Music Junior Programs

Thanks for your reply, the lovely woman that I've been dealing with said something like "in the interest of fairness we all send out our offers around the same time so you should hear from us around May 1st." Now I'm wondering if she's fobbing me off? Arrrrghhhh, it's doing my bloody head in. Ds is being very good about it on the surface but he told me that inside he's finding it really tough. Bless him.

@disorganisedmummy It's really nerve-wracking! I'm surprised Trinity say May 1st as RAM, Guildhall and RCM all said early April (and have come good on that - in fact two were late March). And I believe all offers for those three will be out by the end of this week. May is a long time to wait - hope you and DS are managing to hold your nerve!

wordsandmusic, Well done for getting an offer from RCM,wow! We're waiting to hear from Trinity Laban for my ds who's 14. He auditioned for GH a couple of years ago but didn't get in and he hasn't felt ready to go through it again till this year. We did an online open day for Trinity and ds loved the vibe. We were told that RCM,RAM,GH and Trinity all send their offers out around the same time so we would hear around May 1st so it's interesting that some have had their offers through already. It's bloody nerve wracking though isn't it.😬

We got an offer from RCM JD today. No idea how to make a decision on which will be best for DC (it's between Guildhall and RCM as our two faves). We've had a brilliant experience with the Guildhall so far and I feel we have a really good sense for their programme and their ethos and I sense that the pastoral care is excellent. Much less contact with the RCM and I don't really have a handle on them at all. If anyone has experience of the RCM and can input thoughts - esp on the pastoral care, whether there's a high level of internal competition and the strings dept - I'd be super grateful. Good luck to all those still awaiting news.

We visited RAM, RCM and Guildhall. RAM said DCs could keep the current teacher if they wished, Guildhall said they could consider, and RCM flatly said 'no'. We applied for JDs mainly because DS was approaching the last year of primary school which meant approaching the end of lessons with his then teacher. I needed to think of new arrangements with a new teacher soon, and I deliberately chose to move him to a new teacher a year early so he wouldn't need to deal with everything new at the same time in Y7. When DS got offered, the peri teacher said she felt her job with him hadn't done yet so would like to teach him one more year. We felt torn for a while. But after a long thought, we concluded that 100% commitment or no joining. No regret. And we are still in touch with the peri teacher, not for lessons but as a friend.

dinosaurinmybelly the standard classes for PA are ensemble(s)/orchestra/choir/GM and, for those who need to get g5 theory done, a theory lesson. The private lessons are then timetabled individually before the main sessions start. The fees are standard for that bunch of group lessons and the individual private lessons are then added on - some kids will have several private lessons because they have a number of instruments and you can request an extended lesson (to an hour) which is added on as well.

I'm nervous about my DD changing teachers but it was always on the cards and it is the right time. I'm confident they are all really good but I don't have a preference. Her woodwind teacher is a specialist in another instrument so was always going to move her on about this stage once he quickly realised she was quite serious, same with her piano teacher. RCS does offer ensembles only places but we are going because we want both.

@Ashard20 @doesanybodyhaveamap I have to say, I totally agree. I know a lot of our DCs will have wonderful relationships with existing teachers, but the teachers at JDs will be wonderful too! Having done one consultation lesson already I can already see how energising it will be having fresh input to DDs learning. And given that lots of the instrument teachers also do chamber music at the JDs too, I do feel the kids will be more wholeheartedly integrated doing lessons there too. In all honesty, we wouldn't have dreamed of staying with existing teachers - even though we adore them - because we know it'll be amazing teaching at the JDs and we want DC to have the full experience.

That's interesting, so at the RAM PA, you could participate only in the ensembles / musicianship classes? Are the fees discounted if you are not having your instrumental lesson there?

This is possibly something they agree to on a case by case basis, because it wouldn't make sense if everyone did it surely?

MissScotland private lessons tend to be earlier in the day, and PA starts around 2 (maybe a little earlier for those who do theory). My child had the private lesson at 11:30 so we then just had some lunch after and then PA classes started at 2.

A lot of sense in what @Ashard20 is saying. I really don't know why you would want to only half do JD by sticking with current teachers. To get the most out of these things you surely have to give yourself to it fully? These institutions are all absolute experts in their fields, and whilst I've always been very active in researching potential teachers and requesting consultations when DD moved to both JD and later specialist school, at the end of the day, you've also got to trust their experience and process. They've seen many thousands of talented kids come through their doors and overseen thousands of pairings of pupils with teachers - and while it's true we know our kids, they know their teachers. I'm not saying they will always get it right, but on balance they will get it right more times than wrong. And there will always be scope for movement if things don't go as well as everyone hopes.

All this discussion about changing teachers supports, imo, the importance of getting the timing right. We would never have moved our son to JD before the moment felt right to leave his existing teacher - with whom he has maintained a wonderful friendship since. The 360 degree experience of JD is absolutely what it's all about, especially for teenagers who may feel quite alone in a school where there is no strong music. In our highly academic high school, they couldn't put a GCSE music class together from a seven class cohort and that was a strong contributing factor in making the decision when we did. Guildhall ticked that box with its higher certificate in Y11 which meant that I felt satisfied that ds would be getting a strong grounding in harmony, counterpoint and composition. (Not sure that he sees that as positively as I do!) As it happens, the original teacher had compiled a wish list of subsequent possible teachers that he felt would suit ds and the current teacher at GH was on that list. It was a great choice and has worked really well, even over Zoom, for the last year.
The hardest decision is what to do about the teacher. I would probably say, based on our experience, that you will know for sure when the time is right. If there are too many doubts about leaving, then it's probably not the right time.

At Primary Academy you can stay with current teacher but for junior academy you have to have a RAM teacher

My recollection (which could be wrong) was that Krystyna said that in some cases, especially younger children perhaps, they did not require children to give up their old teachers immediately and could accommodate a transition period. However I understood that sooner rather than later they expected students to be switching to a RAM teacher.

@MissScotland That's strange. I'm sure that's what Krystyna said at the open day, and I know other musicians whose parents had conversations prior to audition with RAM PA about keeping current teachers and had been told they could.

@MissScotland I thought RAM had said at the open day that you could stay with your current teacher if you wanted to? I'm sure Krystyna said that they didn't want to break up good relationships where they existed between teacher and pupil. In which case that would work well for you?

This thread is really taking me back.... As far as GH was concerned DD was asked to come in before she started to have consultation lessons with 2 teachers on each of her 1st and 2nd studies and told that if she was uncertain she could come back and have more with other teachers. They really seem to take getting the right chemistry really importantly - elsewhere it was much more this is who you get.

Re composition - GH require everyone to take the GH certificate usually in yr 11 and but some take it in yr 10 - and that has a big composition element. They also run composition summer schools. (Mine hate it so weren't interested.)

@JazzTuba Guildhall are very happy to offer consultation lessons if you ask. I just asked what teacher they recommended, they told me two names, and DC is having consultations with both. RAM PA told us at the Open Day that consultation lessons simply weren't allowed (which is partly what put me off given how important that relationship is). But I'm sure I've read that RCM do consultation lessons so it's definitely worth asking. Everyone says you should base the decision on the quality of the instrument teaching but we don't know any of these teachers by reputation so that makes it a bit difficult! I'm honestly starting to think that all the conservatoires will be equally amazing, if in sightly different ways, and that none of us can make a bad decision!

@WordsandMusic2020 it is a difficult decision. I feel both will offer amazing music making and learning opportunity in a safe and caring environment. I am lacking insight into the tutors in both organisations and that is what is causing the indecision on my part. Neither offered consultation sessions (but then I have not pushed for them either). It may simply come down to which is closer to us.

@JazzTuba So have you decided which you'll take or was RAM your first choice? We think we've pretty much decided on Guildhall, but hard to make that decision 100% until you know all the outcomes...

@horseymum I don't think things are that different here, to be honest. There are a few bursaries for conservatoires but not nearly enough to cover everyone who might need them, and music provision in most state primary schools is really struggling. And although we have three conservatoires in London, people travel all over the UK for the Junior Dept Saturday schools, so that's a pretty big catchment area! But I agree that learning an instrument risks being the preserve of the few rather than the many.