Latest PMZ News
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Apprentice goodbye and hello - 23/08/2010
Last year's Plymouth Music Zone Music Leader Apprentices have crossed the line with flying colours after a cracking year. Robin Dennehy, Sam Lawson and Lloyd Laverty were the 2009/2010 crop of apprentices and really made their mark. Their certificates will now take pride of place in the PMZ hall of fame in the front entrance and we now look forward to seeing them back as fully fledged Music Leaders. This year's batch of apprentices have also been chosen after a tough round of interviews. A huge welcome to the 2 Music Leader Apprentices, Josie Newton and Alex Short and also to our new Media and Marketing apprentice, Zoe Fell. They all kick off in Sept for what's bound to be another great year.
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Investors in People Award - 04/06/2010
Plymouth Music Zone has been awarded Investors in People status. The quality kitemark recognises organisations who are fully commiited to the training and development of staff. To gain the standard, employers have to not only show that all the proper systems are in place but the employees are interviewed by independent assessors to find out if their learning and training needs really are fully valued. PMZ's Development Director, Debbie Geraghty, says "The assessors were struck by just how passionate the team is here at PMZ and it's lovely to be recognised for what we already knew was the case all along! Training and development is central to Plymouth Music Zone's work with participants and this award proves the team are just as important".
Farewell Fair Matt - 28/05/2010
Everyone at PMZ wants to say a huge goodbye and thank you to our Devonport Music and Youth Worker, Matt Spry, who has completed his two year programme and is now moving on to a great job elsewhere. Matt was in charge of all our DRCP funded Devonport activities and has made a real impact on the area in the lifetime of the "Devonport - the Legacy" project. As a youth worker he was well used to working with children and young people but he even managed to raise his game and a few eyebrows when he helped with our Devonport Silver Sound sessions for the over 50s. Matt also completed our inhouse training programme, "Soundskills - the Music Leader" and developed a real passion for working with children with special educational needs. He will be missed by everyone but we wish him all the luck in the world with his new job over at the Zone.
ZoobieDoo - PMZ Publishes Book - 09/03/2010
Plymouth Music Zone is publishing a unique multi-sensory music, singing and activity resource called "ZoobieDoo". The book was originally created for children in special educational needs settings as part of a national pilot run by the Sing Up Beyond the Mainstream programme that aims to improve singing for children outside of mainstream settings. PMZ was one of 14 national pilots that led to working with children in special schools throughout Plymouth to use technology to help children to 'find their voice'. The project then took on a life of its own and the children helped inspire 8 songs and 6 characters who now feature in the resource. One of the characters, Bernard the Gurnard, appears throughout the book in a hot air balloon and is billed as the "ultimate fish out of water on a voyage of discovery with some weird and wonderful friends". ZoobieDoo uses a story, pictures, characters, creative activities and songs to explore different landscapes and environments and also comes with a CD of original songs and a resource CD Rom. Plymouth Music Zone hopes to sell the resource alongside training and any proceeds will be ploughed back into music education. ZoobieDoo will also be available for sale on Amazon or directly from PMZ priced £29.99. Check out the song on the audio section of the PMZ home page to give you some idea of what to expect...
No Weeds Allowed! - 25/11/2009
A group of young people have battled rain and wind to transform Plymouth Music Zone’s garden. A dozen Prince’s Trust volunteers took a number of weeks to design and complete the PMZ garden make over. It features a gigantic piano painted on the ground, huge artworks, flowers planted inside old guitars and newly built planters with special sensory plants for the disabled children who attend the charity’s summer music sessions – oh and not forgetting a garden gnome. The volunteers are part of an initiative called Team 155 which is a 12 week programme for 16-25 year olds that sets out to build workplace skills such as confidence, teamwork, motivation and communications skills. The project is delivered by City College Plymouth and backed by Plymouth Argyle. Plymouth Argyle defender Gary Sawyer and Associate Director Captain David Tall have already visited the revamped garden and congratulated the young people on the final result. Team 155 will now be celebrating its opening with a free music session where they will create a special rap with one of PMZ’s Music Leaders.
