If your question is not answered below, please contact our music teachers primarily via email or leave a phone message with our office staff. Please bear in mind as a Music department we are often leading rehearsals, taking additional lessons, offering student support sessions and in meetings when not classroom teaching, so successfully phoning and speaking to Music department staff can sometimes be difficult.  11:25 – 11:45am, 13:45 – 14:00 or 15:20 onwards are the best times if a conversation is better.

 

Q1 – Is my child suited to the instrument they wish to learn?

A – Please contact our music teachers via email identifying your child, their tutor group, their desired instrument to learn and explain any concerns you have. We will reply having conferred as a department.

 

Q2 - How are students supported if organisation is not their strength?

A - We suggest you contact our music teachers via email to explain the circumstance. We will need the following information:

Student name, tutor group, instrument, organisational issue.

Aside from packing resources the night before and arriving 5 minutes before the lesson starts, we also encourage that students:

i) Have a print out of their timetable to show subject teachers at the beginning of a subject lesson.

ii) Write their lesson times in their planners and have their planners open on the respective instrumental lesson date within the subject lesson. This provides a visual reminder of their instrumental lesson.

iii) Insistently hold up their hand if in a quiet learning environment as well as setting a vibrate alarm (if agreeable with subject teacher) on any portable device they may have.

Students are rarely scheduled lessons when they have PE, however an alarm on a digital watch handed in to the PE teacher is our best recommendation of remembering the instrumental lesson.

 

Q3 – What happens if I miss a registration / payment date?

A1 – The ideal deadlines provided are so that our peripatetic staff have enough time to provide you with an invoice then produce their timetable for the forthcoming term’s instrumental lessons. If a current term's timetable has already been produced it is to the teacher's discretion whether they can timetable your child for the current term, the next term or the term after.

A2 – If payment is not received and you have a further enquiry then direct communication with the student's instrumental teacher will be required.

 

Q4 – How will I know I have definitely registered my child for instrumental lessons?

A – You will receive an invoice directly from our peripatetic teachers which will will confirm that they are included in their plans for next term's lessons. 

 

Q5 – How will you inform me of my child’s progress in lessons?

A – This is answered at the bottom of our music tuition page where peripatetic teachers will communicate this through the means they consider most suitable.

 

Q6 – How will my child’s learning / medical / emotional needs be supported in instrumental lessons?

A – Any information about these aspects that we have on our school records are not provided for instrumental staff due to changes to legislation relating to GDPR confidentiality. If you wish to you can contact your child's teacher directly so they can adapt your child’s lessons accordingly to their required needs, likewise they might contact you too. All support provided is specific to each student. 

 

Q7a – Can I cancel the current term’s instrumental lessons?

A – Please refer to your teacher’s terms and conditions and make contact with them to find out if this is possible.

Q7b - How do I cancel next term's lessons for my child?

A – Please provide written notification (letter / email) to your child's teacher before the invoices are received or before the cancellation deadline date (this might be published on each term’s timetable) with the following details:

Student Name, tutor group, instrument, reason for cancellation.

A reply email from the teacher will provide confirmation that the lessons have officially been cancelled. At this point you will no longer be charged for any lessons.

 

Q8 – What happens if my child is late or absent for a lesson?

A1 – Please refer to your teacher’s terms and conditions and make contact with them to find out if rearranging the lesson is possible.

 

Q9 - What happens if my child will / does not receive their lesson for some reason?

A1 - If a peripatetic teacher is absent from school and we are informed on the teaching day, our music department staff will communicate this on the door of the teaching room and / or over the respective timetable. These notes typically explain that "lessons will be rearranged as soon as possible."

A2 - If we are given advance notice that an instrumental teacher will be absent they will also inform you via email and will also inform you when the lesson will be rearranged as well.

A3 - Please refer to your instrumental teacher’s terms and conditions and make contact with them to find out if rearranging a lesson is possible.