What is Little Woodland Heights?
Little Woodland Heights is a programme of interactive music-making sessions for children aged 8-11 exploring connections between forest ecology and music. The programme was designed by composer and educator Nick Roth and has been delivered in schools in Ireland and Ukraine. CoMA is excited to partner with Nick to deliver the first iteration in the UK.
Over the course of 10 weeks, children learn about biodiversity and the crossover with composition. They embark on a field trip to a forest where each child chooses their own tree to write a short piece of music about. Mentors support the children to take sound recordings in the forest, to draw the tree and pay close attention to its features. These features are then connected to musical elements: the branch structure informs rhythm, the leaf patterns melody. At the end of the programme, children perform their compositions alongside planting new trees within their school grounds.
The project nurtures listening and notation skills, creativity in music and science, awareness of the environment, understanding of importance of trees in nature and culture and connection between Science & Arts.
See where Little Woodland Heights (LWH) has taken place so far!
2026 Delivery
April – June 2026:
Frazer Merrick and Steph Masucci from CLIP will deliver the programme at Broke Hall Primary School, Suffolk, UK
Rick Peat (CoMA Connect the Dots 2025 participant) and Frazer Merrick (CLIP) will deliver the programme at Sandlings Primary School, Suffolk, UK
Simon Roth and Francesca Le Lohé will deliver the programme at Beatrice Tate Secondary School for SEND learners, London, UK
September – November 2026:
The programme will also be delivered at Barrow CEVC Primary School, Bury St Edmunds, UK
2025 Delivery
April – June 2025:
Sophie Cooper (CoMA Connect the Dots participant) and Mark Williamson delivered the programme in Cornholme Primary School, Todmorden, UK.
Fiona Linnane and Tríona Walsh from Limerick New Music Ensemble delivered the programme in Effin School (Scoil Mhuire Eimhin), Limerick, Ireland, with teacher Nuala Dooly.
Thanks to a Documentation Award from Ireland’s national Arts in Education online portal, you can watch a video of the project in Limerick below:
2024 Delivery
September – November 2024:
Facilitators Alexandra Skevington (CoMA Connect the Dots participant) and Simon Roth delivered the programme for Year 4 children in Mowlem Primary School, Tower Hamlets, London
LWH in your school
Interested in delivering this project in your school?
Please get in touch with Project Manager Francesca Le Lohé at francesca@coma.org for more details.
See how the project developed at Gaelscoil na Fuinseoige primary school in Ireland:
With the support of Diaphonique, Franco-British-Irish fund for classical contemporary music in partnership with the SACEM, the Friends of the French Institute Trust, the British Council, the Institut français, the Institut français du Royaume-Uni, the Centre National de la Musique, Culture Ireland, the Salabert Fondation and Samuel Gardner Memorial Trust.
