I was very impressed with the professionalism and infectious enthusiasm from Pete the Beat with the Knox pupils. 

The pupils from Knox were a mix of pupils with specific needs and pupils who had an interest in drumming and wanted to learning new drumming skills.  The first session was interesting to see how the pupils would mix and learn to work together to form their own 'band' - I was not convinced they would all be able to come together! They all seemed quite embarrassed and shy initially.  By week 4 it was harder to get them all to be quiet as they all wanted to play so much!

Having spoken to the majority of pupils throughout the whole block they seem to have really enjoyed the experience (some even asking if they could do this again next term!)  Along with learning some new drumming and percussion techniques on the various different instruments Pete provided, the pupils have tested their listening skills, group work, concentration and communication skills in a very different way.

In the final week the pupils played what they had learned in a final performance.  The most interesting thing for me to see/hear was everything coming together, (I had heard them the week before!) 

The pupils being able to continue playing their own particular part of the rhythm without being distracted by the other pupils round about them playing slightly different and sometimes contrasting rhythms - the amount of focus they all had was fantastic!

You didn't know you were hearing what you were hearing until parts were 'faded in and out' during the performance - again proving the pupils ability to concentrate on their own part of the whole performance, following cues from Pete.

"From my point of view the project has been a big success. Lots of positive engagement by pupils despite a tricky start and everyone cared about their playing and rhythms as a group. Everyone took ownership of the music and created their own dubstep groove to work with the West African piece we studied. - Peter Vilk"

An all round excellent project for the pupils from Knox Academy to be involved in and we hope to be able to run the project with a different group of pupils again in the future.

J Duff