A SCHOOL held a music day to promote its benefits to children.

Grove Wood Primary School in Rayleigh held the day so that professional musicians could come in to work with the school's rock band, which has only been going since September.

The children have been learning how to play as a band and have been rehearsing several songs, some of whom have instrument lessons in school, with others only just beginning to play.

On Wednesday, Darren Jones, Nicola Collis, Megan Rose and Caitlin King came in and spoke to the children about what's it's like to be a professional musician and helped them to rehearse and improve their playing and singing.

John Cordon, teacher at the school, said: "These musicians play and perform all over the country and world and we were very lucky to have them come into school. In the afternoon the children then put on a concert to the whole school where they performed for the first time.

"They ran the whole show completely by themselves - they introduced and spoke about the songs and organised a light show while they played.

"Having music lessons or being involved in music in some way can be massively beneficial to children, from developing their communication, team working and problem solving skills to helping to boost their confidence and self-esteem. Music can also help to improve children's creativity in more academic subjects, such as writing."