About Michelle Dhillon

Rockhaq is coming to Judgemeadow Community College in Leicester! Like Moat Community College, Ofsted say it’s a good school with many outstanding features. Judgemeadow Community College are the first secondary

I’ve just finished the second of our school journalism workshops at Moat Community College in Leicester and am chuffed with how it’s going so far. I’d like to share the progress the Year 8’s are making in an update on the Rockhaq community. Yes, we will cover swearing! Big shout out and thanks to Moat Community College’s awesome English literacy co-ordinator Veena Shaunak too, who definitely knows exactly how to motivate her class.
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Welcome to our Music student interview with Mark Wong. This is part of a series of interviews we’re running with Rockhaq pilot students. Rockhaq workshops were first piloted in 2011-2012 with students from colleges in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Some of our original pilot students have now returned to the new community. We thought you may like to hear how Rockhaq workshops helped a pupil studying BTEC Music Technology, hence this Music student interview.
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Rockhaq school workshops have landed at Moat Community College in Leicester! Ofsted say it’s a good school with many outstanding features. It’s also the first secondary school in Leicester to

Welcome to our English student interview with Sam Brookes. This is part of a series of interviews we’re running with Rockhaq pilot students. Although we’ve just relaunched the Rockhaq community, the project was first piloted in 2011-2012 with students from colleges in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Some of our original pilot students have now returned to the new community. We thought you may like to hear how Rockhaq workshops helped a pupil studying A Level English, hence this English student interview.
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We’ve been discussing this for a while now – we’re also ready to announce a UK-wide/international competition too! – and we’re finally launching a special Leicester ArtBeat Festival writing competition. Huzzah, etc.

What’s this all about and why Leicester? Well I’m straight outta Leicester and grew up in Clarendon Park, and it’s my unique way of giving something back to the place. This is where I went to school, read rather obsessively and went to my first gigs. They changed my life, made me who I am *violins* and this is why I ran a special Rockhaq workshop for ArtBeat Festival last year.
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As most of you will know, the legendary David Bowie passed away on 10 January 2016. He was just 69 years old. Along with the rest of the world it seems, Team Rockhaq and some of our community members were in shock on hearing this news. David Bowie’s musical influence on the 20th and 21st centuries just can’t be stated enough.
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I remember when this album was released back in 2000 – and I also remember the reaction of some ‘die-hard’ Radiohead fans I knew at the time. Many, no doubt hoping for a return of the anaesthetised acoustic-guitar pop of their commercial breakthrough The Bends, were disappointed. I even knew one fan who described most of the tracks on Kid A as ‘rubbish’ and felt angry and betrayed at having to listen to these tracks when they went to see Radiohead live in 2000. Mind you, what do most fans really know about music?
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A couple of weeks ago we finally opened the Rockhaq community to all members, and to celebrate this ‘soft’ launch we held free music journalism workshops for teenagers at Costa Coffee Queens Road, as part of ArtBeat Festival 2015.
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You may be wondering where we disappeared to over the past 20 months.

As so often happens, real life gets in the way and stops progress, which is a shame.