Would you leave your child with a piano teacher you had just met

[bobbybob]

I did my first week of working as a piano teacher for a music school today. I work from home and the pupils come to see me. I had an interview but no police check as I am not working actually in a school. I gave names of references but they didn't check them.

I live in a good area and a nice house, but literally some of the parents stayed grudgingly for the getting to know you session last week, and then this week have dropped them off at the door. I am amazed that they would do this...I stressed they were welcome to stay.

My flute pupils I don't work through a school and they tend to be a little older. A couple of them have had no parental input (other than writing a cheque for me). I just think it's weird that a 16 year old picks a flute teacher from a website and the parents check it is in fact a female that looks like the photo on the web and then just leave them.

Erm.... NO! Not in this day and age.... I know 99% of people are honest and wouldnt think of doing anything unappropriate, but you never know. Maybe after a few sessions.

Nope.

Tbh I wouldn't be that worried if a) my child was 16 and b) it was a woman teacher. I'd leave a younger child too if the teacher was a woman once I'd stayed for the first session.

i agree with www. I would do this.

well I am amazed you haven't had to have a police check - our artists do for kids workshops that I run.

my sister teaches piano from home and has done for years

I don't know if the children are dropped off or not.

I know some of them come from the same school as her DSs because they all go home together.

My DS has his trumpet lesson at school and we haven't met the teacher.

When DS was about 5 he started suzuki violin lessons that we stayed for too, because parnents have to learn as well.

Anyway we stopped them because the male teacher gave me the creeps the way he was with DS, so would deffo not leave him with a male teacher again.

Perhaps you could organize a police check on yourself so you could at least tell parents that you have been done?

BTW the violin lessons were in a music school in hertfordshire.

I did some private tuition for a 17-18 year old last year. It was in my home, and I arranged for the mother to come to the house to visit me before the tuition started. In addition they knew that I worked in a local school and had been vetted. I would have been very wary had the mother not visited.

Good point about the school music lessons - I used to have music lessons on my own at school - both oboes and clarinet teachers were male - obviously they were checked by the school but my parents NEVER met either of them!

Well last week a teenage girl (about 17-18) cam to our house having got dh's details from a website. She came alone!

If it was my child I would ask for references and a copy of the CRB certificate before leaving my child. However I wouldn't wish to sit in on the lesson as I feel it is offputting for the child to have a parent in. They are often more self conscious.

Similar situation to a chess club I took my boys to. That was in a pub-family type room but open access to bars, run by 3 very chessy type middle aged single men (really no offence to chess playing men who may be reading-my boys like chess but it can attract a certain type!).
I would take them and stay the whole time, other people would just drop their kids in the pub car park-kids from 6 onwards. Often I was the only parent of about 20, who stayed.
(quite nice actually-chance to sit down and have an orange juice in a real pub!)

Yes, I would