Cover Lessons for KS3 Music

An invaluable collection of 15 fully resourced, stand-alone cover lessons for each year group. Each worksheet is structured and easy to use, offering a variety of progressive activities. All you need to set meaningful cover – even with no time to prepare.

Useful and imaginative cover lessons...

...imaginative ideas which will engage students...

...clearly set out and easy to follow... exactly what is needed

R Shapey, Music Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Engage your whole class with minimal teacher input!

  • Introduces key musical concepts in an approachable way – meets curriculum requirements in knowledge, listening, composing and performing
  • Diverse range of topics allows you to choose a lesson that fits with your scheme of work
  • Built-in extension tasks ensure even your fastest finishers stay motivated and on-task for the whole lesson
  • It has definitely given me some new ideas... thank you for sharing your resource

    C Riley, Music Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Most lessons require no additional resources or equipment, and answers are provided – meaning you can also use the packs with non-specialist teachers.

What do teachers say about this resource? (11696)

A great resource with a broad range of topics and styles. The lessons are highly differentiated., the extension tasks are brilliant. Almost all the activities can be taught by non-specialist cover teachers. The layout is lovely, clear and engaging. The teacher instructions and guidance is clear and helpful. The resource tick list at the beginning is such a good idea; setting cover can be arduous but this resource makes the planning much easier and more organised. This resource has a wide range of activities; listening, performance and composition. Practice tips are nicely broken down into manageable chunks... I really that the activities are exciting and engaging. Music cover lessons can be quite bland but this resource has a creative approach... I like the inclusion of suggested timings, the “stuck for ideas” addition is such a good idea which will help students and a non specialist covering the lesson and I also like the text box “finding it too hard”.. The resource is accessible for all... The resource has a wide range of topics which are in the National Curriculum and GCSE specs. The topics are age appropriate and challenging for year 9... The listening questions are in the appropriate style for the curriculum. A very good precursor to GCSE as it includes all the required skills.

S Orme, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Excellent resource, very well written... It's easy to use... It helps us to cover in an easy way essential music topics... It can be used both by music teacher and by non-music teacher. We don't really need to set up anything, all instructions are there... Absolutely essential to help cover music lessons when main music teacher is off... Very good.

S Prezioso, Customer & Teacher

I feel that this resource for KS3 Cover is fantastic and works very well. The basic initial task can be completed by all students and gives opportunity to develop thoughts and ideas in a non-threatening way. The use of serialism provides students with all of the details that they need to complete the task, and there is a clear sequence of steps that can be understood by both students and cover or supply teachers.

The resource has clear explanations with the use of numbers and staff notation. This can be particularly useful for students that struggle to use notation effectively and can provide differentiated routes through the whole cover lesson. The aim higher activities provide a brilliant opportunity to stretch and challenge more able students or give additional tasks to those that finish quickly. I can imagine this cover sheet producing some very good results with my current year 9 students.

I feel that this complements a scheme of work on Film Music incredibly well. It gives the students an opportunity to compose a piece of atmospheric music with clear guidance and scaffolding. It could also be used within a scheme of work of serialism or serialist techniques. The resource asks students to consider the story line and think about the impact that music has on a particular part of a story. This allows the student to be musically creative in a cover lesson.

The presentation is clear and well thought out. I like the spaces that are provided for writing thoughts and ideas... The use of the spooky boxes is a really good touch, and it brings a bit of fun to the work that is required.

The resource fits well into the key stage 3 curriculum and could be used as cover at any point in the academic year for all year 9 students. The use of standard notation and the introduction of rhythm for the more able students allows the resource to have a positive impact on learning at KS4. I feel that would be true for all of the exam boards.

I have enjoyed reading through the resource and I feel that this could make a positive contribution to the curriculum at KS3 and beyond.

S Humphries, Head of Music & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (9471)

Incredibly useful and could be used by specialists and non-specialists alike. There are many activities that would engage students and the nature of the tasks themselves are also varied to provide plenty of choice.

Elements of competition and peer assessment are a highlight. The Blues task involving technology would be an excellent choice. The golf task is intriguing, that will go down well in a cover lesson.

Well presented and clear layout of the tasks that involve different resources.

A very useful resource that offers brilliant tasks for teachers to choose from to provide cover for what can be a challenging year group

L Williams, Head of Department & Peer Reviewer

This resource is a pack of useful and imaginative cover lessons, ideal for busy teachers who suddenly find themselves away from a lesson and needing to set work for a class. The summary table is very handy... I liked the imaginative ideas which will engage students – not always easy for a music cover lesson when pupils are expecting practical work! Everything was clearly set out and easy to follow which is exactly what is needed... The extension activities allow for fast-working students so there is always enough work for the whole lesson.

R Shapey, Music Teacher & Peer Reviewer

This resource allows students to have access to a musical experience when specialist staff are unavailable to cover... I particularly like the extension activities for each task. Music lessons are often mixed ability, so this caters for those who need a stretch and challenge as well as being accessible for all... If setting up a new or a single-person department and looking to save time, this is a good investment.

M Durnell, HoD & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (6437)

There are simple, practical activities linked to many of the topics to help make the subject matter come to life. It is a useful collection of meaningful activities that allow students to continue to progress through the year 7 scheme even in your absence.

V Manderson, HoD & Customer

Great use of creative activities for pupils to demonstrate knowledge they have learnt. I like that you have covered a variety of topics and explained the purpose of the resource clearly, as well as the purpose of topics covered. Having the answers is useful for non-subject specialists and for peer-marking... Plenty of potential to use literacy skills and learn key words. Creative activities and extensions demonstrate their understanding. It has definitely give me some new ideas... thank you for sharing your resource.

C Riley, Music Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A good resource which would allow a non-specialist to cover lessons whilst still covering musical content. The practical activities can be done with minimal equipment. Cloze exercises for the instruments of the orchestra and the writing of raps and rhymes would make it interesting for pupils... Provides good follow-up work on typical topics taught during Key Stage 3, and some of the exercises could also be used as starters, plenaries and homework tasks.

N Squires, Music Teacher & Peer Reviewer