The organisers of the second North Ayrshire Children’s Festival, being held this week, geared up teenagers for the event with a series of workshops called Rock School. About 60 15 to 18-year-olds from across the district signed up for the week-long course, which aimed to coach them in instrumental and performing skills.

The course at St Michael’s Academy, Kilwinning, which was financially supported by the Scottish Arts Council and the Musicians’ Union, was designed for youngsters who miss out on traditional musical education involving choirs and orchestras and instead want to play in bands. The difficulty was pitching the course at the right level to suit a diverse set of teenagers with different interests and skills.

Workshop leader and local musician Keith Marwick said: “Whatever the kids wanted to do, we had to ensure that they are better at it now than they were on Monday.”

A question and answer session followed a performance by the MU band. Some of the teenagers were then invited to perform and given tips, such as how a slightly different arrangement might be more effective or how a different playing technique would project the guitar.

“We were able to pass on our experience, which kids otherwise won’t get for a long time,” said Mr Marwick.

A talk on the overall state of the Scottish music industry covered record labels and venues. James Watt College of Further and Higher Education, in Greenock, Inverclyde, gave a presentation outlining some of its courses, which include music management. It also gave hands-on experience of recording using a mixing desk and a digital drum machine.

“Not everyone can be in a band that gets signed by a major label, but there are still hundreds of career paths in the music industry,” said Mr Marwick.

The group’s talents will be showcased tonight at Irvine’s Magnum Theatre.

Rock School’s sibling course for the 12-14 age group, Pop School, followed a similar route, focussing on instrumental tuition. The session was held during the October holiday at Irvine’s Harbour Arts Centre.

Artscool, an out-of-school activity which has been running since March, prepared for its part in the children’s festival by starting four activities, involving 400 children at 15 venues, during the October holidays.

Children from Ardeer, Hayocks and St John’s Primary schools in Stevenston and John Galt Primary in Irvine were all working towards a short public performance in festival week. Each school was concentrating on a different art form - dance, music, drama and art - and every group incorporated this festival’s European theme into their production. John Galt employed European artists as a stimulus; the Orient Express was the spur for a drumming train at St John’s; and the dancers at Hayocks were using ribbons coloured like the European Union flag.

Artscool, which is funded by the Scottish Arts Council and so far has involved 1,000 children from 20 schools, is not directly related to the curriculum but, says co-ordinator Simon Ross, during the nine months it has been operating it has already had a positive effect on the children’s learning by developing their understanding of the art forms in a way they don’t have a chance to in school hours. Mr Ross is also pleased that the project is forcing out stereotypes: at least a third of the participants are boys and one dance scheme has half a dozen boys.

North Ayrshire Children’s Festival October 28-November 4For information, tel 01294 324494www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk