Rapper J Grange visits Westbridge Academy
Pupils at Westbridge Academy recently had an inspiring visit from rising British rapper/songwriter, J Grange.
J Grange (real first name, Jack), faced mental health challenges during his time in education, and found music to have a positive impact on his life and wellbeing.
Jack came to Westbridge Academy and spoke to pupils about mental health and his previous experiences in past schools. He challenged them to think of their future and how, with the right mindset nothing is impossible for them to achieve. Jack also spoke about his recent success in music – having performed on BBC radio and getting over 250,000 views on his music youtube channel.
Gil Walters, Learning & Progress in Music at the Raedwald Trust arranged the visit. Gil said: “The workshops at Westbridge were fantastic – it was a pleasure having Jack come in to talk with the pupils about mental health and his own personal journey growing up at school.
“Jack spoke to three different groups of young people throughout the course of an afternoon about his life and experiences. The young people were inspired to talk to someone who has shared similar experiences to them and is now working as a successful musician. All pupils were engaged, and listened – some even took part in a discussion with Jack.
“The pupils responded really well to the workshop and could relate to a lot of Jack’s points throughout the presentation. They were really impressed to hear about what he had achieved musically in such a short time.”
Keen to develop their own musical talent, a group of pupils from Westbridge Academy will be singing at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk on the 3rd of March in a celebration event that is held every year for schools across Suffolk. The singers will be performing three songs in total.
For more information about the celebration event at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, click here.
