Customize Consent Preferences

Although we do not uses cookies on our website, a number of third party websites may use cookies through our website.

This Cookies Policy explains what cookies are and how third-parties may use cookies on our website. It also explains your choices regarding cookies.

Cookies are small pieces of text sent by your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the website or a third-party website to recognize you and make your next visit easier and the website more useful to you. Essentially, cookies are a user’s identification card for the web server.

Cookies allow websites to serve you better and more efficiently, and to personalize your experience.

Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies.

Various third-party websites, who's facilities we use on our website, may use cookies to report usage statistics and refine marketing efforts. These include YouTube and Google Analytics.

Follow on-site behaviour and tie it to other metrics allowing better understanding of usage habits.
Optimization cookies. Allow real-time tracking of user conversion from different marketing channels to evaluate their effectiveness.

Provide marketing conversion metrics to partners.

If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser.

The Joy of Band

As the summer holidays drew to a close, a group of music students were able to experience three fantastic days of intensive music making at the College. This was Band Camp 2022.

The college Bandcamp once again gave students a challenging, positive, and motivating learning environment based upon the current musical development.

An impressive array of tutors gave master classes, took rehearsals, and gave individual lessons to the college musicians.

It was certainly not all hard work, as intermingled into the timetable were teambuilding activities to allow the young people to hone their team skills which of course is so important in a musical ensemble.

The musicians worked on challenging music and this camp had the focus of a new composition commissioned by the college community to celebrate the tenure of former headteacher Paul Dickinson. The work by the college brass tutor and outstanding composer, Adam Roberts, has as a central theme, the sounding of the college Bell System. This is an impressive work and at its world premiere at awards evening in the new academic year will be a great success and also a tremendous tribute to the legacy of former headteacher Paul Dickinson. Mr Dickinson of course was a tremendous supporter and advocate for music education so this is a fitting way to commemorate his legacy.

At the conclusion of the final concert on the Saturday, parents, audience, and band members were treated to a visit by the local ice cream van.  A special thanks to band members for all the hard work, dedication, and commitment they showed throughout the intensive three days.

Mr Chris Tratt, Senior Band Director, said at the conclusion of the Bandcamp, “Students are always a joy to work with, they show commitment, motivation, and loyalty to the music program of the college. We are deeply impressed with their resilience and commitment to achieving high standards in all that they do. Thank you, and yes “only the best will do”.

Did you know?

“Music education greatly enhances students’ understanding and achievement in non-musical subjects. For example, a ten-year study, which tracked over 25,000 middle and high school students, showed that students in music classes receive higher scores on standardized tests than students with little to no musical involvement. The musical students scored, on average, sixty-three points higher on the verbal section and forty-four points higher on the math sections of the SATs than non-music students (Judson). When applying to colleges, these points could be the difference between an acceptance letter and a rejection letter”.