of our Music Mark Lead School and Leeds Champion School status.  What a privilege it is to work in a school with such a rich variety of music-making and such talented, enthusiastic children!

 

What music-making is going on in school?

  • Every class from Nursery to Year 2 are being taught music every week by Mrs Dockree (Y1) or Miss Giles (Reception music and Y2 music). In KS2 (Y3-Y6) children are taught by Mrs Crowther, a music specialist;
  • Every Tuesday we have a whole school Singing Assembly;
  • To start the Singing Assemblies, we have a ‘Live Music’ slot where instrumentalists have an opportunity to perform. This inspires and entertains the other children and is a wonderful opportunity to play a piece that is ready. We have already heard Harvey in Y3 perform ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ on his guitar - needless to say, the crowd went wild! Please encourage your child to chat to Mrs Crowther or their class teacher if they want to perform in a relaxed environment (with a very forgiving audience) on a Tuesday;
  • KS2 Choir meets every week on Thursdays. There are no auditions, all are welcome. We will be working on modern ‘pop’ songs as well as more traditional choral music for children, aiming to develop 2 and 3 part singing and confidence. Please have a think at home about whether or not your child(ren) would like to join – we’ll have lots of fun!
  • Practise – if your child learns an instrument (in or out of school), they are allowed to bring in their instruments to practise together at break or lunchtime in the KS2 area. Mrs Crowther is also around so if anyone needs help tuning instruments for advice on musical issues e.g tricky rhythms etc. or just someone to perform to, she is there;
  • Our peripatetic music lessons have started already! We welcome back Mrs Hedington, who is teaching flute, saxophone, clarinet and oboe on Wednesdays. A warm welcome to Mr Homer who is new to school; he will be teaching percussion on Fridays. I can’t wait to hear the instrumentalists perform in our concerts and Live Music sessions throughout the year.  If you have any questions about woodwind or percussion lessons, please contact Mrs Ford in the school office for more information;
  • Whole class music lessons are part of the new music curriculum. We always taught recorder to classes but had to stop because of Covid. From January, we are excited to announce that Miss Giles will begin teaching recorder in weekly music lessons in Year 2 and Mrs Crowther will teach recorder in Year 3. In Janurary, Mrs Crowther will be teaching whole class ukulele lessons in Year 4. Letters with more information about purchasing recorders and books will be sent out later this term;
  • As we progress through our new long term plan for music, we will continue with half a term of recorder teaching and half a term of ukulele teaching in Years 5 and 5 and 6 so that when pupils leave us, they will be able to read music and be quite confident playing 2 instruments. Hopefully they will have fostered a life-long love of music!
  • We will hold a KS2 Music Concert at the end of each term. These concerts are for pupils who have instrumental lessons in our out of school and the school choir. If your child’s piece needs a piano accompaniment, please give it to Mrs Crowther in time for her to practise with your child;
  • There will, of course,  be ‘usual’ key events throughout the year such as the Nativity, Carol Service and Summer Production, details of which will be provided nearer the time;
  • There is also lots of ‘incidental’ singing going on in classes to aid learning e.g. singing times tables songs.

 

If you have any questions about peripatetic music lessons, the contact is Mrs Ford in the office, any other music questions, please ask Mrs Crowther - feel free to email on crowtherh@primroselane.leeds.sch.uk . We look forward to a year of wonderful music-making and performances!

Rainbows

As well as learning how to play the recorder and the ukulele at Primrose Lane, we often play the glockenspiel. Here, Year 2 are performing a beautiful song called Rainbows. Enjoy...

Living on a Prayer

When Singing Assemblies and Choir were on hold, nothing can stop Year 5 from rocking out! We have been working on the Bon Jovi classic: Living on a Prayer which includes a tricky glockenspiel part (including F#) and, this week, we had a woodwind group of talented flute and oboe players, too!\r\n\r\nThis video is far from perfect and isn\'t the \'finished product\' but the love of music making really shines through.\r\n\r\nEnjoy!

Player Loading...
MUSIC MARK SCHOOL 2021-2022

We are delighted to announce that we have been recognised asa MUSIC MARK SCHOOL!

Every Tuesday in Singing Assembly, we start with a Live Music slot - an informal opportunity for our instrumentalists to perform. This inspires and enteretains the other children and is a wonderful addition to our assembly. 

Here are the performers so far:

AUTUMN TERM

Week 1: Charlotte Y6 piano, Maddison Y6 flute, Hettie Y6 guitar
Week 2: Rupert Y4 guitar
Week 3: Thomas Y6 oboe, April Y6 clarinet, Phoebe Y5 piano, Elizabeth Y5 piano
Week 4: Sebastian Y4 djembe drum
***On hold due to Covid 19***

SPRING TERM

Week 8: Elizabeth Y6 piano, Bella, Maddison, Chloe, Izzy Y6 flute & Jessica, Olive, Esme, Ellie, Lily Y3 recorder
Week 9: (after half term) Mrs Crowther ukulele
Week 10: Elizabeth Bond Y6 oboe
Week 11: Daisy Y4 Flute, Izzy & Maddie Y6 flute
Week 12: Elizabeth Y5 piano
Week 13: Tom Y6 oboe

SUMMER TERM

Week 1: Rosie Y3 piano
Week 2: Maddie, Izzy, Bella Y6 flute
Week 3: Hettie Y6 guitar, Phoebe Y6 saxophone, Izzy, Bella & Maddison Y6 flute
Week 4: Chloe, Maddison and Izzy Y6 flute, April R Y6 clarinette
 

Singing Assemblies are BACK! What a thrill to hear the children singing together. Click on the links, read the lyrics and practise at home. Enjoy!
 This half term we have started by learning Memories by Maroon 5.


We are also singing Harvest Samba!

 



Music develops a wide range of skills as well as promoting creativity, teamwork, confidence and a sense of community. At Primrose Lane, music is an integral part of school life and we are very proud of the range and quality of music making in our school. Every child from Reception through to Year 6 has a weekly class music lesson (delivered, in KS2 by a specialist music teacher), in which the key skills of singing, performing, composing and listening are developed.

In addition to this, we have weekly whole school singing sessions and regular song sharing assemblies. We also provide the opportunity for any child in school to perform for the rest of the school in our live music spot. We have achieved the Gold Sing Up Award and both children and staff enjoy singing with and for each other. Each year we stage several musical performances including a termly KS2 Concert, KS1 Nativity, Christmas Carol Service,  and the KS2 Production.

As part of our music provision, every child in Year 2 and Year 3  learns to play the recorder and in Year 4 pupils learn to play the ukulele. From Year 4 they have the option of having woodwind or percussion lessons. There are lots of opportunities for instrumentalists to perform for an audience and they can also take ABRSM exams. We also have a school choir who perform to a very high standard. 

We are always keen to take part in musical activities outside school; many of our children have attended a range of different workshops run by Leeds ArtForms and we have a number of children who have performed in Leeds Town Hall in various concerts. 

We have a wide range of percussion instruments which are used in class music lessons and a purpose built room for instrumental lessons.
 
 






We are extremely proud that Primrose Lane is one of only 8 primary schools in Leeds to be awarded Music Champion School status. This is a great achievement which acknowledges the value our school places upon music as well as the high levels of musical ability and engagement of our children, plus many years of sustained music provision.
 

 

Christmas 2020 is like no other we’ve ever had. A year we will never forget. For music-makers, it has been a hard year. Primrose Lane just isn’t the same without music running through its very core. After spending so long apart and perhaps feeling disjointed or lonely, it is such a joy to be able to celebrate Christmas together as a school family.  We have enjoyed coming together to prepare this Virtual Christmas Concert for you!

It is such a shame that we cannot invite you all into school to enjoy live performances this Christmas time. School traditions such as the nativity, church service and the Christmas concert will be sorely missed this year but we hope that these videos, which can be enjoyed again and again and shared far and wide, will bring you some Christmas cheer!

At the start of December, we got the green light – we could sing again! Without delay, we began to pull together some Christmas items of poetry and music. Corny though it sounds, the sound of children’s singing ringing through the school has brought a unique, much-needed kind of joy to all of us. To add to the festive spirit, some of these recordings took place on Christmas Party Day so pupils are wearing their party clothes!

In three short weeks, your remarkable children have worked so hard on the recordings you are about to enjoy – we are so proud of each and every one of them. Thanks must go to all the staff who helped to prepare the children with particular mention to Mrs Heley and Mr Harrington for preparing our instrumentalists. Most of all thank you to your wonderful children for their poetry, songs and music!

It gives us great pleasure to share with you these festive performances and we wish you a very Merry Christmas!




 
Little Donkey

We are excited to bring you our EYFS performances. Little Donkey and Jingle Bells is Reception and Nursery working together and Twinkle Twinkle has Nursery using their big singing voices by themselves. The children loved getting to perform and we hope you love getting to watch!

Twinkle Twinkle
Jingle Bells
Year 1 Performances

Here are our Year 1 children singing so enthusiastically, brimming with excitement for Christmas! They will sing Three Wise Men followed by Christmas Time is Here. Enjoy!

Three Wise Men
Christmas Time is Here
Year 2 Performances

Here are our Year 2 pupils retelling the age-old story of the first Christmas. Well done to all the children for reading and speaking so well. The Christmas Story is celebrated by an enthusiastic rendition of Born in a Barn! We are really proud of all our little performers. Enjoy!

The Christmas Story
Born in a Barn
Year 3 Performances

Year 3 are performing a poem called The Little Christmas Carollers by L A Franc. This will be followed by a beautiful French Carol called Etoile de Noël all about a beautiful Christmas star shining all over the world. We end with a Christmas favourite, Away in a Manger. We are so proud of how our Year 3s have learned these songs and words in such a short period of time. These performances will be a real treat - what wonderful children! Enjoy...

The Little Christmas Carollers
Etoile de Noël
Away in a Manger
Year 4 Performances

Year 4 are going to perform a poem called The First Christmas by Marian Swinger followed by a French Carol called Etoile de Noël all about a Christmas star shining all over the world. We finish with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – but not as you’ve ever heard it before! Listen out for the cheeky extra bits! Year 4 sing so well in French and we are so proud of these wonderful performances! Enjoy...

The First Christmas
Étoile de Noël
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Year 5 Performances

Year 5 have taken on the challenge of performing ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’, often referred to as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. This epic poem is full of Christmas magic and the children perform it beautifully! This will be followed by a stunning rendition of Silent Night. After learning about the Christmas Truce on Christmas Eve, 1914, Year 5 children asked if they could sing Silent Night and learn verse 1 in German. This is followed by something totally different – a French carol called Oh là là, il fait froid. This song tells of a snowman who is too cold so he puts on his gloves, coat, scarf and hat. Then he’s too hot – takes them all off – and then is too cold! These performances will certainly put a smile on your faces. Enjoy…

Twas the Night Before Christmas
Stille Nacht
Oh là là, il fait froid!
Year 6 Performances

Year 6 are going to perform a poignant Christmas poem called Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem is all about resilience and holding on to Goodness – a fitting messing in 2020. This is followed by something totally different – a French carol called Oh là là, il fait froid. This song tells of a snowman who is too cold so he puts on his gloves, coat, scarf and hat. Then he’s too hot – takes them all off – and then is too cold! Year 6 children finish with a beautiful piece called Song for Christmas Time; this festive song shows off their beautiful voices perfectly. We are so impressed with these performances! Enjoy…

Christmas Bells
Oh là là, il fait froid!
Song of Christmas Time

Our musicians have worked really hard to prepare some pieces for you in time for this Virtual Concert. We are delighted with the result and know that the following perfomances are sure impress and raise a smile! 

Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells played on the piano by Phoebe who is in Year 4.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We Wish You a Merry Christmas played on the recorder by Elizabeth in Year 4.

Away in a Manger

Away in a Manger performed on the clarinet by Rosie, April, Toby, Cameron and Nell from Years 5 and 6.

Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells played on the piano by Charlotte in Year 5.

Last Christmas

Last Christmas performed by Heidi and Honour in Year 5 on the xylophones.

Silent Night

Marcy, Lucy, Phoebe and Jess, who are in Year 6, are playing Silent Night on their flutes.

Once in Royal

Once in Royal David's City played on the Alto Saxophone by Hannah in Year 6.

Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells played on the flute by Chloe, Riley, Maddison, Bella, Hettie and Izzy who are all in Year 5.

Silent Night

Silent Night played on the xylophone by George, Lucas, Dylan, Taylor, Kodee and Reggie who are all in Year 6.

All is Found

All is Found (from Fozen 2) is played by Freya, Florence and Ellie on their flutes.

Rudolph Rag

Rudolph Rag is played by Thomas on his oboe. Thomas is in Year 5.

Percussion
In music lessons, we have been learning more about body percussion and pattern. We learned a pattern and then came up with one together. These are the 'instructions' we used and links to the songs:

Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin 
Think by Aretha Franklin

Enjoy trying these at home. Choose a song and make up your own rythmn pattern. I would LOVE to see them!

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