Thanks to the support of Youth Music, using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, students at Olive AP Academy – Havering are reaping the rewards of high-quality music education in partnership with Havering Music School and FutureDJs.
A recent case study of year 11 Olive AP – Havering student ‘LA’ shows the benefits of regular one-to-one drumming lessons combined with a range of holistic therapeutic interventions.
The case study highlights that since starting at the academy, our student’s attendance has increased by nearly 24% to 86.4%, and he has earned 777 points for good behaviour and good work – three times above the school’s average.
Access to regular music lessons is taking LA to the next level, his self-confidence has improved greatly, as has his drumming! He is visibly excited every single time he studies with our new one-to-one teacher; it is wonderful to see how happy he is when he masters new techniques.
Following on from a highly successful DJ learning programme, additional support was secured from Innovate UK to create an immersive DJ recording studio with Pioneer DJ decks and multi-media technologies. Virtual and face-to-face accredited lessons are taking place as part of the academy’s standard curriculum, which will link music with academic study.
It’s clear how beneficial the amazing support from FutureDJs and Havering Music School is to our talented students, not only creatively, but in all areas – resulting in better attendance, significant academic progress and an increase in good behaviour.
It just goes to show the importance of arts in education and we are extremely proud of this exciting opportunity for our students.
Head of Academy, Gary Haines
Karen Tweddle, Principal of Havering Music School, added:
Havering Music School is delighted to be working with Olive Academies. We have achieved so much in under a year despite being in the middle of a pandemic.
From fully funded drum teaching and FutureDJ lessons to new and exciting Arts and Music Fusion projects, we are really putting creativity at the forefront of the students’ lives in Havering.
We are extremely pleased to be partnered with Olive AP Academy – Havering and Havering Music School on our Innovate UK project to research and develop this exciting new virtual classroom ’SmartStudio’ technology application for music tuition.
We were able to provide an opportunity for 50 students from around the UK, including a group of Olive Academy students, to take part in the world’s first Graded and accredited DJ course.
Students have been provided with a set of Pioneer DJ decks and our ‘How to DJ’ book (Faber Music Publishing) to help them to make the most out of the course.
The SmartStudio creates an online virtual learning experience like no other, where participants can be seen on large screens and heard with directional audio as if ‘in the room’. The learner has an interface giving them TV studio-like control of their experience where they are able to select different camera views, work on shared whiteboards and engage in interactive polls and discussion.
Hugh Shepherd, Chief of Staff of FutureDJs