PUPILS at Raglan Primary School are set to star in a BBC project.

Ten Pieces is a new initiative for primary schools, led by BBC Learning and the BBC Performing Groups, which focuses on classical music and creativity.

The project takes place over the school year and will culminate in a major celebratory finale in the summer.

As part of the initiative, members of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (NOW) visited Raglan Primary School last Monday (12th January) with the event to be featured as a case study on the BBC website for other schools to develop their own approaches to the Ten Pieces.

Head teacher Jeremy Piper said: "It is a really exciting opportunity and we are delighted to be only one of 20 schools in the UK to be selected.

"We are extremely thankful to Gwent Music for their support in our application, and for working with us to fully develop the potential of the Ten Pieces project.

"The initiative aims to inspire children to develop their own creative responses to pieces of classical music, whether that's through music, dance, digital art, drama, art, writing . . . music can be the stimulus for so much learning and exploration of themes.

"This is a fantastic opportunity not only for the children to experience the whole curriculum using music as the stimulus, but also to create a legacy of the Ten Pieces project that can then support other schools as the year progresses.

"We have been the very first school to be visited and the pupils really looked forward to this wonderful experience."

The day started with a presentation from the BBC team, which included learning more about the piece the pupils are studying – John Adams' "A Short Ride in a Fast Machine" – getting involved in a musical warm-up and finding out about the musicians and their instruments.

The morning held workshops with a musical response to the piece and a non-musical response using digital media. There was a range of artistic, dramatic and dance responses to the pieces throughout the day by different classes, and an opportunity for the school choir to take on Handel's "Zadoc the Priest".

The day ended with a performance of the responses create by the children during the day, and a premiere of the digital media response.

Five BBC orchestras and the BBC Singers are involved in Ten Pieces, as well as celebrities such as Barney Harwood from Blue Peter. There will be web, radio and TV coverage of the initiative by the BBC.

The project is also supported by the Arts Councils England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland, Music Mark, Youth Music, ABO and Into Film.

In addition there are more than 200 Ten Pieces champions supporting the initiative at a local level, including Music Education Hubs, Music Services and specialist music, dance and arts organisations.

For more information on Ten Pieces, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/ten">www.bbc.co.uk/ten

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