Our
aim is to encourage schools to establish and develop musical tuition
as an integral part of their pupils’ school week. Under this
system, schools control their own musical tuition, giving more flexibility,
and a closer relationship with the tutor.
Already
registered? Click for
this term’s subsidy claim form (Word
doc) and
header sheet (Word
doc),
or email
helen.maltby@collegest.org.uk for a
personalised claim form.
New
to musical tuition?
To set up musical tuition from scratch, we initially recommend a
visit from Lizzie Elliott, our Music Development Officer responsible
for musical tuition. She can help you to design a musical tuition
plan, including which instruments you choose, how to cope with the
costs, where and when to set up, and how to register with us. To
make an appointment with Lizzie, you can call College Street on
9476202 or email
helen.maltby@collegest.org.uk
Which
instrument?
There are certain things to take into account when choosing which
instruments you would like to offer at your school. Some schools
prefer to ask the pupils and parents what instrument they would
like to learn. Recent research at Keele University stresses that
pupils having choice about the instruments that they learn to play
is a major factor in long-term success. However, this does mean
you can end up with a shopping list too varied to be practical.
Other schools decide on certain instruments beforehand and offer
their pupils a more limited choice. Age and size is obviously an
important factor – it is not recommended that a year 3 pupil
takes up the Tuba! To see a list of instruments that we recommend
for each year group click here.
You
should also take into account cost-effectiveness. Instrument prices
vary drastically, from £3 for a recorder, to £1700 for
a bassoon! Help and advice on minority/expensive instruments is
being discussed...
You
should also think about tutor cost-effectiveness. You are unlikely
to find a tutor to teach for less than one hour at a time, which
means you will need a minimum number of pupils (say 8) on one instrument
to make up the hour’s tuition.
Costs
You will be employing your instrumental tutor directly, so their
rate will be something to discuss between yourselves. However, we
do recommend an hourly rate of £25. This includes on-costs
(National Insurance etc) and means that the tutor ends up receiving
approx £20 per hour.
Click
here for a list of instruments
and what they cost.
To
help with the cost of tuition, some schools choose to charge a proportion
of the cost to the parents (e.g. £1 per lesson). Remember,
you can also claim a subsidy for each lesson attended from the LEA.
LEA
subsidy
Providing your musical tuition lessons adhere to the following conditions,
registered schools are eligible to claim £1 per pupil for
each lesson attended, or £1.50 for pupils receiving free school
meals (please note, this does not apply to working family tax credit).
1 All
lessons must be a minimum of 20 minutes long.
2 No more than 4 students in each lesson.
3 Only lessons attended by the student can be subsidised.
4 Where the tutor deals directly with the parents for payment, effectively
providing private tuition on your premises, these subsidy arrangements
cannot apply.
Example
School
‘A’ offers 1 hour of tuition per week
8 pupils have 1/2 hour lessons in 2 groups of 4.
One of the pupils is on free school meals.
Cost
of tuition per week |
Cost
per year (36 weeks) |
£25 |
£900 |
How to split the cost
Charge
the pupil’s £1 per lesson £8 per week = £288
per year
LEA subsidy
7 pupils non free school meals £7 per week 1 pupil free school
meals £1.50 per week = £306
School
input £306 per year
| Per
week |
Per
year (36 weeks) |
| Charge
pupils £1 per lesson |
£8 |
£288 |
| LEA
subsidy |
£8.50 |
£306 |
| School
|
£8.50 |
£306 |
| TOTAL
per week |
TOTAL
per year |
| £25 |
£900 |
We
are currently investigating further initiatives for minority instruments.
At
the end of each term you will need to complete a subsidy claim form.
This will be posted to you, or you can download a subsidy claim
form (Word
doc)
and header sheet (Word
doc)
Please
note that groups larger than four, ensembles, choirs and after-school
activities are not allowed to be subsidised from this fund.
How
to register
To register on the City Musical Instrument Support & Tuition
scheme, you will need a registration form, available from College
Street. Please call Helen Maltby or Lizzie Elliott on 9476202.
Recommendations for best practice
The LEA recommended minimum lesson times for good practice in musical
tuition:
|
Standard |
NQF
Entry Level
(Pre-Grade) |
NQF
Level 1
(Grades 1-3) |
NQF
Level 2
(Grades 4-5) |
NQF
Level
3
(Grades 6 +) |
No
in group |
1 |
20
mins |
20
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
2 |
20
mins |
20
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
3 |
30
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
4
(Max) |
30
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
30
mins |
It
is assumed that tuition is on the same instrument and that the standard
is near enough the same for all the students in the group.
Please
note that the above recommendations will eventually apply to the
subsidy regulations.
Tutors
You will be employing a tutor through your school, NOT through the
LEA. You are free to contract anybody for musical tuition and still
register on the City Musical Instrument Support & Tuition scheme.
However, you will only be able to attract the subsidy if your tutor
has ‘affiliated teacher’ status. We can recommend an
affiliated tutor – call College Street for further details.
If
your tutor has been recommended by us, they will already be set
up on the LEA payroll system. They will need to fill in a time
sheet (Word doc)
at the end of each month and hand it in to your school office.
We
advise you to put your tutor on a yearly contract
(Word doc)
for both your and their peace of mind. As in most jobs, this would
entail one month’s notice period for both parties.
As
part of the partnership
agreement we ask that all tutors complete a register
(Word
doc) for each session. Not only is this a basic health
and safety requirement, but also a record for your subsidy claim
at the end of each term.
Termly
and/or yearly reports by the tutor ensure that you, the pupil and
the parents can all monitor progress effectively.
Monitoring
We are establishing a monitoring process for all instrumental tuition.
We will begin with those tutors that we have recommended but will
eventually monitor ALL musical tuition that takes place in City
schools.
FAQs
How do I pay my tutor?
The tutor needs to be set up on the LEA payroll system. If the
tutor has been recommended by us, they will already have a pay
number. The tutor will need to fill in a time
sheet each month, which the school office should
forward to Education Human Resources at Sandfield Centre, Sandfield
Road, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 1QH (ph 0115 9150706). Please note
that if a tutor teaches regularly at your school, they cannot
be paid for this work on a self-employed basis - they must be
on the payroll. However, for a one-off workshop self-employment
status is acceptable.
How
do I fill in my subsidy claim form?
Please complete the claim form in full after the end of each term,
using the registers from your tutors in order to complete accurately
the LESSONS ATTENDED column. Once completed, please fax the form
to 9411073. If you have any queries about the
claim form, please contact Helen Maltby on 9476202.
Why
is the subsidy only available for groups of 4 pupils?
Current legislation states that schools cannot charge parents
for instrumental lessons when there are more than 4 in the group
(link). The music standards fund that is allocated for subsidy
payments cannot be used for larger ensembles, choirs, workshops
or after school activities.
Why
is the subsidy only available for lessons of 20 minutes or more?
According to the OFSTED LEA Music Services Survey of Good Practice,
June 2002:
Sessions of 15 minutes, although rare, are too short to be effective,
particularly for pupils learning in groups. Throughout the inspection,
the highest quality was observed in sessions of 30 minutes for
three or four pupils, from beginner to intermediate stages of
learning.
We
recognise that due to financial constraints, lessons of 30 minutes
are not always possible, particularly for KS2 pupils. Therefore,
we have currently set the minimum lesson length for claiming a
subsidy at 20 minutes.
How
can we ensure our Year 6s continue to play in Year 7?
Download and complete this transition
form (Word
doc) in order to let us know where your Year 6s are
going in September. We will do our very best to coordinate this
transition period by informing the comprehensive schools of their
arrival and attempting to arrange for them to continue music tuition.
We can also post this form to you - just call Lizzie or Helen
on 9476202.
How
will we know which instrumentalists are joining us in Year 7?
During the summer term we will be finding out which comprehensives
our current year 6 instrumentalists will be attending in September.
We will then inform you before the end of the year of what to
plan for in the next academic year.
What
should I do if a tutor is ill/absent?
We may be able to help with long-term cover - call the office
on 9476202.
What
if we have concerns about instrumental tuition?
If you are experiencing any problems, please talk initially with
your tutor in school. If the situation cannot be solved at that
level, please contact us.
For
any other problems you encounter with musical tuition, we are here
to help, just give us a call on 9476202.
Repairs and insurance
The LEA have approved repairers that we can put you in touch with,
please contact the office on 9476202. The cost
of repairs to any instruments, whether purchased by the school,
or loaned by the LEA are the responsibility of the school.
Any
instruments loaned to your school from us will be covered under
the LEA general insurance scheme BUT there is a £100 excess
on each and every claim.
Instruments
you purchase yourselves, or from us will need to be insured, particularly
as they will be going home with the children. Instruments can be
insured on home contents insurance by the parents, but if the child’s
parent/carers do not have home contents insurance, you may need
to get instrument insurance from a specialist company.
New
to Musical Tuition? | Which Instruments?
| Costs | LEA Subsidy |
Registration | Best
Practice | Tutors | Monitoring
| FAQs | Repairs & Insurance
