PRIMARY MUSIC · YEARS 5 & 6 · SUMMER 2026
Two classes. Ten weeks. Every pupil composing their own music. At a primary school in Derby, one class teacher used the school’s tablets to take pupils from first sounds to a live performance.
Music on the devices they already had
The teacher led every lesson independently, without a teaching assistant or previous experience teaching music technology. After completing the portal’s on-demand training, they used Swipe on the existing class tablets and followed the teaching resources week by week.
Pupils explored house, drum and bass, UK garage and hip-hop. Arrownotes sat alongside traditional notation as they developed their own musical ideas, ending the ten-week term with a performance for school visitors.
Enjoyment that lasted beyond the first lesson
The school case study reports sustained whole-class engagement across the ten weeks. All pupils were reported to have rated the lessons 5 out of 5 for enjoyment.
“Pupils who would normally struggle with engagement are on task much more often, and pupils who lack confidence are showing a much more confident approach to music.”
Class teacher, Derby primary school
Confidence to keep teaching
At the end of the term, the teacher rated both their confidence to deliver the next unit independently and their willingness to recommend Digit Music to a colleague at 5 out of 5.
Source: Digit Music’s Derby primary case study, summer 2026. This account covers two upper-KS2 classes and one teacher. The report does not state pupil numbers, the response count or the survey method. These are reported experiences and ratings from this setting, not a comparison with another programme.