Gary Carroll is pictured above with Principal, Mr Oliver Mooney, Music Teacher Mr Peter Slane and ALC Co-Ordinator Mrs Noella Murray

In August 2010, Gary Carroll, a student at Rathore School, received an A grade in his GCSE Music exam. This was a fantastic achievement for Gary as he is the first pupil from Rathore School to sit a GCSE exam. Everyone at Rathore School is extremely proud of him!

After working with Gary on a Music Technology project in Rathore School, Mr. Alan Monteith, SELB Music Service tutor suggested to Mr. Pat Mathers (Music co-ordinator, Rathore School) that it could be possible that Gary could study GCSE music. With the support of Mr. Cassidy, Principal of Rathore School, Mr. Mathers explored a number of avenues to see if this could be achieved.

As part of the collaboration with St. Paul’s High School, Mr. Peter Slane (Music teacher in St. Paul’s High School) assessed Gary and felt that he would be very capable of undertaking this. Mr. Slane worked with him on a one to one basis for a year and then Gary continued his studies at St. Paul’s High School.

Below, Gary tells us in his own words what this achievement meant to him.

“Music has been a way of expressing myself for most of my life it was what I use when I’m happy and when I’m sad. When I first heard I was going to study it I thought this was going to be fun. And I was right! I enjoyed learning about the different elements of music such as dynamics and music terminology and the different genres of music. I began my compositions with arranging my own version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Any Dream Will Do” I enjoyed this very much as I have a passion for musical theatre. I hope to play Joseph one day in the future. My second composition was a piece I wrote myself. What I enjoyed most about it was writing it and picking the different instruments to play along with it. The theory was hard but I enjoyed it greatly as I learned about different areas such as music for celebration, musical traditions in Ireland and musical arrangements. The piece I enjoyed studying the most was “Mack the Knife” because I enjoy at times listening to some swing songs and jazz upbeat songs. My favourite part about music for me is the practical side. I enjoyed learning songs for my exam I got to do a solo and a duet. I performed the man of La Mancha title song and for my duet I performed “You raise me up”. I would like to thank Mr Slane, Mr Mathers and Mr Monteith.”