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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Year 7 music lessons

19 replies

Ame40 · 21/09/2016 22:48

Is it the norm for secondary kids who want to learn a musical instrument in school to have to miss lessons for this? My Year 7 Ds has come home saying that he'll have to miss half an hour of maths/ English every week for his trumpet lesson- I just assumed it would be at break time or lunch hour!

OP posts:

APlaceOnTheCouch · 21/09/2016 22:52

Yy it's normal. The trumpet teacher couldn't possibly fit all their pupils into a lunchtime lesson! Usually they alternate the time so they don't miss the same lesson every week.

CodyKing · 21/09/2016 23:00

It's the same with sports teams as well.

Especially when there's matches

grumpysquash3 · 21/09/2016 23:50

Yes, normal. But the times of the lessons usually change each week so that the pupils don't miss the same lesson every time. They do have to remember when their lesson is and make sure they get there though....

grumpysquash3 · 21/09/2016 23:51

Oh, confusing. I meant the time of the music lesson changes each week.
(our school also has a two week timetable for normal lessons, for added complication)

BackforGood · 21/09/2016 23:55

Yes, of course - how on earth do you think the peripatetic teacher could fit them all in to a lunchbreak ?

It's pretty common though to have lessons that move time each week - so, as an example, it's always Wednesday, but week1 it is at 9am; week2 at 9.30; week 3 at 10am; week4 at 10;30; and so on (depending on how many dc they are rotating through).

GColdtimer · 21/09/2016 23:57

Yes because a trumpet teacher couldn't possibly make enough money to live on by only teaching lunchtimes.

raspberryrippleicecream · 22/09/2016 00:41

Agree normal. Ours moves on 2 slots so it clears the lesson completely.

Sixth corners have fixed lessons in frees.

Also at lunchtime at our school, the music teachers are running bands/ orchestra etc

LooseAtTheSeams · 22/09/2016 07:48

Yes, but our school has insisted it can't be in a maths or English lesson.

OldBeanbagz · 22/09/2016 09:32

Yes, completly normal but they shuffles lesson times about so that they don't miss the same lesson every week.

DD (Y10) currently has 3 music lessons a week so missing a lot of lesson time and has to catch up.

Y11 & Y13s are allowed to have fixed lessons (before or after school or at lunchtime) because of GCSEs/A levels.

Original poster

Ame40 · 22/09/2016 09:35

Thanks. All makes perfect sense now!

OP posts:

thisagain · 22/09/2016 21:26

We've just moved one of DD's music lessons to after school because of this. The teacher, regularly kept her waiting on top of this. Her other music teacher only teaches DD and another so gives a fixed time every week. However, when my older DD had music lessons, because the instrument was very popular at the time, the teacher had a rota and this was much better. It meant a different lessons were affected each week.

LynetteScavo · 22/09/2016 21:30

Yes, normal... one reason why DD isn't having lessons in school.

She's joined the choir... spent the whole of one morning singing in 6 different years assemblies

stonecircle · 22/09/2016 22:55

DS1 missed a lot of classes for music lessons and with hindsight I wish he hadn't. DS3's music teacher is also a peripatetic teacher at his school and I have strongly resisted her attempts to get him to switch from out of school to in school lessons.

mummybear701 · 23/09/2016 00:18

Yep. I had flute lessons at school in the 90s and both DDs have had lessons in school (violin and saxophone). Missed half a period on a rotational basis so you only missed a lesson once every 5 weeks. At DDs school at least you only get one instrument in school as you'd be missing too many classes, perfectly sensible.

nicp123 · 23/09/2016 21:53

Yep!.. a waste of money in my DS's opinion as 10 minutes of 30' were wasted going up and down the stairs to the music room.
Also disappointing when missing a big chunk of a lesson when a new topic was taught; the reason he only had after school (instrumental) music lessons a few years ago.

nocampinghere · 24/09/2016 10:54

yes normal in DDs school until yr9. Yr10 and above take priority for the break, lunch and before school slots.
But on a rotation so avoid the same lesson.
I think it's ok as DD only misses 3/4 of a lesson each week, and a different lesson each week.
however i wouldn't think it's ok if she was also in key sports teams etc as they miss whole afternoons for matches etc..

GColdtimer · 24/09/2016 14:21

My DH (guitar teacher) feels lessons are much better carried out privately. He stopped teaching in schools because it was so stressful. He only teaches privately now. Which means he works evenings which is a pain.

nocampinghere · 25/09/2016 14:30

tbh i think if you can fit it in out of school that is better.
however when dd was having lessons out of school we had to travel there, park, wait, have the lesson and travel home again which took the best part of an evening. 1/2 an hour in school is WAY easier, but probably not better. I doubt if DD would still be having her lessons if she wasn't doing it so stress free in school.

WyfOfBathe · 25/09/2016 14:38

The school where I teach have all instrument lessons after school, starting from straight after school, with the last lessons at about 6pm, iirc.

Obviously quite inconvenient if you're child has to go back up to school for 6pm, but I can't imagine the governors or whoever approving the students missing lessons for it.

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