http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3764402.stm

After reading this article, and being a music teacher myself I am interested to see what you think of these issues, whether you have chldren that would love music lessons but you can't /don't think you can afford them, are your children interested in music?

I find it incredible that a lot of my pupils don't have the facilities at school, not even a couple of keyboards,

Discuss!

Was the same when I was at School, about ten of us per keyboard in class. If we wanted hands on practice with musical instruments we had to get our parents to pay some silly fee to the School for them to take us to a music workshop (think it was the one in Darnall)

Originally posted by mimicraze
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3764402.stm

After reading this article, and being a music teacher myself I am interested to see what you think of these issues, whether you have chldren that would love music lessons but you can't /don't think you can afford them, are your children interested in music?

I find it incredible that a lot of my pupils don't have the facilities at school, not even a couple of keyboards,

Discuss!
When i arrived back in the UK I helped to re start the Brightside Brass band...I have grade 8 from the RCM and tried to help get instruments etc for the children.

When we managed to get a band together the school board saw pound signs ahead and made it that each pupil had to attend a learning session for 5 pounds a week to be able to be in the band.

This of course put the parents in a bad position as 5 pounds a week for some was a lot of money...
It was with the greed of the School board that we had to disband the band as we could not afford to pay for every child that needed the lessons......even though we were doing the teaching ourselves.
A very sad state of affairs.

I f you want ...I have an organ I could donate.....twin keyboard ...and such things as a trumpet and euphonium....that I would be willing to teach and loan to you ..

Its a joke - my 9 year old pays a fee each week for her flute lesson - when the teacher can be bothered to turn up - lesson lasts for about 10 minutes - once a week. Total farce if you ask me..

So much for free education at the point of delivery for children...its backdoor privatisation..

Hi Derek,

Thats very kind of you, I see you went to the RCM, I started a course there last September but really wasnt happyso left after the first term and want to go to Newcastle University in September but I dont live with my parents and they cant pay for me so I cant actually go unless I wait another year and then Ive lived away from them for 3 years so dont have to pay, its a farse(farce?)

The double keyboard could be of use to be honest, or the organ, I teach piano so either is suitable. Will have a think about it. So you teach in sheffield then?


Thats awful, 10 minute lesson? Whats the point?? I give all my pupils hourly lessons, 30 for 6 and under as they find it hard to concentrate. But ten minutes is ridiculous. How much do you pay for a 10 minute lesson?!

Originally posted by mimicraze
Hi Derek,

Thats very kind of you, I see you went to the RCM, I started a course there last September but really wasnt happyso left after the first term and want to go to Newcastle University in September but I dont live with my parents and they cant pay for me so I cant actually go unless I wait another year and then Ive lived away from them for 3 years so dont have to pay, its a farse(farce?)

The double keyboard could be of use to be honest, or the organ, I teach piano so either is suitable. Will have a think about it. So you teach in sheffield then?


Thats awful, 10 minute lesson? Whats the point?? I give all my pupils hourly lessons, 30 for 6 and under as they find it hard to concentrate. But ten minutes is ridiculous. How much do you pay for a 10 minute lesson?!

I am able to teach but have not done so for a long time as I am an electrical/Mechanical Engineer by trade.

When you want...let me know where you want the organ dropping off and I will do so.........No payment or thanks nessesary<<< If it's for the kids.......I will do what I can to help!

My experience of Music classes at school were a bit of a joke but our school offered private tuition session for only £1 per 15 minutes and you could do any instrument you wanted. then the lessons stopped being subsidised (I think at Andy1702’s request http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19627)

Then lessons uptake dropped almost entirly and the orchestra had to disband, the richer kids who could afford lessons had to go to a different school to play.

Very generous offer of you Derek, such a donation would have made a big difference when i was at school.

People who love music will always find a way to play it. Music lessons were always an easy hour at school, and people treated it as such. I have learnt far more about music after school when i actually cared about it. There are much more important things to learn at school.

I remember ending up learning the Basoon. That darn thing was bigger than me when I started learning it!

The teacher was pretty useless, actually. I don't think he particularly liked kids and I kept it up for a year or so then quit and got back to the rest of my schooling.

It's an excellent idea for children to get a good musical education in thi way, though I'm also rther concerned at the dumbing down of science teaching that seems to be happening nowadays. But that's another subject!

Joe

If you want to try and win around the non musical kids in your classes, may I suggest Donky Konga for the Gamecube.

I have no musical ability at all but in the space of a weekend this game has transformed me into a bongo master.

Make sure you have a union rep at hand however as I'm thinking of suing Namco for my blister sore hands.

i really missed out. i put in for music in my school for GCSEs, and i was the only one who did, so it was cancelled. that meant i couldnt do it at college, and couldnt do it at Uni later on, so even though i am decent at music and know the theory, i cant officially do it at Uni because i havent actually got an official grade at it. im goin to take my guitar exam soon though so that will hopefully change

I could never afford to learn/buy any musical instrument when at school. I ony have got a Bass guitar and a Harmonica in the past year and wish I could have done it earlier. I always wanted to learn the Saxaphone but that was way out of my parents price league.

When I was at school (left in 2000), I got free music lessons at secondary school and it cost £1 a week at middle school and could borrow musical instruments for free.

At school i cannot remember being given any opportunity to learn music. We had classes but i can only remember singing Andrew Lloyd-Webber musicals and being told that Pink Floyd were good.

I started teaching myself guitar at 18 and am now a music student, so if you want to learn music its easier to do it off your own back in my eyes.

Chris.

Originally posted by Internetowl
Its a joke - my 9 year old pays a fee each week for her flute lesson - when the teacher can be bothered to turn up - lesson lasts for about 10 minutes - once a week. Total farce if you ask me..

So much for free education at the point of delivery for children...its backdoor privatisation..

It is, and it's disgusting, and it goes a lot deeper than msot people realise.

Granted, we all know that the wealthy kids get the musical opportunities - because their parents can afford to pay for the instrument, the lessons, the transport, the exams (£20 a pop). Thus resulting in £1000s before the kid gets to be, say grade 8.

Well guess what?

A grade 8 music qualification gets you 100 UCAS points to add to your university application form. That's the equivalent of a grade B at A-Level. We all know that the education system is class divided, but this is such a blatent way of buying your way into education, when the government clauims to be trying to iron out the divides!

Originally posted by noseyrosie
A grade 8 music qualification gets you 100 UCAS points to add to your university application form.
No it doesn't. I'm applying for uni now, to study music, and i don't need a music qualification. Its helpful, its extremely advisable to get it, but it doesn't get you extra points.

Chris.

I will resurrect this thread as my 8 year old daughter has just come home from school with a letter, If she wants music lessons I have to pay £60 per term, thats £180 per year, I thought April fools day was late/early, what a joke

I'm glad the poor miss out on music lessons, I hate to hear someone playing drum and bass on a triangle.

I will resurrect this thread as my 8 year old daughter has just come home from school with a letter, If she wants music lessons I have to pay £60 per term, thats £180 per year, I thought April fools day was late/early, what a joke


Not so much "if she wants music lessons", but more a case of "if she wants to be taught to play an instrument"?

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/education/information-for-parentscarers/sheffield-music-service

I'm glad the poor miss out on music lessons, I hate to hear someone playing drum and bass on a triangle.

don't you mean 'donk' music on a xylophone....

The Sheffield Music Service does offer bursaries, so your child should be able to learn an instrument if you receive benefits. And you can loan instruments from them for a very small fee, especially when you look at the price of buying them new, as long as your child is having instrument lessons with SMS. The music service will maintain, repair or replace/upgrade this instrument as needed. I think this is an excellent service that deserves praise and support.

We were so poor when I was a kid that when I asked my dad for an air guitar he said we couldn't afford one.

i really missed out. i put in for music in my school for GCSEs, and i was the only one who did, so it was cancelled. that meant i couldnt do it at college, and couldnt do it at Uni later on, so even though i am decent at music and know the theory, i cant officially do it at Uni because i havent actually got an official grade at it. im goin to take my guitar exam soon though so that will hopefully change

This post is a sad indictement of music education in Sheffield.:(

I had fantastic opportunities at school and still keep up my music and pass skills on to others.

Our local primary school have just announced they will be losing their music teacher next year - it appears to be financial. :(

This post is a sad indictement of music education in Sheffield.:(

I had fantastic opportunities at school and still keep up my music and pass skills on to others.

Our local primary school have just announced they will be losing their music teacher next year - it appears to be financial. :(
So does that mean the other teachers will have to teach the children music then?

I'm glad the poor miss out on music lessons, I hate to hear someone playing drum and bass on a triangle.

Do you make a habit of hanging around school music lessons then? :huh:

Do you make a habit of hanging around school music lessons then? :huh:

No just schools, I'm a dinner lady.

So does that mean the other teachers will have to teach the children music then?

Yes, I believe that's what will happen. :(

Yes, I believe that's what will happen. :(
Oh..
That is another role they will have to adopt then.It must be hard if you arent musically minded yourself.
When I was young I had ballet and tap lessons and I loved music to dance to but I have always found that it was hard to read music and still havent been able to master it to this day.

It's a great shame that the arts are often sacrificed in school budgets.