Sarah Goldsmith was the inspiring teacher featured in the Don’t Stop The Music TV series, who was drafted in to help boost the music department of St Teresa’s school in Basildon. She shares her top tips on how to engage school children in music lessons.

1. Start by focusing on music that the children already know and love and then move them into new things they haven't heard before. It’s good to explore a range of musical genres and find something unusual or interesting about the music to share with the children.

2. Allow the children to respond to the music through movement. Also, ask them to use their imaginations to think of colours, pictures and people that the music reminds them of.

3. When I am getting the children to play together, I try to make sure the pieces are contrasting: some with challenging rhythms, others which have a range of dynamics, something fast, something slower and something more lyrical etc.

4. Ultimately, I make sure that the music the children are playing helps them to communicate something. I try to find a story in the music and make sure the children understand its meaning and convey this to their audience.

5. Children need something to work towards, so I try to make sure they know what the general aim is and understand the context of the performance and what their audience will enjoy.

6. With any group I work with, I try and establish routines early on (where instrument cases will go, what order to set up in, how to behave in rehearsals and performances etc.)

7. For class management, I establish a 'stop and listen to me' signal. I try and make this something that I play and then they can copy me. This means I can change the signal and develop it as the children develop.

Do you have any top tips for teaching music to school children? Tweet us at @JamesRhodesDSTM using the hashtag #DontStopTheMusic

Read what happened next at St Teresa's School in Basildon. Are they still playing music? Only one way to find out...

Instrument Amnesty