To say no to buying a violin for my DC?

[NoInstrument]

DC is 9, Year 5.

School told us on Friday that we have to supply a violin for our DC to play in music. The school do not have any to lend out, it’s either we provide one or DC can’t take part in music lessons this year.

The cheapest one I can find that will arrive by tomorrow (lesson is on Tuesday) is £65.

I cannot afford £65. I’ve just spent £200 on uniform for DC as they’d completely wrecked everything else. And even if I did have £65 to burn on a violin we have nowhere to practise, I live in an upstairs flat and theres limits in our tenancy to what can be done when, instruments are not allowed after 5pm (DC is in ASC until 4.45pm everyday).

There is no second hand sale at school as the Year 5s last year played a different instrument.

I’m a single parent, DC is on FSM but school don’t use it for this sort of thing, they use it for the Year 6 residential and an individual subscription to 2 homework apps (everyone else has to pay I think £5 a year)

AIBU? And what will happen to DC if they’re the only one without a violin (which is likely as its happened before with trips, DC has been the only one not going on none compulsory trips when I couldn’t afford it)

@NoInstrument there are child violin’s on vinted for £25-£45. Sure it wont arrive for his first lesson but can potentially save you a lot of money. You cna always try and sell it after a year (if he doesn’t continue).

DD had whole class violin lessons in primary (loan instrument). I can say, my child gained nothing from the whole class tution on an untuned instrument. It was an utter waste of time.

I would not overthink it. Write to the head by any means but otherwise skip it.

Loving the Mumsnet suggestions to just buy a cheap one for £30 to someone who is hugely struggling financially or to just source the Facebook neighbourhood group for one. Really 🙄

Look this up carefully on gov website. Your child cannot be excluded from the curriculum because of a charge the school forces upon you. It is illegal.

Take this up with the school as it is not acceptable, they have to provide a reasonable alternative, not send your child to another class where he won't be making progress.

I would read the curriculum policy on the schools website as no child can be excluded from the curriculum and this is their music offer. Do they have an additional music lesson that week? I doubt it.

being sent to another year group is not acceptable. Read every policy on their website and then quote relevant parts in a carefully worded email which copies in the headteacher and chair of governors. As your child is also FSM then you can ask what the funding for your child is being spent on. They don’t have to give a detailed break down but it needs to be spent appropriately.

All trips in primary are generally a voluntary contribution unless it is an extra like residential.

I’m Not FSM but could afford a violin.

most schools have a specialist music teacher come in for one term and then parents can choose to pay to continue lessons.

I would query the legality of excluding your child from lesson as that is what they are doing by sending him to another class. It’s a punishment.

There are loads on Facebook market place for £20/£30. That’s not to pipe in on the moral question of if the schools should be making people buy violins just to highlight that there are cheaper options.

The whole idea is bonkers. If you must teach a whole class an instrument, the violin is possibly the worst one to go for. But if as a school you choose to do this, you have to be prepared to subsidise it, otherwise it is grossly discriminatory.

Could be worth taking this one up with the governors.

@Vermin since noone else has said it you're too kind. Hope the OP takes you up on your lovely offer!

@NoInstrument if you are in London I have a 3/4 violin for sale... I can't give it away but I have it listed for £25

If you are going to rent, hire purchase May be cheaper. Contact music shops. They may have a trade in 1/2 size violin.
maybe also write to the school and governors and point out what a barrier this is to participation.

I’d put in a complaint to the head and governors asking how your child will get their legally entitled music lessons as part of the curriculum. Ofsfed won’t like it

Yes, I think you should complain.
They cannot exclude a child from curriculum music because they don't have a violin. That means they can't send the child off to another year group because they can't afford an instrument.
I see they have now said your child will sit in the lesson and learn along with their friends. Probably realized they cannot legally dispatch the child out of curriculum music.
Your child just sitting there and watching is also not acceptable as they are not learning anything by doing that and therefore have been excluded from curriculum music.
It is discriminatory and absolutely definitely worth taking further.

Wow. The school sounds awful.
I would definitely raise the issue. Because it should be be being made an issue.
Ie the school shouldn't put kids and parents in this position. If they knowingly are making it where poorer kids miss out and suffer.

Move school.

But in meantime try gumtree, free cycle, ring a music shop and see if they have any ideas.

It just sucks.
You're not being an asshole.

The school is being cruel to ciphen out kids of different wealth background s and prioritising richer ones and shaming poorer.

Its bigger than the violin issue. It's teaching your kid that's okay. And putting them in an environment that's not kind.

Where to start? If I were going to be teaching this class I'd want to have some oversight of the instruments they were using - to check they were playable, tunable, and not too big. I'd expect 1/2 and 3/4 sizes at that age - far more on 1/2 though. I've a couple of students just started year 5 and neither have moved from 1/4 to 1/2 size yet. (having said that, my sister and I were certainly on 3/4 in year 5, and my daughter was ready for a full size just turning 10 - but we are all tall and my daughter reached her adult height at about the age of 11).

OP, definitely try to contact your county music service and find out what they can or can't do. I wonder if a different school might have had whole class violin tuition and changed.

I also agree that "no instruments" after 5 pm sounds utterly unfair in your tenancy agreement.

Good luck finding a sensible way forward.

Skimmed a bit so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but would an organisation like this be able to help? I'd ring them and ask so you could get a recommendation for your area.
https://benslowmusic-ils.org/index.asp?pageid=85

Maybe they could practise at the weekends but if you cant afford one you cant afford one

That's so discriminatory, horrible policy singling out your DS like this.

It's a sad state of affairs that schools cannot provide learning materials for their own curriculum. But to your last question "What will happen to DC if they are the only one without a violin", I want to give some reassurance. Nothing of note will happen. I grew up in absolute poverty until the age of 12. I didn't do anything extracurricular. Yes, a lot of the time I remember with sadness all the missed opportunities but I always had a core of good friends which really made all the difference. As an adult, I have a diverse set of interests and invest money into learning new things and having new experiences all the time. Maybe, I could have become a famous dancer or a musician had my parents had more money for activities but I don't feel that it took away from my childhood at all. Your kiddo will also be just fine. Please don't worry about it.

Retired music teacher here. Please don’t buy a cheap violin! If it’s for a year of once a week for 45 minutes, the lea should be providing the violins. He will not learn to play violin from these lessons anyway, they’re just for box ticking.
if your son wants to learn music, get him a recorder or tin whistle and a tutor book.

I find the treatment of your son appalling. I am a primary school governor, and if this was going on in our school I'd want it to be raised to the governing board as a complaint.

It's completely unreasonable to expect you to pay for a violin given you are eligible for FSM. I would expect our school would have put a plan in place for low income families by sign pointing to rental options or recognising the need to fund a small no of instruments for families in this situation.

My son plays the violin and we have a council run music service where you can hire an instrument for a term. I think you may also find cheap second hand instruments on Facebook/Gumtree, but I would be pushing the issue with the school in the first instance.

This is so absurd. I understand that schools are strapped for cash but then they shouldn't choose to run lessons like this. They should have chosen the recorder or something cheaper, or the same instrument as last year so they can be passed down or the schools music service should be providing the instruments.

Your child will not learn to play the violin without being able to touch a violin. That's like saying he can learn to write without a pen, or play football without a ball. Instead the school are singling him out and excluding him infront of his peers. I would ask to meet with the head or write to the governors.

What's the point in being a school linked to a church if they can't tap up the congregation for a supply of old musical instruments.

Is it a full size or half size violin you need OP?

It's posts like this that make me wish I'd not given all our old ones to charity so you could have had one of them OP

So DC says they had music today.

Less than 50% of the class had violins. The others where given electric keyboards and played tunes on that instead, school have said anyone who doesn't have a violin will use those instead which DC is thrilled with!

All happy. I won't be buying a violin and don't need to worry.

@NoInstrument , as I said not everyone was going to buy a violin , partly because they don’t want the racket indoors .

Music is part of the national curriculum. They can't ban a child from the subject because he can't afford to buy an instrument!
That's bonkers as well. I'm a 15 year teacher, and have NEVER heard of a primary aged child being asked to purchase ANY musical instrument for class lessons.

I think you need a conversation with the Head, and failing that, the chair of governors.