Prep School whole class violin - great idea?

[thedolly]

DD is in the first year of Prep School. Since the beginning of the year the whole class have been learning to play the violin as beginners. I'm sure this is a great idea for the majority of pupils but not DD. She has had private violin lessons for a year and a half now and is expected to 'learn' violin with the novices. She is understandably bored. Please could someone give me some advice on what I could do? I have already spoken to the teachers involved at the beginning and end of last term and nothing has changed.

It shouldn't matter if the music lesson is at a different time although I suppose it depends on what she would be missing as it would be the same time each week. Worth investigating imo. Having said that my violin lessons were the same time each week so I always missed the same lesson. My ds's piano lessons are the same day each week but the time varies.

I think something needs to be sorted. I left primary school having done grade 3 violin but prepped for grade 5. My school violin teacher insisted that I did grade 4 with the others (even though I was demonstrably better than them) and it really put me off music altogether.

No, I don't think so.

You and your DD are not happy with the current situation. Asking generally did not lead to anything happening. Time to take it further.

You'd never believe ds has been in the private sector for the past 5 years so I'm paying for the honour of him being bored in class. Just because it's private, it doesn't mean they can cater for bright children any better. I'm putting him into a state school, he'll learn alot more by going on holiday and having friends where we live rather then miles away.

Oh god my DS is doing this - they learn nothing - my DM and I sat through last year's concert and concluded that DS was no way having individual lessons with that teacher. He is having piano lessons instead (but still does the god-awful whole class violin thing - we'll deal with that one later)

I assume her lessons are out of school, so you can't schedule her an individual lesson at the same time?

The school must have dealt with this situation before, surely? If you are getting no traction with the teacher then talk to the head about it. Dealing with children as individuals is one of the things you are paying for - she shouldn't have to put up with it.

Thedolly - does your dd complain to you about this situation? Does it really bother her, or is just that you think it's a waste of her time?

If it bothers her then I would take it to school again and talk to them again about it, and say how difficult dd is finding this.

If not, then I'd just say go with it. It's only 20 mins a week, and it's not the end of the world.

MollieO - DD learns Suzuki violin from a teacher who is not linked to school in any way. There are individual violin lessons at school but no one in her class plays (as far as I know). She already misses a lesson a week for piano.

I just need to come up something that she could do during the allotted time - any ideas since you are obviously musical?

why dont you organise her vilin lesson while the others are learning?

Could they not schedule her piano lesson to co-incide with class violin? That would seem to me to be the perfect solution and all within the control of the director of music.

It is serious in as much as it could put your DD off violin altogether.

That's a good idea

DS doesn't complain but when I ask her about it she says she is bored and would rather be doing something useful.

I don't like complacency in education. It's 'the road to no town' as they say where I'm from.

Going to the Head is bound to make me unpopular!

Presume you have chosen not to have the individual violin tuition at school because it would not be Suzuki.

stealthsquiggle - I've thought of that one but it's a logistical nightmare arranging lessons and incorporating a 'rota' system to ensure that pupils don't miss the same lesson each week. I ruled out even the possibility of it.

I meant having a lesson with the older children which would be fine unless she was missing something important in her own class. I always missed the same lesson iirc. Ds's piano lesson varies so he doesn't miss the same lesson every week. Sounds like it could be a good idea to organise the piano lesson for when the rest of the class are doing violin. It would be hard for the teacher to have her do something more advanced in such a big class. I used to have lessons with one other girl who was the same level. Can't quite imagine being in such a large group of violins that wasn't part of an orchestra!

You need to do something though if this has been going on since Sept.

I also wouldn't expect complacency at a private school tbh. I assume you are paying for the school violin lessons, in which case they should be made to do something appropriate for your dd. If she was good at maths they wouldn't make her do the same work as someone who was struggling, would they?

ZZZen - fabulous Suzuki teacher in village - too good to miss out on.

Hmmm - you are the customer here. Ask.

I know the rotas are a nightmare, but locking down one piano lesson to the same slot each week won't kill the director of music or the piano teacher and he said he would sort it.

Whereabouts are you BTW (hopeful about wonderful suzuki teacher )?

MollieO - the violin lessons of which I am speaking are part of the curriculum but DD (not DS as I previously posted - uugh I've been 'marketed' !!) also has violin lessons out of school.

stealthquiggle - where are you? I am a member of the BSI, I'm sure there are good teachers near where you live, I could find out for you if you like.

So you aren't paying extra, which is good, but you still need to ensure dd's interest is maintained. At least it is only a 20 min lesson but even so. Good luck with talking to the head. I know at my ds's school that they would be keen to resolve it in a beneficial way if we had the same issue. That should be one of the benefits of paying!

Thanks, thedolly, but I am paranoid enough not to say . Actually, shoe-horning another instrument and associated practice into DS's week would be next to impossible anyway, so I probably don't need to know (it's just that my DB learnt from age 3 and DS is 6 so there is a bit of me thinking 'time's a-wasting' )

A big thank you to all the ladies who have provided assistance on this thread. I have written to the Director of Music (email). Here is a copy of what I sent (the names have been changed to preserve anonymity - you can identify with that can't you stealthsquiggle ). You may recognise some of it .

Dear Mr Crotchet

Having spoken to you last half term, I thought I would drop you a line in an attempt to "firm up" DD's music provision during the Monday violin slot. Whilst I think that class violin at this stage is great for giving a flavour of what it is like to learn the instrument, it has been of very little use to DD who as you know has been playing for a year and a half now. Please can you let me know what you have in mind for DD for the rest of the academic year so that I can assure her that she will be doing something useful during this time. Some ideas that we have come up with between the two of us are:

1. DD could have her weekly piano lesson with Mr Quaver at this time. Hopefully, locking down one piano lesson to the same slot each week is achievable within what I know is already a complex 'rota' system for individual lessons.

1. If there is a room that she could go to she could get her daily violin practice done at that time.

1. DD has even said that she would be prepared to do some music theory worksheets in a quiet corner as a last resort!

Please let me know what you have decided so that I can pass the news on to DD, thus ensuring that her enthusiasm for all things musical does not wane.

Thanking you in anticipation,

thedolly

I like that, it sounds nice but at the same time like you expect a solution. Good luck, fingers crossed for you.

Well written. You are not giving him the option of 'do nothing'. I hope he responds.

Mr Quaver