Thurso High In Rock Challenge 2019 Final

24th May 2019

Congratulations to the group from Thurso High for making it to the Rock Challenge 2019 finals.

Eight Rock Challenge and J Rock events have now taken place across Scotland, involving thousands of young people, teachers, and members of the local community.

The Rock Challenge® is an excellent opportunity for young people to perform in a professional venue. This experience encourages an adrenalin-based high gained through performing, rather than using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs, as well as providing proven and evidenced benefits above and beyond these original objectives.

Involving 19 schools from across North Lanarkshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and the Highlands, the finals are a fantastic celebration of the time and effort schools put into their performances. Over 1,500 students will take part across the two finals.

Rock Challenge Event Manager, Charlotte Payne, is looking forward to the spectacular shows: "We have seen some outstanding performances this year and I cannot wait to see what the schools bring to the stage for our Scottish Finals! This year is particularly exciting as we are holding our first ever Scottish J Rock Final! The spirit and passion of the students this year has been amazing and I think every student, teacher and community member should be very proud of all they have achieved!"

Global Rock Challenge 2019 Scottish Final on Friday 14th June 2019.

Primary schools J Rock Scottish final is on Saturday 15th June 2019.

Originating in Australia, Global Rock Challenge events have been staged since 1988 in 120 locations throughout; Australia, New Zealand, Japan, United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany and United Arab Emirates, with over 1 million participants globally. The Rock Challenge was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1996 by Hampshire Constabulary with the aim to help young people enjoy school and live pro-active and positive lifestyles free of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.

The Rock Challenge is universally inclusive with secondary schools, colleges, academies, schools catering for students with special needs and independent schools from all backgrounds taking part. Due to the popularity of the initiative the junior version, J Rock, for young people aged 7-11, was also introduced to the UK and in 2019 enters its 15th year.

These benefits are evidenced in the questionnaires completed by students and teachers throughout our 2018 tour. 5001 out of 6122 J Rock™ respondents reported that they had made new friends through the initiative, with 93% of students reporting that J Rock™ had improved their relationships with teachers. Relations were also improved for Rock Challenge® participants, 6512 of 8909 students felt they had improved relationships with teachers, 89% reported they had made new friends through Rock Challenge, and 93% felt their teamwork skills had improved as a result. Of the Rock Challenge respondents, 7,865 felt their self-esteem had improved, with 93% of teachers also reporting that they felt their student's self- esteem had improved. 34% of responding J Rock and Rock Challenge teachers felt that anti- social behaviour had decreased at their school; and, as is the aim of the event, a fantastic 89% of teachers believed that Rock Challenge had allowed their students to achieve a ‘natural high' through performing, instead of using drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.

The competitions are professionally produced events held in major theatre venues across the United Kingdom. Schools will spend the day rehearsing in front of their peers and supporting one another before performing their 5-8 minute dance, drama and design piece to a live audience of friends, family, VIP guests and a panel of judges. Marked in three criteria areas- production, design and performance- schools are presented on stage at the end of the evening show with Awards of Excellence in a variety of areas. The top placing teams are also announced and qualify through to a regional final where they are invited to compete with other winners from across the country.

As the standard of productions have improved year on year a ‘Northern Premier' and ‘Southern Premier' Division have also been developed to allow teams reaching a high level of achievement to compete against teams of a similar standard. These ‘Premier Teams' showcase at local events before competing in their respective final.

See the rock Challenges pages at https://www.facebook.com/RockChallenge