“It gives you a confidence boost really. It was great working with musicians. I’d like to do other stuff like this when I come here in September.” Dionne Riedel, age 10

Project Background
Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin YMAZ (Youth Music Action Zone) has a strong Transition programme in place.  The transition period between primary and secondary school is a time when young people develop their musical identity, often using music as an accessory to their personality in the difficult new school environment.  Perversely, at this time of growing musical interest, music disappears from the school curriculum.  The Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin YMAZ has been working with children in the transition period to help make the step from primary to secondary school a bit more seamless; offering young people a chance to acclimatize to their new school and enhance their musical interests in the right context. 

Project Details
The Rock School project was run from the Sutherland School in Telford.  The participants were drawn from the Sutherland School’s feeder primary schools, many of which operate in areas with significant social challenges.  The project comprised of a week of events where young people worked with professional musicians from Zip Rock School, a community music company in Wolverhampton.

What Happened?
The students sang and played instruments in the workshops, which involved vocal and physical warm ups, presentation skills, mic. technique and voice projection practice to prepare for a performance showcase at the end of the week in front of invited friends and family.  Performing in front of so many people was a very gratifying experience, both for the audience and the young people on stage. 

What Was Achieved?
Sutherland School’s Head of Performing Arts, Claire Harris, said, “On the first day the children were very quiet and nervous, by the second day we had them all jamming in different practice rooms and building confidence. It is fantastic and incredibly inspiring to see these kids working together and playing music in such a positive way.” Some of the positive outcomes of transition projects like Rock School were already evident, she noted, “Even little things like knowing where the drama studio is and where the toilets are - knowing a face that you can talk to in Year 7 on the first day will make things easier for the children.”
Dionne Riedel aged 10 who sang a gospel song as part of an all girl trio said, “After practicing all week it wasn’t that scary performing on stage – it gives you a confidence boost really. It was great working with musicians; they taught us how to project our voices and how to hold a microphone. I’d like to do other stuff like this when I come here in September.”
To finish, the concert was recorded and the students taking part will be presented with a CD when they arrive at the school in September.

What Next?
One of the other focuses of the Hereford, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin YMAZ is on sustainability: there is no point in creating a really good project template and training many talented people to run it and only seeing it reach fruition once.  The Rock School project has been spread to other schools within the YMAZ and is benefiting more people year on year.

Words:  Lizzy King

www.newrootsonline.org
www.ziptheatre.co.uk

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Editor’s Notes:

1. Youth Music funds and facilitates music-making for young people up to the age of 18, particularly those living in areas of social and economic need. By 2010, Youth Music aims to have reached 3 million children and young people in a nationwide strategy to support youth music-making. More information is available at www.youthmusic.org.uk

2. New Roots is one of 24 Youth Music Action Zones set up by Youth Music in England and Wales, providing music-making activities to young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity. Since December 2000, the Zones have been made up of established organisations from the public, voluntary and private sector. They cover all genres of music and deliver a wide range of activities including workshops, rehearsals, performances, one-to-one, teaching and mentoring. More information is available at www.youthmusic.org.uk