To HT’s and music coordinators in primary schools

[Notsureabouttomorrow]

Hello I’m sorry to post here I am looking for some quick advice and know a few HT’s and SLT’s use this board, hope that’s ok.

I am a peri who lost my job with the local music service at the beginning of the pandemic. I have gone freelance and am really trying to get into local schools to teach face to face having spent over two years on zoom.

I’ve sent a covering email to the local primaries to introduce myself and ask to visit their school to start some instrumental groups, and I’ve just received a response from a head teacher who wants a telephone chat tomorrow!

I’m really excited but am so anxious as it’s been twenty years since I had any kind of interview!

What would you ask me if you were looking for a peri to visit your school to provide lessons?

Forgot to say I’ve given a brief background of experience and qualifications and explained school won’t need to do any admin as I will liaise directly with parents to arrange lessons and collect fees. I have also stated my costs.

What are you offering? Is it 1:1 lessons or class based stuff?
If 1:1 how much and are tou expecting parents to pay or will school be able to fund (unlikely!)?
What experience do you have?

Sorry massive cross post!

Find out what facilities the school has.

HT will probably have questions around logistics.
Which instruments you offer, days you work, how long per lesson. Which age group you'd recommend etc.

@Hercisback

What are you offering? Is it 1:1 lessons or class based stuff? If 1:1 how much and are tou expecting parents to pay or will school be able to fund (unlikely!)? What experience do you have?

We have occasionally paid for pupils to have lessons, using PP money. We also hire music teachers for a KS2 class to learn an instrument for a term every year, although I believe that is through some sort of county hub.

@Hercisback

What are you offering? Is it 1:1 lessons or class based stuff? If 1:1 how much and are tou expecting parents to pay or will school be able to fund (unlikely!)? What experience do you have?

Thank you for your response, I am offering both individual and group tuition, my fees are in the the covering email and I have over twenty years experience which I’ve also included in my email

Parents will pay me directly so no funding needed from school

@Hercisback

Sorry massive cross post!

Find out what facilities the school has.

HT will probably have questions around logistics.
Which instruments you offer, days you work, how long per lesson. Which age group you'd recommend etc.

Ah cool- I can cope with easy questions 😊

Thinking further, peris from the music service loaned instruments, will you do that?

She will probably chat through the fees etc even if they're in your email. It's a tool to get to know you a bit.

@Hercisback

Thinking further, peris from the music service loaned instruments, will you do that?

She will probably chat through the fees etc even if they're in your email. It's a tool to get to know you a bit.

I have instruments to loan free of charge to keep costs low for parents and will offer a free taster lesson

I’d like to know if you are familiar with the national curriculum for music and be asking how your provision could enhance that.

Sounds like you’ll be a great asset to a very underfunded subject! Good luck.

Initial conversation might also involve discussion about safeguarding, your insurance etc.

I am now a peri but used to be a music coordinator!
I would want to know the practicals: do you have current DBS, PLI.
The big thing would be your availability for timetabling and how much flexibility you had.

I am curious as to how you go about loaning instruments free of charge though as I refer my woodwind pupils to the local music service for instrument hire… do you shoulder maintenance costs?

Good luck!!

I hope you are in my area! I’d love for there to be some music groups at my children’s school!

Dbs, what safeguarding training you have had recently.
Good luck 🤞

Thanks everyone - nothing too difficult then hopefully!

Think I’ll brush up on the national curriculum in case I’m asked anything specific about that.

Ellesbelles - I’ve been buying second hand instruments from Facebook market place and eBay for a while so have built up quite a collection!

Do you need to go through schools?

As a parent who's just been finding a music teacher for my child - I didnt want lessons during the school day.

Theres huge demand where I live for private music tuition before/after school and weekends. If you have 20 years experience I'm sure you would have no trouble getting pupils.

@OfstedOffred

Do you need to go through schools?

As a parent who's just been finding a music teacher for my child - I didnt want lessons during the school day.

Theres huge demand where I live for private music tuition before/after school and weekends. If you have 20 years experience I'm sure you would have no trouble getting pupils.

You’re quite right there is a huge demand for lessons and I am very lucky to be in this position, but the truth is I don’t want to work evenings. I love the school environment and the children I teach have great fun in small groups. I’m really knackered by 4 and want to spend time with my own children so am moving away from private work, but it’s great to be able to fall back on if I need to.

@OfstedOffred

Do you need to go through schools?

As a parent who's just been finding a music teacher for my child - I didnt want lessons during the school day.

Theres huge demand where I live for private music tuition before/after school and weekends. If you have 20 years experience I'm sure you would have no trouble getting pupils.

That's your personal choice.

The problem for music teachers is that if they only work out-of-school hours then that probably means a maximum of four hours each weekday, less if they want to finish in time to play in a band/orchestra one night a week. It's pretty antisocial hours, and very difficult if you have your own kids.

School lessons are less good for teacher-parent communication with young kids, but missing classroom lessons is not usually a big problem.

Ianthamum

Absolutely- I’m rehearsing twice a week and want to spend time with my family on weekends. I’ve worked evenings for many years to boost my income but now just want to work school hours and enjoy the rest of the time playing and doing other stuff.

At primary I’ve never had any issues with children missing twenty minutes of their class. High school however is a completely different ball game so I’m only concentrating on primaries for mainly that reason of logistics to deliver lessons.

it really depends how the school works with their other peris - I'd be looking at it as more of an information gathering session, some schools with "self-employed" peris still have a standard lesson rate and a set number of lessons per term. Is there a music coordinator in the school? Do they want first access/grades/termly performances etc? does the school do productions/have ensembles already established?

As a core subject teacher in secondary, I never had a problem with the kids who missed my lessons for their music lesson. They were generally well-organised kids who did a good job of catching themselves up. Most schools operate a rota so that it's not the same lesson every week, and some insist that older pupils have the lunchtime/breaktime lessons.

DD had an unfortunate year when there were only two pupils learning her instrument - the other was older and had breaktime - and she had to miss her second language lesson - only three lessons a fortnight, and she was missing half of two of them. We thought that was going to be a problem, but it wasn't. Occasionally her languages teacher said she needed to be there for a test, but on those occasions she was swapped to the breaktime slot.

You're probably still best starting with primary. One local teacher did that in our primary, and then when her pupils started moving up to secondary, negotiated to continue teaching them there.