#PromsInThePlayground - take part! | Brass Bands England

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#PromsInThePlayground - take part!

Learn all about the Proms in the Playground initiative here

The next #PromsInThePlayground will take place 30 June - 18 July 2025. All brass bands and schools are invited to take part!

Now an annual event in its fourth year, #PromsInThePlayground is the initiative that encourages community bands to connect with their local schools by offering a performance in their playground. As well as getting young people excited about brass banding, this initiative will help bands forge and strengthen relationships with organisations around them. For those bands that want to go beyond just a performance, the initiative is an ideal opportunity to offer a taster session so school children can learn about the opportunities in your brass band.

It's also a chance for bands to:

  • Participate in a national initiative
  • Benefit from #PromsInThePlayground promotion from Brass Bands England
  • Make new connections for your band
  • Gain free advice and support from the BBE Brass Foundations team
  • Support the players of the future 

…and be a part of an enthusiastic community of musicians and educators across the country!

The 2025 campaign will take place between 30 June - 18 July. Summer calendars get booked up quickly, so now's the time to book your performance! If you a confirmed event, let us know so we can support your project.

#PromsInThePlayground resources

For 2024, the Brass Foundations team created all-new resources to be used in schools, targeted towards EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and can be used either to prepare the children for your upcoming event or to reflect upon it, so pre- or post-event.

Case studies

Want to see the positive impact the initiative has had on previous participants? We'll be adding case studies here.

FAQ

#PromsInThePlayground (PiTP) is growing year on year. More and more brass bands and schools are making valuable musical connections to benefit our children and give them an experience to remember, and it’s fabulous!

One slight hitch that has become apparent over the four years of PitP is that of schools finding a band to link to. Those connections made that are initiated by brass bands to schools have worked really well. It has proved more difficult to make that link in reverse, from schools to bands.

To fix this, we would like to create a national database of brass bands which schools can refer to and contact their nearest bands if they would like to take part in this opportunity. We would like those brass bands that can, to get in touch with us  (#PromsInThePlayground Database) to tell us that they are one of those bands:

Register for the #PromsInThePlayground Database

We think that being part of the database will not only create valuable community links for your band but may also provide evidence of your commitment to community initiatives when applying for funding.

With this in mind, here are some FAQs which your band might like to know before your make yourselves available on the database:

My band isn’t able to pull together a full brass band in the middle of a working day. Is a small group ok?

Yes! Any group of brass instrumentalists will be fine, so long you have music which is playable (and listenable to) for the combination of musicians that you have. 

Do bear in mind that if you have older children of school age in your bands it might be that at this stage of the year (30 June- 18 July) that they might be granted time out of school to do this. It’s worth asking. You’ll need to make appropriate arrangements surrounding a BOPA if you do.

Do we have to be DBS checked to enter a school?

No! A DBS check is required if you are going to be working with children without supervision. You do not need to be left alone with the children but it does mean that you will be supervised by a suitably ‘checked’ member of staff whilst you remain on school premises.

How long do we need to plan to play for?

Some schools will use the opportunity for other musical activities to showcase what they have done when you visit - this should be encouraged, particularly if they have whole class brass lessons going on in the school or have individual players at the school. 

For others, you will be the main event. Liaising with the school’s music coordinator, subject leader, head of department, peripatetic brass teacher or even the headteacher, will clarify things for you. Somewhere between 15-30 minutes of music will cover most eventualities, though you may not need that much on the day.

What kind of music should we be playing?

#PromsInThePlayground could be a big opportunity to share what brass banding is all about with the school community. Children love to hear music that they know and they’re likely to respond by singing and dancing if the music is right. Well known Disney tunes, TV themes, recent pop tunes or really well known pop anthems are great if you want to hook the children in and get them excited about what we do.

As an example of music that you could use, friend of Brass Bands England, Mark Harrison, has arranged some pieces in 4 parts for the purpose of small groups playing at #PromsInThePlayground events. You can hear these here: PitP Playlist - Mark Harrison.

Will we be able to promote our training band at the school?

It’s certainly a great opportunity to be able to raise awareness and even recruit players to your beginner or training band. It would be a good idea to have some sort of handout (either physical copies or a digital file) to share with children and parents ready to share with the school contact, stating what a great local opportunity it is for the school’s children to get involved in and the days and times of your sessions. 

It is most likely that the school will share these on your behalf.

We are a brass ensemble, not a brass band, and we don’t have a training band, is this for us?

Yes! If you can get children enthusiastic about playing brass instruments, it’s absolutely for you. If you could contact your local brass band prior to your visit so that they can provide some handouts, you might be able to signpost any children or parents to them. 

Can we take photos and videos of our visit?

It’s unlikely that you will be able to take photos and videos as some children will not have parental permissions for this. Schools will undoubtedly be taking photos and videos, however, with knowledge of which children cannot be photographed. You will then be able to share the schools’ social media posts to get the word out about your performance. And please tag us so that we know all about it too. Use the hashtag #PromsInThePlayground and search for Brass Foundations on Instagram and X, and Brass Band England on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Is there anything else we should know about?

Yes! In addition to sharing your musical talent with the children, Brass Foundations have also produced some #PromsInThePlayground resources for teachers and children to use in school in the lead up to or around the time of your visit. The free package includes a range of curricular tasks and activities which are suitable for children from EYFS to year 6, with a focus on Key Stage 2. They include practical and written tasks and even a song (with full band parts), aptly called “Brass!”

Proms in the Playground resources | Brass Bands England

What information do you need from us in order to join the PitP Brass Band Database?

We want to know if you are interested in being on board with being a PitP band.

We will need to know:

  • The name of your band
  • Your band’s main contact
  • How many musicians you have who would be ready to play
  • How long a programme you can put together to perform for the children (in minutes of music playable)
  • Your available dates during the PitP window (30 June - 18 July 2025)

Proms in the Playground Database

I’ve got another question that isn’t here…

Ok, get in touch with us here; brassfoundations@bbe.org.uk.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.