HANDBOOK
for
Surrey Arts Music Teachers
Welcome to Surrey Arts. This handbook will help to introduce you to some practical aspects of your role as a teacher with Surrey Arts.
Surrey Arts is part of Cultural Services within the Customers and Communities Directorate of Surrey County Council. In addition to providing instrumental music tuition and organising orchestras, bands, choirs etc., Surrey Arts also encompasses other art forms: drama, dance and visual arts. We also incorporate the Surrey Arts Wardrobe and Surrey Arts Instrument Hire.
You should read the information in the Surrey Arts Brochure and on the current Surrey Arts Music Lesson Application Form so that you are familiar with how our services are presented to parents, schools and the public. There are a lot of details you will need to become familiar with, so please don’t hesitate to ask if you are uncertain about anything; most of the time, your Operations Team representative will be your first point of contact, and they will put you in touch with another colleague if necessary.
Contact information:
SURREY ARTS
14 The Pines
Broad Street, Guildford
GU3 3BH
Tel: 01483 519303
Email:
Website: www.surreycc.gov.uk/music
You will also be given the direct line number for your Operations Team representative.
Head of Surrey Arts: Philip Trumble
Surrey Arts is the lead partner in the Surrey Music Hub. This is a network of music organisations and schools working together to bring more musical opportunities to more young people in Surrey, both in schools and in the wider community.
Please visit www.surreymusichub.com for more information and details.
16
Contents
Timetables 1
Group Teaching 1
Private Teaching 1
Lesson Delivery 2
Exams 2
Contact with Parents and Schools 3
Change of Teacher 3
Advice on Purchase of Instruments 3
Music, instruments, accessories, etc. 4
Surrey Arts Instrument Hire 4
Assisted Purchase of Musical Instruments 4
Practice Notebooks 5
Attendance Registers 5
Teaching Cover 5
Pay Claims 5
Safeguarding 6
Notice 6
Reports 6
Ensembles 7
Workshops 7
School-based Activities 7
Surrey Arts Teacher Support 7
Use of Vehicle 8
Emergency Procedures & Health and Safety 8
Personal Conduct 9
And finally…… 10
Surrey Arts Safeguarding Policy (appendix 1) 11
Surrey Arts Safeguarding Guidelines for Staff and Volunteers (appendix 2) 13
Social Networking - Acceptable Use Policy for Surrey Arts Staff (appendix 3) 15
Timetables
The Operations Team will arrange your timetable in the first instance. This is done in consultation with you so that the timetable matches the days and times you have available. Once set and agreed, you will then be expected to keep to this timetable on a regular weekly basis.
Details of your timetable will be given to you in the form of lesson lists showing venue, day, times, pupils’ names, home phone numbers, and start date. You will also be supplied with addresses and phone numbers for all the schools on your itinerary.
Timetables for after-school lessons are worked out in detail by the Operations Team but during the day schools may need to revise schedules as necessary. As a result, you will often be required to make a rotating timetable at secondary schools (and occasionally at primary schools). The amount of work you are offered may vary from term to term depending on demand, but wherever possible we will give you half a term’s notice of a pupil discontinuing. If you wish to expand your Surrey Arts Teaching, please contact us.
Once you know your pupils and schools, or as pupils progress, you may wish to recommend some changes (e.g. to grouping, lesson duration, times and days, etc.). Although it may not be obvious in any given situation, changes to timetables can affect customer billing, room availability, and other teachers’ timetables so as a first step all proposed changes should be discussed with us.
For the same reasons, new pupils should only be timetabled with our knowledge, so if you are asked by a school or parent to start teaching a new pupil please refer them to the Operations Team. Timetable changes are normally implemented at the beginning of a new term, although small changes can be made as necessary, again in discussion with the Operations Team.
Group Teaching
Pupil ability, both in individual and group situations, will vary. Where group lessons have been requested they will be set up according to age and ability, but a close match is not always possible. In mixed ability settings you will need to plan strategies to ensure that all pupils are engaged at all times - teaching short individual lessons in a group situation is not acceptable. Members of the Music Leadership Team can advise on ways to achieve this.
It is also important to bear in mind that, as with teachers in schools, we cannot pick and choose pupils. If a pupil is not practising or their behaviour is proving challenging in lessons, it is not appropriate to say you no longer wish to teach that child. In a local authority setting we are duty bound to do what we can to resolve such issues and provide excellent teaching for all pupils. There are a number of ways to resolve such issues so please contact us if you find yourself in this position.
Private Teaching
Many people undertake a variety of work outside their Surrey Arts teaching. Not only is this perfectly acceptable, it will add to your knowledge and experience. However, this should not impact on your agreed availability, nor should it cause any lack of continuity in the lessons provided to your pupils. Also, as a Surrey Arts teacher you may not accept offers of private instrumental teaching in schools in which we operate and we reserve the right to withdraw all your Surrey Arts teaching if you do. If you are asked to take pupils privately you should refer the matter to us.
Lesson Delivery
All pupils should receive thirty lessons in the course of a year, normally ten per term. If you know in advance you are not able to deliver any lessons, you must inform the pupil and write it in their practice notebook and also inform your Operations Team representative.
The most common problems, together with how they are treated, are as follows:
· If a pupil misses a lesson (e.g. because of absence from school or through forgetfulness etc.) you are not obliged to make up this lesson and you may claim for your time as usual. Please do everything possible to find pupils in primary schools if they fail to turn up for the lesson; at the very least try to use the previous pupil as a runner. If a pupil is absent without explanation it is most important that you inform the school office before you leave the premises. If a pupil is absent more than twice consecutively without explanation or regularly fails to turn up for lessons, your Operations Team representative should be informed. If you receive any form of communication via a pupil, parent or school that suggests that the pupil may not be continuing with lessons, please inform us as soon as you can
· If you miss a lesson (e.g. due to illness) you must inform the Operations Team immediately or, in case of early starts, your first school. Unless illness prevents you, please phone the school(s) and also the parents of after school pupils as soon as possible. The missed lessons should be made up and your pay claim should reflect the change in date. Long-term illness will be treated in line with SCC policy
· Planned School closures (e.g. training days, sports days and open evenings) are likely to affect your teaching. Lessons missed for this reason should be made up later in the term/year. It is your responsibility to check with the school office at each of your schools for any planned closures or activities that may affect your teaching. Please pass on this information to us, as it may affect other teachers
· Sudden School closures (e.g. snow, wind, floods and heating problems)
In the event of a sudden school closure, lessons should be made up where possible, either in the current term or by the end of the Summer Term. If lessons genuinely cannot be made up by the end of the Summer Term then you can claim for the missed lessons
· If some pupils at a particular school have to miss a lesson (e.g. because of exams) you may prefer to postpone the whole session to a later date rather than make two ‘half’ visits. However, be aware that changing the day of a lesson can cause problems. If you have to do this and a pupil is unable to attend on the changed day, the pupil will be entitled to a refund and you will not be able to claim payment for this lesson
Exams
Opportunities will be provided for you to enter pupils for exams through Surrey Arts. Please note that this will depend upon demand and will not necessarily cover all exam boards. You will be notified of dates and procedures as appropriate.
Contact with Parents and Schools
If you have concerns about a pupil’s musical progress, it is likely to help if you talk things through with the parent. If this is the case, please make every effort to contact them as soon as possible. However, please do not make phone calls to your pupils (see the Surrey Arts Safeguarding Guidelines, appendix 2).
If you have concerns about a pupil’s welfare, please refer to the Surrey Arts Safeguarding Policy (appendix 1) and Guidelines (appendix 2).
Your personal contact details will not be given to schools or parents by Surrey Arts, and you are advised against giving your private phone number to parents or pupils unless you choose to do so. Be aware that if you phone or text parents they can easily note your number if you don’t block it. Schools may ask you for your phone number - it will be up to you whether you wish them to have it, as they can always give you messages via the Operations Team.
It is in everyone’s interest, particularly your own, to cultivate a good rapport with parents and schools. A swift response to their enquiries, or an information call from you, can do much to enhance the effectiveness of your teaching. As Surrey Arts employees, we are all ambassadors for our service and can do much to promote our good reputation.
You will also be issued with a name card for your door. This will tell people who you are and help them to recognise you as a Surrey Arts teacher.
Change of Teacher
Sometimes, such as in the move from primary to secondary school, you will need to pass your pupils on to another teacher. Whatever the reason for this, please be prepared to make some notes about your pupils, giving the new teacher information such as books/repertoire used, exams taken or being worked towards, and particular areas of strength or weakness. In short, if you include anything that you would find useful when taking on a pupil from another teacher, then the transition will be as smooth as possible for everybody concerned. These notes should be given to the Operations Team when you return your termly registers.
Advice on Purchase of Instruments
Your advice to parents on the purchase of instruments is invaluable, as unfortunately many people buy poor quality or inappropriate instruments out of ignorance or on the advice of a well-intentioned relative or neighbour. Clearly this can put you in a very difficult situation and we do everything we can to prevent this from happening, asking parents to wait until they have taken professional advice. We suggest that you contact parents at the earliest opportunity to discuss instruments with them (if necessary) so that you can be involved in the choice of instrument from the beginning. Depending on the situation, you may be able to meet your new pupil in school a few weeks before they start so that you can advise on instrument size etc. Parents will appreciate your interest, and will understand that you are doing everything you can to give their child the best start possible. Also, they will prefer this to finding out later on that they have wasted their money, or that they have bought their child something that is so badly made it is impossible for them to produce a decent sound.
Music, instruments, accessories, etc.
Please do not purchase music, instruments and accessories on behalf of your pupils or their parents. With music and accessories being readily available online and via mail order there is no longer any need to make these purchases yourself.
Surrey Arts Instrument Hire
Surrey Arts Instrument Hire has a wide range of orchestral and band instruments that can be hired by parents and schools. However, this offer is subject to availability and Instrument Hire is only open at specific times, so please do not promise anybody an instrument and do not tell them just to “turn up”. Instead, please ask customers to contact Instrument Hire on 01483 519298 and an appointment will be made. More information is available on the Instrument Hire page of our website.
All customers sign to take responsibility for the instruments whilst they are on hire to them, and the whole system is designed to ensure that customers and Surrey Arts are protected from error and loss. Please, therefore, do not collect or return instruments on behalf of parents or schools. Parents sometimes ask if they can buy the instrument but we cannot offer this service. However, all SA pupils are entitled to the benefit of our Assisted Purchase Scheme - see below.