Summer School for Young People who have Learning Disabilities 2018

We ran our Inclusive Summer Schools for 2 weeks during August. The first, for young people aged 18-24 who have learning disabilities was well attended, and we focused on having fun, being creative, and finally - independent band work! This was  a new thing for us as previously our summer schools and workshops had always relied on staff playing instruments alongside our young musicians - but this time we did it, there were 2 bands created, a soft-rock/ambient sounding band, and a punk band. By the end of the week each band could play independently. The singer in the punk band, ended his performance with a spontaneous spectatle of eating his own lyrics! 

The second week was for young people from 8 years up to 18, also fully subscribed,  provided some peer mentoring possibilities for 3 of the young musicians who had attended the previous week! As you can see in the video, there is a very moving scene where 2 peer mentors help an 8 year old (who was non-verbal, with both autism and down's syndrome) to try out the drum kit. 

As regards material, we worked on 3 Michael Jackson songs (including Thriller), did lots of free-styling with the mic, worked on band work - and there was lots of dancing! One of the highlights was a dance-off between males and females with staff having to join in too! You can see our Music Director Neil up against the awesome skills of Rebecca, one of our young musicians, in the video. 

The video is a montage of some of our happiest moments!