From our year-long Music in the Classroom programme to one-off Creative Days, training opportunities for primary school teachers focus on developing confidence and strategies for using music creatively in the classroom.
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Music in the Classroom One-Year Programme
Are you looking to grow confident, creative music leaders in your school? Would your staff benefit from hands-on practical training with the London Symphony Orchestra?
Music in the Classroom is a transformative year-long CPD programme designed to develop and support primary teachers in London in delivering vibrant, high-quality classroom music. Teachers learn to facilitate inclusive student-led creative music. It is open to state primary schools – we are unable to offer places to independent schools.
The programme enables schools to develop music teachers and leaders on the job, supporting them in line with the OFSTED Inspection Framework. Schools, teachers and pupils build a relationship with the LSO over an extended period, with access to professional musicians, LSO resources, and project support throughout.
The course is designed for Key Stage 2 teachers and pupils, and open both to teachers new to leading music activity and experienced practitioners, regardless of musical or teaching experience.
We’ve seen staff grow in confidence, and children flourish through musical creativity. The yearlong support really makes a difference.
Participating Headteacher
What’s Included
- Three creative training projects, with visits from course leader Rachel Leach and LSO musicians
- Four project training sessions per term, with activity ideas and resources to use in the classroom
- Free places for staff on Creative Days, one-day CPD workshops
- Access for one class to an LSO Discovery KS2 Schools Concert with the full LSO at the Barbican
Cost: £450+VAT
We are open to discussing adapting the programme to the needs of individual schools, including flexibility about the payment schedule of programme fees, and discussion with schools who would experience financial barriers to participation.
Apply
Applications for Music in the Classroom are now open for the 2025/26 programme.
Download the information pack and application form below or more information, please contact:
Beth Kershaw LSO On Track Senior Projects Manager
beth.kershaw@lso.co.uk
‘The course has had a massive impact across the school. The children’s learning has been phenomenally improved. All classes are now composing, analysing music, playing instruments, collaborating and singing.’ – Waltham Forest Primary School Teacher
Creative Days for Teachers
LSO Discovery CPD Creative Days are workshops that inspire and equip teachers, and other staff leading music, with the skills and confidence to take a creative, hands-on approach to music-making in the classroom.
Suitable for practitioners at any stage of their career, regardless of musical background, the sessions support teachers in both mainstream and SEND settings.
Teachers can attend one or more sessions, with each workshop covering different key musical concepts; offering practical, creative approaches, supported by digital resources and are paired with an LSO concert.
Primary sessions led by LSO Animateur Rachel Leach, with LSO musicians
SEND sessions led by LSO Animateur Mark Withers, with LSO musicians
All sessions will take place at LSO St Luke’s unless otherwise stated.
Cost: £25+VAT per session, the cost includes a ticket to an LSO concert.
Special offer: Book two sessions and get the third free!
To book, please fill out the booking form below and for any further questions contact Tara Ramoutar, Schools & Young People Co-ordinator tara.ramoutar@lso.co.uk
Creative Days
Thursday 26 March 2026, 10am-3pm
Using music across the curriculum: We will look at how to incorporate music into different subjects and areas of school life. Using Bernstein’s West Side Story, we will explore how to listen to, write about and recreate the story at the heart of Bernstein’s music – Romeo and Juliet. With curriculum links to literacy (poetry and storytelling), drama, art, PSHE (relationships and wellbeing). Includes a ticket to the LSO performance on Thursday 26 March
Wednesday 15 April 2026, 3-5.30pm
Rhythm: Another back-to-basics session looking at rhythm in the classroom using Shostakovich’s mighty Symphony No 5 as a catalyst. We will learn how to generate, layer and manipulate rhythms to create exciting, dramatic music. We will also tackle how to play and stay together rhythmically.Includes a ticket to the LSO performance on Wednesday 15 April
Thursday 14 May 2026, 1-5.30pm
An opera day: How to write simple songs and stage them. Opera is the most collaborative art form encompassing writing, storytelling, movement, drama, art, singing, instruments. In this session we will look at how to create opera in the classroom using a series of fun, hands on activities, using Strauss’s Rosenkavalier, this session is led by both Rachel Leach and writer/ director/ educator Tim Yealland MBE. Includes a ticket to the LSO performance on Thursday 14 May
Wednesday 10 June 2026, 1-5.30pm
Manipulating melody: How to invent and use melody descriptively. Elgar’s Enigma Variations takes one simple tune and manipulates it into 14 musical pictures describing Elgar’s friends, family members, pupils, a house and even a dog! In this session we will learn a simple, adaptable method that can be used to turn any stimulus into music. Includes a ticket to the LSO performance on Wednesday 10 June
Wednesday 1 July, 10am-3pm
Digital Resources: Explore our new digital resources based on Holst’s epic The Planets featuring composing, listening and cross curricular activities that can be adapted for all key stages alongside a stunning new performance of the full work. Includes a ticket to the LSO concert on Wednesday 1 July
Times subject to change
SEND Creative Days
Wednesday 6 May 2026, 1-5.15pm, The National Gallery
Pictures in Sound: Structuring musical ideas. In conjunction with the National Gallery, we will look at how paintings and stories can be the starting point for creating your own pieces of music. Includes a ticket to the LSO concert on Wednesday 20 May
Times subject to change
LSO & LYC Secondary School CPD Sessions
LSO Discovery and London Youth Choirs (LYC) are delighted to come together to offer a joint CPD opportunity for secondary school teachers. Inspired by Bernstein’s West Side Story, these sessions will aim to offer a creative approach to two key topics, composition and singing.
Thursday 19 March, 16:30-18:45
Creative Composition: Led by LSO Animateur Rachel Leach, this hands-on session explores how to use Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story as a stimulus for classroom composition. Teachers will explore how the music is constructed and create their own pieces inspired by it, exploring leitmotif, intervals, syncopation, and cross-curricular connections.
Thursday 21 May, 16:30-18:45
Build a Culture of Singing: Led by Rachel Staunton, Artistic Director of London Youth Choirs, this session uses the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story as a starting point to engage teenagers with its catchy, culturally resonant songs. Participants will explore musical theatre themes, social context, rhythm, harmony, and effective approaches to working with young voices.
Bookings include one complimentary ticket for:
LSO concert, including Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story,
Thursday 26 March, 7.00pm at the Barbican Centre. See full details here.
And one LYC concert,
Find Your Light, Sunday 15 March, 7.30pm at Shoreditch Town Hall
Beyond the Screen, Tuesday 24 March, 7.30pm at St John’s Waterloo. See full details here.
Cost: To attend both sessions: £25 + VAT; To attend one session only: £25 + VAT
Please do get in touch if the fee is a barrier to your school attending. Flexible options available.
Venue: Both sessions will take place at LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street, London, EC1V 9NG
Want to know more?
Get in touch with Adam Grady adam.grady@lso.co.uk if you have any questions.
Teacher Advisory Group
We are recruiting members for our Teacher Advisory Group. This group will play a key role in shaping and strengthening our schools and education offer, ensuring that all our programmes create the greatest possible impact both inside and outside the classroom, guided by the expertise and voices of those working in education. We are recruiting for Primary, Secondary, and SEND groups, and no prior music training is required. The group will meet twice in person, in the Spring and Summer terms in 2026.
Apply
Applications for our Teacher Advisory Group are now open for the 2025/26 programme.
Download the Expression of Interest form below, or for more information, please contact:
Adam Grady Schools Programme Manager
adam.grady@lso.co.uk
This project is generously supported by the Innholders’ Charitable Foundation, Tallow Chandlers Benevolent Fund, Pewterers’ Seahorse Trust and City of London Cultural and Creative Learning Fund.
