大象传媒

The Channel 4 series followed eleven pupils (twelve with the addition of emergency drummer Lauren) from Kirkley as they trained to be rock musicians under the guidance of Gene Simmons.听听 The school has already produced The Darkness, but the Kiss mainman is trying to put together a band in the space of a few weeks.

Mr Simmons takes the music class

It's certainly given the youngsters an amazing opportunity.听 The aim of the series was to get them to perform at a Judas Priest gig in California in front of 20,000 metal fans.

But there's been concern that scenes showing excessive swearing and bad behaviour did not help the school's reputation.听 Some parents who were hoping to send their children to Kirkley have told the 大象传媒 they were now having second thoughts after seeing the show.听听听 One woman who runs a garage near the school isn't听 surprised by the bad language "Some of the school pupils we get in here are rude and obnoxious.听 Even though it's been on telly, a lot of the language is what they use at dinner times when they come in here."

Mr Sweary himself - drummer Sammi Reeve

But many parents are very supportive of the school and said the amount of swearing isn't a major听 problem for them "It's probably just the age of the kids and they're doing it for the telly.听 I doubt if they do it at home.听 My two kids have done great at Kirkley.听 It's down to the pupils themselves.听 If they want to get on there, they can."

And one female pupil says the material aired was not a true depiction of the school "All the bad points have been emphasised - the editing's been done to put the school in a bad light."

Gene's star pupil - Chris Hardman

Waveney's Labour MP Bob Blizzard thinks the programme-makers used the school for their own ends "I watched the first half-hour of the first programme, but it's not my cup of tea.听 I don't think it's an accurate representation of Kirkley High or Lowestoft.听 It's an example of a television station using a place for its own ends.听 It's misleading, it's wrong and it doesn't help us.听 Lowestoft has been on the up for the last ten years.听 The idea that it's a declining seaside place has been turned around."

His argument is backed by the fact that the programme has failed to even mention that The Darkness were schooled at Kirkley High, but instead it concentrates on showing pictures of pensioners ambling along the promenade. This is presumably a way to paint Lowestoft and Kirkley as the antithesis of a rock'n'roll breeding ground.听 Just to prove this isn't the case you can hear the Hawkins brothers' former maths teacher by listening to the Yarmouth 2003 link on the right of this page >>

First choice singer Ellie Chapman

Kirkley High head teacher John Clinton says, in the main, he thought the programme was good for the school.

A Channel 4 spokesman said "Rock School is an entertainment series and did not aim to cause offence."

The programme also featured guest teachers for the day when Gene invited Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Suzi Quatro along.听 One of the high points has been the children being much more impressed by meeting Tony than by meeting Gene for the first time!

Mr Simmons confronts his demon

If you watched the final programme you'll know that Gene picked Chris, Samanie, Sammi, Lindsey and Jess for the big gig .. and they pulled it off.听

Find out what Little Chris did next by clicking on the article or interview in the right-hand column of this page >>>>

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