Policies

Registration

 

Before commencing music lessons with Heron Music Tuition, all students, or the parent or guardian for those under 18, must:

 

• complete and return the registration form sent via email.
• complete and return the contract sent via email.
• we also encourace students to download the Tonara app to track their practice and receive encouragement from the teacher between lessons. Your account details will be sent to you after registration.

 

Bookings & Cancellations

 

• Upon registration, we will arrange regular lessons at a mutually convenient time. Most lessons repeat at the same time each week or fortnight.
• If you are unable to attend a lesson in person, we will rearrange to teach you online that week. 
• 24 hours notice is required to cancel a lesson, whereupon the lesson fee will be carried over for one week/fortnight. 
• Lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, and for which a suitable online arrangement or rescheduling in person cannot be managed, will be charged for. 
• In the event of the tutor not being able to deliver a lesson on the agreed date, the session will be rescheduled. If this is not possible, a refund will be offered or the lesson fee carried over to a suitable future date. 

Please note that we are always as flexible as we can be, as we know life can be very busy and complex. If you anticipate difficulties attending lessons for any period of time, for whatever reason, please get in touch so we can help make the best possible arrangements. 

If you find that you’re regularly cancelling or rearranging lessons for your child because of other after school activities such as sports competitions, guide or scout activities or other committments, please consider carefully whether your child has sufficient time in their schedule for music lessons. If a child is fully booked every night of the week, they will not have enough time or energy for practice and you could find progress is slow and motivation low.

 

Cooling-off Period

 

• The student has a legal right to cancel the agreement for music lessons during a cooling-off period of 14 days.
• During the cooling-off period if the student changes their mind or decides for any other reason that they do not wish to continue, the agreement will be cancelled and a refund given for any lessons paid for but not received. 

 

Attendance

 

• Regular attendance is vital if the student is to maintain motivation and make progress.
• A bad week of practice doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a bad lesson, so please come anyway. We are here to help you with any difficulties.
• While we are friendly, being professional is important to us. We will be ready to help you achieve the next goal in your music learning journey and ask that students attend ready to learn and practise.
• For online sessions, please be ready with your technology all set up five minutes before your appointment time. Please make sure that your music, instrument and any other requirements for your lesson are all in place.
• Dress and behaviour should be appropriate whether learning face to face or online. 
• Lesson rooms for online sessions should be quiet and with as few interruptions as possible. 

 

Holidays

 

• We do not teach during school holidays except by prior arrangement. 
• If you are taking a holiday, school trip or other event during term time, these will be subject to our booking, cancellation and payment terms as noted above. 
• The more notice you can give us, the more likely we are to be able to make suitable arrangements to make up lessons. 

 

Payments

 

• Payments for pay-as-you-go lessons can be made by card or PayPal via the Student section of the website. Please only pay for your lesson once you have confirmed your appointment.
• Payments for pay-as-you-go lessons may also be made in cash, cheque or bank transfer in advance of your lesson. Again, please confirm your appointment before making payment.
• If you have opted to pay for weekly lessons during term time, please read the further terms sent to you via email and return the agreement. Bank details will be sent so you can set up a standing order to be paid monthly. 

 

Stopping lessons

 

• If you or your child no longer wish to receive music lessons, one month’s notice in writing is required. 
• During the notice period, lessons are payable as per your agreement and our standard cancellation terms.
• You may attend lessons during the notice period or not, according to your choice.
• All equipment and sheet music loaned during lessons must be returned by the final session.  

We understand that some children may wish to take an extended break from music lessons when preparing for and sitting important exams at school. Please note that we require one month’s notice of this, and that our standard booking and cancellation terms apply. 

When your child is ready to return to music lessons, please get in touch and we will be happy to reschedule sessions. Please note that we cannot guarantee holding a time slot or day for children who take a break for school examinations. 

 

Graded Examinations

 

• Graded exams are taken with external exam boards including ABRSM and RGT. Fees, dates and other arrangements are set by the board.
• Exams are not a compulsory part of learning and will be recommended by the teacher only if appropriate.
• Whilst we are always happy to have a conversation about the right time to sit an exam, we reserve the right not to enter a pupil if we do not feel they are ready or that the exam experience would not be a positive one. 
• We will help you and your child every step of the way to achieve to the best of their ability, but preparing for a music exam requires a commitment to practising.
• Details of dates, fees, venues and syllabi can be found in the Student section of the website. 

 

Communication

 

• We may send you emails with general updates or information specific to you or your child’s lessons. 
• We are happy to receive contact from you in whatever way is convenient, but please note that we will often ignore the phone or text messages if we are teaching so as not to interrupt lessons.

 

• During each lesson the tutor will prepare notes for the pupil to refer to during practice.
• Pupils can use a notebook if the lesson is held face to face. 
• We also use our app, Practice Space, to share details of practice tasks and for pupils to track practice. Read more about Practice Space on the Student page.
• Parents and guardians are expected to regularly look at notebooks and the Tonara app in order to make sure that pupils are clear about what they need to practise during the week. 

We are happy to discuss your child’s progress with you at any time but we request that you make an appointment for any lengthy discussions, due to our busy schedule.

If you have any questions or queries between lesson appointments please feel free to call, text or email or get in touch via the Portal.

 

Sheet Music

 

• On occasion, and particularly when starting lessons, your tutor may recommend that you purchase books and downloads of sheet music. 
• You may choose to purchase the correct music through a retailer of your choice. 
• If preferred, the tutor will purchase the music for you and invoice accordingly. Please note that we do not make profit on sheet music, so the choice is entirely one of convenience for you. 
• We may on occasion lend music to you. This must be looked after and kept in good condition and returned upon request or when stopping lessons.

 

Photocopies

 

• In the vast majority of cases, photocopying sheet music is illegal and doing so impacts the livelihood of composers and writers.
• Please do not photocopy music unless it is from your own copy and needed for personal use, for example awkward page turns. 
• Photocopies are not allowed in examinations.
• We only use photocopies very rarely and usually ask that pupils purchase the correct books or borrow music from us. 
• Music shared by us on the app is done so with permission, or is royalty free.
• If you’re unsure about using photocopies, please ask!

 

Open Door Policy & Safeguarding

 

• Parents are always welcome to sit in on their child’s lessons as we have an open door policy.
• Some children are more able to relax without parents present, but we do recommend adults attend from time to time to keep an eye on progress.
• We recommend parental supervision during online lessons of our younger students to make sure that all technical difficulties are dealt with, and to make sure children are properly engaged with the session. 
• Student safety is of the utmost importance. We hold current, enhanced DBS certificates and have taken Safeguarding Children training.
• For students under the age of 18 all communication about lessons will be directed to the parent/guardian. 
• If your child is using Practice Space, our practice app, we may send supportive messages and encouragement in app between lessons. Please visit the Practice Space information on the Student page to find out more.

 

Privacy

 

• We take your privacy seriously. We will not share your data with anyone else and only use the information we hold to conduct your music lessons efficiently.
• Your data may be held for accounting purposes after stopping lessons.
• You have a right to ask what data we hold about you. 
• If you are making use of Practice Space, please refer to the privacy details in the app.

If you have any further questions, please get in touch via the Contact page.