COVID-19 Schools guidance

During the Covid-19 pandemic all face-to-face Kent Music services were put on hold. In order to maintain access to music education, some of our services have gone online but due to the closure of schools all of our in-school teaching temporarily came to a halt.

On 2^nd July 2020 the DfE issued guidance to schools outlining how they can reopen to all pupils in September. Kent Music has considered its options for in-school teaching and how we can safely deliver our services to schools whilst keeping teachers and pupils safe and well. We have linked guidelines and advice from the government and Music Mark in the ‘Guidance’ section below – we would encourage you to read them.

At Kent Music we have developed organisational guidance for schools and teachers with regards to returning to schools in September 2020 which we would encourage all our colleagues in schools to read carefully. The document can be found in the Guidance section below.

We have come to the following decisions about our tuition services. Each section contains information on our approach to that service, and answers to any relevant FAQs you may have.

1-1 Tuition

Our general approach is to ensure we can continue to teach as many students as we can, as much as we can. We are working with schools and teachers to return to face-to-face activities in a safe manner as soon as we are able. In the meantime, we will be continuing to register online teaching until we can return to teaching in schools and other venues.

As you know, this is a fast-moving situation, and so we are talking to each school we work with individually to ascertain the best way to return while keeping you, students, and school and office staff as safe as possible. We have a set of criteria for schools which needs to be met before we can return:

The school allows us entry and we are able to comply with their Covid-19 risk assessment criteria for external visitors.
We have undertaken our own risk assessment of the school and their arrangements for instrumental and vocal teaching and are satisfied that it is safe to return to the school.
We are able to provide a workable timetable for the teacher(s) going into that school.

When will Kent Music resume 1-1 lessons in schools?

We are working with schools and teachers to return to face-to-face activities in a safe manner as soon as we are able.

Will we be able to resume Woodwind, Brass & singing 1-1 lessons?

Yes, provided that schools can adhere to the appropriate guidance regarding the teaching of these instruments in accordance to the social distancing guidelines.

More information can be found on the Music Mark website here: https://www.musicmark.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Guidance-for-Providers.pdf.

Is financial assistance still being offered?

Applications for Financial Assistance for the academic year 2020/21 will be accepted via our Kent Music web page https://www.kent-music.com/financial-assistance/ from Monday 20^th July 2020.

All applications will be electronically linked to our registration system and must be completed by existing beneficiaries as well as new applicants, please do not forget to attach your receipt for proof of benefit.

Financial Assistance applications are only considered for those actually in receipt of a confirmed lesson, if your lessons haven’t been arranged or you have any further queries please contact our Financial Assistance Administrator, either via email gbatty@kent-music.com or by phone 01622 358413.

Agency Projects

If your school or venue has engaged Kent Music through an agency project, we will be approaching you on a case-by-case basis to comply with your Risk Assessments for opening to outside agencies

We have a set of criteria for schools which needs to be met before we can return:

The school allows us entry  and we are able to comply with their COVID-19 risk assessment criteria for external visitors.
We have undertaken our own risk assessment of the school and their arrangements for instrumental and vocal teaching and are satisfied that it is safe to return to the school.
We are able to provide a workable timetable for the teacher(s) going into that school.

MusicPlus tuition

For those with a Kent Music teacher:

Kent Music will not be delivering face-to-face MusicPlus tuition in schools until January. If you had a Kent Music teacher for MusicPlus last year, please contact our Customer Services team to book in your school requirement for January if you have not done so already.

During the autumn term instead of teaching face-to-face sessions in schools our teachers will be following a bespoke CPD programme. This will follow content to upskill and extend their knowledge on whole class teaching including Music Tech, philosophy of teaching music, planning, differentiating and assessing. They will also be making contact with their assigned schools in the autumn term to enable planning so that we can ensure if a school has a deep dive in music from Ofsted that our teacher has joined up their MusicPlus planning with the school curriculum.

Each Kent Music school will be charged the usual £50 per term per form entry for their MusicPlus tuition however there will be no charge for the autumn term.

For those who engage other agencies/teachers:

If you engage a different music agency or a private peripatetic teacher, you will need to make contact with them to find out what their offer will be in September. Music Mark are continually updating their guidance on safe music delivery which can be found here.

Schools will continue to receive their funding for MusicPlus as usual between September and March and most schools will have received notice about their funding in May 2020.

We are ready to have our Kent Music, MusicPlus teacher in September

This will not be possible. Our MusicPlus teachers will return to your school in January.

:What do I do if I don’t want to wait until January for a Kent Music teacher?

Waiting until then is our Kent Music approach to keep teachers, staff and pupils safe at a time of uncertainty. This is our plan and approach. If you do not want to wait, then you are free to change providers. However, we will need to know about this change so that your Arts Council funding can be sent directly to the school instead.

I had a Kent Music teacher last academic year what do I need to do?

Please contact our customer services team on customerservices@kent-music.com who will be planning in your MusicPlus tuition as normal but for a January start.

We need to timetable music in from September, or it won’t happen in January. What do we do for a term?

You will need to assign a time in September for music if it is not possible to change your timetable in January. You should run your own curriculum in the autumn term and our teacher will take over this slot in January.

Can we change to Ukulele or a stringed instrument?

We hope that by January, guidance on teaching woodwind or brass instruments may have been issued by the DfE and this will not be as issue.

If you are still concerned and wish to change instruments, then you may need to secure your own class set of Ukuleles as Kent Music does not have extra budget to buy more Ukuleles.

Current Kent Music projects should contact our customer services department in the first instance and non-Kent Music schools should contact our Instrument Department to find out availability.

What will the Kent Music MusicPlus teachers be doing if they are not teaching in schools?

We are upskilling our MusicPlus teachers and they will be following a CPD plan which involves lots of relevant and wide-reaching topics based around whole class teaching.

The teacher that your schools is assigned will be expected to contact the school music lead to talk about planning, find out about their class ahead of January and fit in with any school planning as per the Ofsted guidelines.

Will Kent Music charge my school for the autumn term?

No. There will be no charge for the autumn term. After January schools will be charged at the regular £50 per term per form entry.

What is happening with funding for non-Kent Music schools who run MusicPlus?

Schools will continue to receive their KS2 funding as normal between September and March. Non-KM schools are free to decide how they want to run their MusicPlus and approach their private teacher/the agency that they engage to find out how this will run. If you need guidance on allowing external music teachers in to your school please refer to the Music Mark guidance.

What will happen in January?

Providing that there is not a second wave or Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns we will resume face-to-face MusicPlus teaching in January 2021. If there are large scale changes in the autumn term, we will communicate these to schools when necessary

Ensembles and Music Centres

Access to each music centre will be assessed on a venue-by-venue basis using our set of criteria:

The school allows us entry and we are able to comply with their Covid-19 risk assessment criteria for external visitors.
We have undertaken our own risk assessment of the school and their arrangements for instrumental and vocal teaching and are satisfied that it is safe to return to the school.
We are able to provide a workable timetable for the teacher(s) going into that school.

We will maintain regular communication with music centre members and staff, with the aim of opening them as soon as we can but only when it is safe to do so. We are currently looking into extending our online ensembles programme in the autumn and will communicate separately about this.

Our school are now taking external bookings for September. When will the Kent Music centre be restarting?

We are reviewing our music centres on a case by case basis. Our Area Managers are currently making plans for the reopening of our centres.

Will you have conducted your own risk assessments?

Yes. We aim to be guided by the schools’ own risk assessments, but we will complete our own risk assessment for each music centre

Will you be running ensembles and delivering tuition?

Our first priority will be to get our tuition up and running – please see our FAQs on tuition. Once it is safe and practical to restart ensembles we will do so.

Funding, Area Managers and Networks

Will I still receive Arts Council funding from Kent Music for my school?

As per the communication that we sent in May there are some changes to funding for this financial year.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic Kent Music had hoped to be able to continue funding schools as per the usual planned schedule, but in light of the nationwide closure of schools which took effect on the 20^th March 2020 we have had to make the decision to not fund mainstream schools at KS1,3 or 4 until September.

This will not affect KS2 payments which will start as usual in September and are for the sole purpose of fulfilling the Arts Councils core role of delivering whole class music tuition which in Kent we call MusicPlus.

Terms and Conditions for funding can be found on our schools funding page: https://www.kent-music.com/schools-funding/

Will Area Managers still be working with schools?

Yes, absolutely. Area Managers will be working as usual, and we encourage you to get in touch should you require:

– Support

– School resources

– Workshops and network meetings

– Funding guidance

– Useful contacts

– Support and resources for school events

– Information and ideas

You can find out more about Area Managers and find your local contact here: https://www.kent-music.com/area-managers/

Will school network meetings still be running?

Yes. Our school network meetings will continue to run virtually until January 2021. Please visit our Network Meetings page and talk to your local Area Manager to find out more details. https://www.kent-music.com/local-network-meetings/

Will I still receive updates from Kent Music?

The Kent Music Area Manager team runs termly newsletters, with our next due in July and then early September 2020, In it you can expect more resources to support you in the classroom and information about activities in your area.

Guidance

We appreciate all the hard work being done in and out of school to ensure a safe and productive reopening in September 2020. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can be of further assistance in bringing music to your school.