Andrew Parry's Rock School is the highlight of our year - It is something we are very proud of and feel it is quite unique in the Kent musical landscape. As teachers, we are all musicians, so we love playing together in bands, groups, ensembles and orchestras - it is the most fun! So the idea behind Andrew Parry's Rock School is to share that experience with young people who may or may not get the chance to do that. We split our rock schools up into age ranges, so children get to play music together with other people of a similar age. We do a primary, secondary and an advanced course, and run courses in Maidstone and Whitstable, so hopefully there is something for everyone.

The rock schools are open to both people who have played an instrument before, and to those who have never - they are intended to be very inclusive. We usually start each course by getting to know each other, then giving everyone a chance to play all of the common band instruments - guitars, keyboards and drums. We then split the group into different bands and support the children in learning some covers. It is a rock school, but we cover lots of different genres - indie, folk, pop, metal, hip-hop and electronic music, as well as rock of course! We then do a concert at the end of the course to showcase what we have been working on to parents. We record this and send a MP3 download to participants at the end of the summer!

The advanced rock school is a much more independent course than our younger rock schools. It is open to students who are more advanced on their instrument and who have experience of playing in bands, but want to progress even further in this area. So on this course, we do more work on honing in on parts, working on dynamics and textures of songs, and thinking more about performances and how we can prepare best for these. This includes thinking about song transitions, equipment such as pedals, and being engaging performers. We also work on song-writing and improvising. The advanced course ends with a gig in the town centre, and students are responsible for all aspects of this, from setting up and doing the sound, to packing away!