Strathnairn Music Initiative (Smi)

Strathnairn Music Initiative (Smi)

STRATHNAIRN MUSIC INITIATIVE (SMI)

2017-18 HANDBOOK

  1. THE TRUSTEES OF STRATHNAIRN MUSIC INITIATIVE

Strathnairn Music Initiative (SMI) is an incorporated charity since 8th July 2016 with registration number is: SC046698

The registration address is:

Milton Farm

Aberarder

Inverness

IV2 6UE

The current Trustees are:

Frances Matheson – Group music session Lead 1 & Charity Chair

Kristina High – Open Music Session Lead & Charity Secretary

Marielle Piron –Group Music session Music Session Lead 2 & Charity Treasurer

Laura Kerr – Communication Lead

Eva Craig – Child Protection Lead

The trustees will be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting which will take place in October each year from 2017.

The charity constitution is available on demand from any of the trustees.

The charity email address is: . You can find communications from SMI on the Strathnairn.org website and in the periodic newsletter. A Facebook page has also been set up.

The main aims of the charity are to:

- Make learning music accessible and affordable to all, children and adults alike

- Promote music in people’s lives for their personal benefits and those living in the same community

- Increase the community spirit by allowing people from various generations and background, within Strathnairn, to meet, play and learn music together

- Create a music hub where people with the same music interest, can contact each other and create social events together for the benefit of all.

External Sources of funding

The Charity sources of funding are varied and are composed of grants, participants’ fees and funding raising activities. However the bulk of our income is from grants.

In 2016-17, the funding bodies that contributed to our activities were:

-Strathnairn Community Benefit Fund–£20,634

-Music for All – £2,500

In 2017-18, the funding bodies that contributed to our activities were:

-Strathnairn Community Benefit Fund–£17,080

-TBD– £TBD

Without this financial support, this initiative would not be able to maintain its ethos of affordability and therefore inclusiveness.

  1. MUSIC FACILITATORS

Our music facilitators are selected based on demand for instruments, which will be assessed once a year (at the end of one year for the following). The demand for 2017-18 has led to the following resources being recruited for this year:

-Piano lessons (on keyboards): Monica Neeling, Jamie Mackenzie and Moteh Parott

- violin lessons: Sarah Smith

- Ukulele and fun music sessions for the younger participants: Mateh Parott (Ukulele) and Monica Neeling

-Drumming lessons: Marc Rollins–McKie

-Guitar lessons: Ben Hessling

All our facilitators are self-employed and PVG checked. They have been selected based on their skills and experience to work with adults and children.

If you wish to contact any of our facilitators please use the charity email address. You can also find more information about them on the Strathnairn.org website.

  1. TIME, LOCATION FOR ACTIVITIES AND OTHER LOGISTICS

The location of our activities for instrumental group lessons and fun music sessions will take place for academic year 2017-18 at Farr Primary School.

Activities will take place from 15h30-20h00 every Tuesday, term time only.

At the beginning of each term the first Tuesday will be reserved for a tutors’ meeting to help coordinating the term ahead. For this reason all sessions will be cancelled on these specific days and no charge will be incurred by the participants.

Phones at Farr primary school will only be used for emergency. If you need to contact us please email us before 14h00 on activity days. Otherwise it is likely we will not get your message prior the start of the activities.

The location, dates for the Open Music Sessions (singing group)will be one of the community halls (Farr & Daviot). They will be advertised on ‘Strathnairn. Org’ website and the local newsletter.

PARKING

Please park responsibly at Farr Primary school on arrival to your session(s). All drivers leaving their car in the nursery or school car parks are requested to remain on site at all time. The sessions are run every half an hour from 15h30 and there will be a continuous traffic of cars going in and out of the car parks.

  1. ENROLMENT PROCESS

Each year an enrolment process will take place prior the beginning of each academic year in order to determine the size of the groups and time slot to be allocated to all participants. If spaces are still available the enrolment can continue throughout the year. The enrolment deadline will be communicated by email to the previous year’s participants.Any available spaces will also be advertised in the newsletter and Strathnairn.org website throughout the year.

The enrolment is open to adults and children alike and is predominantly addressed for people living in the Strathnairn area. Requests from people outside the Strathnairn region will be examined on a case by case basis based on availability and circumstances of the concerned individual(s). Each case will be reviewed by the Trustees in confidence.

The enrolment process can be done by contacting one of the Trustees directly or contacting the charity using the charity email address stated in section I.

FEES

Fees are charged to participants and will vary each year based on grants received in the same year.

For 2017-18, the following fee structure has been adopted by the Trustees:

-Learning one instrument - £4/session

-Fun or Ukulele music sessions - £3/session

All sessions last 30 minutes.

Fees per term for all activities will be confirmed by email to all enrolled participants prior the start of each term and will be due by the first session for the corresponding term. Payments by cheques and direct transfers on account are preferable to cash.

In the case of financial hardship met by a member of the Strathnairn community, the Trustees will consider waiving some or all of the fees set above. In this case the trustees would review the personal circumstances on a case by case basis before making a decision. The review process would be confidential.The trustees would recommend to make a request via the charity email address stated in Section I or in writing at the registered address.

REGISTRATION

All participants (or RA) will need to sign in and out each week. All participant (or RA) will also need to confirm that they have read the handbook by signing a confirming sheet at the start of each academic year or in the first 4 weeks following enrolment.

MUSIC SPACES/INSTRUMENT CHOICE

We cannot guarantee spaces for everyone or a place in the first choice of instrument for each participant, but the trustees will endeavour to do their best to meet a maximum of demands from all participants in a way that is reasonable and also, a responsible use of community funding.

FEEDBACK

Each participant or each responsible adult (RA) for minor participants may be requested to fill in each year anenrolment form. Filling this form will make the Participant or RA, a member of the Charity and will be invited to members’ meetings organised during the year.

Other forms may be requested throughout the year such as feedback forms.

At any time during the year the trustees will appreciate to receive any constructive feedback from the participants in order to improve the service provided for the benefit of the community.

  1. COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

If you wish to raise a complaint in relation to the service provided, please send the Trustees an email at the charity email address or a letter at the registered address noted in section I.

The complaint will be reviewed by the trustees at the following board meeting. Board meetings are scheduled monthly.The trustees will respond in writing following their review and will endeavour to resolve issues and seek solutions as quickly as possible.

If however the issue cannot be resolved by the trustees, we recommend that you follow the advice of the charities’ regulatory body OSCR by going onto their website:

  1. CODE OF CONDUCT EXPECTED FROM TRUSTEES, FACILITATORS, VOLUNTEERS, PARTICIPANTS AND RESPONSIBLE ADULTS

The charity will promote positive behaviour at all time and create an environment where children and adults alike can develop their music skills together in a way that everyone feels that he/she can learn at his/her own pace and feel supported by the Charity ‘s staff.

In order to achieve this aim we would like the following code of conduct to be respected by everyone involved or participating in the Initiative:

-Be respectful, kind and helpful with each other:

This means, for example,

  • For the participants: Listen to the music facilitators and other participants taking the same sessions, arrive on time for your session and settle your fees at the start of each term, communicate any concerns to the facilitators or trustees as appropriate.
  • For the trustees: Listen to the participants and RAs, communicate any changes affecting the sessions as soon as it become apparent, resolve any issues in a timely manner.
  • For the music facilitators: Arrive on time for the sessions, encourage and provide feedback to the participants, make the sessions relevant for each age group, communicate any concerns to the trustees or RAs as appropriate.

-Do your best by working hard :

This means, for example,

  • For the participants: Practice what you have learnt at home, communicate with your facilitators any concerns affecting your learning.
  • For the trustees: Provide the necessary time and effort to make this initiative a success for all, with the help and support from participants and facilitators.
  • For the music facilitators: Make the sessions fun, interactive and well prepared to maximise the learning of all participants.

-Do look after property:

This means, for example,

  • For the participants: Respect the premises where the sessions will be provided, do not go into rooms which have not be dedicated to your activities. Ask in any doubt before trying something you are not sure of.
  • For the trustees: Take care of any items handled or in your possession, but belonging to the charity or the rented premises, as ifthese properties were yours.
  • For the music facilitators: Respect your surroundings and the charity’s properties as if they were yours.
  1. CHILD AND VULNERABLE ADULT PROTECTION

The charity follows the guidelines provided by the Highland Council that is available on its website.

The main points are summarised below.

-All our facilitators and trustees will be or are PVG checked (under the Protection of Vulnerable Group (Scotland) Act 2007). Any regular volunteers spending a reasonable amount of time with the children will also be requested to be PVG checked.

-All the trustees, facilitators and regular volunteers will be or have been requested to make themselves familiar with the publication referred above in this section.

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-We don’t recommend the Responsible Adults to be present in the room during their child(ren)’s music sessions. Howeverthey are still responsible for their child(ren) during the music sessions. Therefore they are welcome to sit in or view their child(ren) from outside the classroom. In the event a child is alone for a specific session, we recommend then that the Responsible Adult stays with the child during the session.All the classroom doorsarefitted with windows.

-All children coming to activities should be under the supervision of at least an RA when present at the Charity activities. Some activities, such as the fun sessions for younger children (pre-school),may only be available with the presence of an adult during the whole session. Please request a confirmation from the music teacher on arrival to your session.

-If anyone has any concern re the safety of one child, it is important to communicate this promptly with the Charity’s designated person as Child/Adult Protection Lead : EVA Craigor if she is not available and the matter is urgent, please speak to any other trustees present at the activity. For concerns which are less urgent, please contact directlyEVA Craigon .All concerns or complaints will be recorded and kept with the Charity’s records.

-It is important to note that everyone’s responsibility is to report a concern and not decide if abuse has taken place.

-The Charity‘s Child/Adult protection lead is also responsible to review and monitor our guidelines and make sure they remain sufficient and up to date.

  1. ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

Every child and young person in Scotland should grow up free from bullying and develop respectful, responsible, and confident relationships with other children, young people and adults. This is a summary of the national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland’s children and young people (2010).

The charity fully supports this policy and all people involved with the charity‘s activities will aim to fulfil it by:

-Developing positive relationships amongst children, young people, and adults which are mutually respectful, responsible and trusting; promoting their emotional health and wellbeing.

-Incidence of bullying will not be ignored and will be addressed as quickly as possible by the charity Trustees.

  1. PHOTO POLICY

Unless you tell us otherwise we will assume that the charity is allowed to take photos of participants during our music sessions for the purpose of adding them to our communications via local newsletter, Facebook and similar. No information would however be added to identify the persons on the photos unless we make a specific request to the persons concerned before publication.

If you wish your child or yourself to be excluded from this policy, please send us an email to the Charity’s email address with subject ‘PHOTO POLICY’. The change will apply within 2 weeks of sending us an email.

The charity also reserves the right at all times to prohibit the use of photography, film, or video at any event or activity with which it is associated.

  1. DATA PROTECTION

All data collected from you will only be used by the Charity in order to facilitate the running of its activities. They would not be distributed to any third party. The information will be maintained in computers or electronic storage facilities which are all password protected. All relevant data and records (accounting, Board meeting minutes, bank statements, complaints, registration forms, etc.) will be kept for 7 years.

  1. DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

Any severe breach of the charity’s policies by anyone involved in the charity (including those taking part in its activities) will lead to a thorough review of the facts and circumstances by the charity Trustees (holding office at the time of the breach), from which they will decide on appropriate actions and consequences for the Charity and the concerned individuals. Any decisions would be communicated to the concerned individuals (and members in general if appropriate) as promptly as possible.

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