Dear Parent/Carer,
Guidance for distance learning provision in the event of future school closures
I am writing to update you on the Music Service contingency plans to continue learning should we experience any potential disruption to learning in the future through full or partial closure of schools. We are very keen that your child should continue to make good progress and to enjoy their music making. We have therefore designed an online curriculum that mirrors the learning they would receive in school. This means that although the delivery style will be different, we hope your child will engage weekly to share their achievements since last lesson, receive teacher guidance and to set targets for progression.
For safeguarding reasons we will not be teaching live lessons online. Pupils will have the opportunity to send audio (not video) recordings of their playing for teacher feedback, receive pre-recorded teacher advice on technical skills or repertoire specific to your child’s needs and to ask any questions they might have regarding their learning. We may, time allowing and where appropriate, also set longer term projects for virtual ensemble playing, listening projects or music theory to support learning at different levels including preparation for graded exams, GCSE and A level.
All new work set will be made available on the day your child would normally have their lesson in school and they will have up to a week to submit it in time for their teacher’s feedback the following week. Work can be submitted at any time but your teacher will only be able to respond during the day your child normally has their lesson because of their commitment to students in other schools.
We will no longer be using Google Classrooms. Instead we have found MS TEAMS offers far more flexibility and so all lessons will be delivered online via TEAMS. Your child’s teacher is preparing your child in the use of TEAMS and so we hope any necessary transition will go smoothly. All students can log in using their school computer user name and password. Our experience is that the Google Chrome browser is most compatible with TEAMS. Please see the Microsoft Teams Help page for more information.
We realise that your child will have a routine to follow from their school but we do expect them to attend online learning weekly, as they would in school. Keeping to a routine will ensure their learning stays on track and it will also help to support emotional health and wellbeing. We will monitor engagement levels and let you know if we have any concerns. Equally, we hope you will let us know if you have any questions.
We very much hope that we won’t need to deliver our lessons remotely but please be assured that should the need arise we will act immediately to ensure continuity.
Yours Faithfully,
Maggie Richardson