ONCE again, the music department has had a very busy yet enjoyable year.

Several new bands were started this year, including the highly popular Glam Rock band (playing songs by bands such as Sweet and T-Rex) and the year nine band, who play classics such as In The Midnight Hour very well.

A high point of the year was the annual Pyramid concert, performed at the Glades Arena, which was the last Pyramid concert of the current school system.

The school was given a grant by the Lottery, enabling us to make this year's concert bigger and better than any before.

Highlights included a DVD being made of the concert itself as well as all the preparations, glitter cannons and Dave Hill from Slade appearing as the special guest compére.

Irish Band did a winter tour of the Pyramid schools, an unprecedented venture that went down very well with students, teachers and the musicians themselves, who thoroughly enjoyed the tour.

The sixth form music students had a trip to Birmingham to see a minimalist concert, which proved to be very popular.

The music was delivered using a 20 strong speaker system, and the students were entertained and inspired by the music, which was written by students at Birmingham University.

For the third year in a row, approximately 40 music students went to Austria to play in front of different audiences at many different venues, as well as see the sights and generally have a good time.

The End of Year CD - featuring students' own pieces of work as well as songs recorded by the bands - sold very well. In fact, demand was so great all the CDs had been sold by the middle of the week.

Another highlight of the year was gaining Music College status which comes into effect in September, at the start of Wolverley C of E Secondary School. This has been very exciting for both students and teachers, as it enables us to place more emphasis on musical education.

Mr Mallinson has plans to form many more bands; there will be brand new computers to work on and the entire studio will be revamped to make it digital.

Two new music teachers will be starting in September, and the students are looking forward to welcoming and working with them. We're sure that, given Mr Mallinson's enthusiasm and devotion to music, the department will continue to go from strength to strength.

By JENNY LOBLEY