‘Composerly thinking’: May 2025 Editorial

In February this year I had the pleasure of attending the Listen Imagine Compose Primary Conference at the CBSO Centre. LICP is an action research project involving Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Sound and Music, Birmingham City University, two music hubs, eight primary schools, and nine professional composers. The scale of the project, which includes a published executive summary and ‘Reflection and Progression’ toolkit, is impressive.

LICP aims to develop meaningful and relevant composing activity for children and – importantly – unpick the processes of teaching and learning composing in classrooms. I say importantly because it's the ‘how’ of teaching composition that troubles teachers the most, once past a general lack of confidence. Ofsted, also, points to most schools not considering ‘the underpinning knowledge’ needed by pupils ‘to learn how to construct and deconstruct music’ (Striking the Right Note, Ofsted 2023). In other words, there are ‘unknown unknowns’ as well as a skills gap and lack of CPD. Some delegates from the conference also spoke of primary schools not being the creative space they once were, thanks to timetabling and the types of school objectives.