Party Down Productions The Woden School

Party Down Productions (PDP) is based at The Woden School (TWS) and is run by young people with disability aged 12 -18 years. PDP is the brain-child of TWS Youth Support Worker, Luke Ferguson, and was developed as a school-wide approach to using music and dance to build personal confidence, celebrate diversity and promote social inclusion of people with disability in the ACT. PDP empowers TWS’s young people to be involved in all aspects of event planning and implementation, including using photoshop to make posters, setting playlists according to theme and/or target audience, technical set-up, pack-down and ‘rockin’ the mic’ as DJ’s. PDP’s equitable rotation of student DJ’s result in weekly dance parties at The Woden School, consistently attended by students and staff. Thursday disco’s result in an energetic and vibrant atmosphere throughout the school, positively impacting everyone involved. PDP have worked hard to build and maintain partnerships in the wider Canberra community. Our student DJ’s host dance party events at off-site locations including primary and high schools, sporting events such as ‘Be The Best You Can Be’, and even the Yogie Awards. Young people across the ACT have benefited from the positive and inclusive involvement a partnership with PDP brings to the community. PDP uses the power of music to break down barriers, remove stigma and enhance self esteem of young people with disability, shifting the focus to their innate ability to spark joy in the lives of those around them. There’s nothing else like PDP in Canberra, and TWS students thrive on the positive attention they receive as a result!