Despite national initiatives in the UK such as Creative Partnerships, an organization formed in 2002 for exploring creative approaches to learning in the classroom, there is still a gap between aspiration and practice. This is especially evident in the teaching of musical composition in primary schools, partly because there seems to be a profound fear of music, especially for many primary school teachers who are not music specialists, and a lack of knowledge of participatory practice. This article describes the development of a resource for facilitating compositional processes using classroom management skills, as adapted from Knowles's "contract learning". I will also highlight the creative tensions raised by the sometimes conflicting approaches of instruction and facilitation. (Contains 1 note.)