COVID-19 Schools guidance

During the Covid-19 pandemic Kent Music has strived to keep access to music education available as much as possible through a combination of online provision and working closely with our colleagues in schools.

After a successful autumn term of bringing face-to-face lessons back in some schools, following the government announcement of a new national lockdown in January 2021 we have once again moved all our provision online.

While this is not an ideal situation, we are pleased that we can continue to provide high quality lessons and ensembles despite not being face-to-face. We are also keen to ensure we keep a close and supportive relationship with all the schools we work with, no matter the lockdown status.

We are hoping to return to face-to-face lessons in the summer term and will be assessing this after the spring half term break. We will contact all the schools we work with at this time to discuss arrangements for the summer term.

While we may not be in your schools at the moment, we’re still here to support you. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any music education topics we can help with. You can find out more about the support we offer on our Schools Services page. You can also contact your local Area Manager at any time with questions.

Along with individual support, we are continuing our free CPD sessions and Local Network Meetings are still taking place. We will be running these events online. Find out more about them at these links: CPD & Training, Local Network Meetings

To keep in the loop with Kent Music news, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter for the lowdown on courses, events, and projects in the world of music education in Kent. This is in addition to the once-termly newsletter schools receive from Area Managers.

Thank you so much for your patience in what has already been a turbulent start to the year. We look forward to making music with you and continuing to support you in 2021.

We have collated the following frequently asked questions, which we hope will help us continue to support you this term:

Tuition

While England remains in lockdown, all Kent Music teaching will be moving online. We anticipate that our teaching will remain online for the duration of the 2021 spring term.

We are accepting new students and continuing with our existing ones for both 1-1 tuition and ensembles with our Online Music Centre. We may also run occasional one-off music courses for groups like Orchestra ONE or our County Groups.

We are still planning for face-to-face tuition in the summer term, so if you had been hoping to bring a Kent Music tutor into your school then please do get in touch. We recommend you contact your local Area Manager for more information.

Agency Projects

If your school has engaged Kent Music through an ongoing agency project for the 2021 spring term, please liaise directly with your Kent Music teacher on the most appropriate course of action.

Plans can still be made for agency projects in the summer term. Please contact your local Area Manager to discuss this.

MusicPlus tuition

Kent Music teachers did not deliver MusicPlus in the autumn term. Teaching was set up where possible with a Risk Assessment in place to allow for MusicPlus teaching to start in January 2021 however, due to school closures starting in January Kent Music teachers will now not start their teaching until the summer term 2021.

If your teaching was ready to go for January 2021 this will now start after Easter and your teacher will communicate with you. If you are on our waiting list for a teacher, we will continue our efforts this term to place a teacher with you to start in the summer term.

During the autumn term instead of teaching face to face sessions in schools our teachers followed a bespoke CPD programme following content to upskill and extend their knowledge on whole class teaching including Music Tech, philosophy of teaching music, planning, differentiating, and assessing. Many of them were able to make contact with their assigned schools in the autumn term enabling planning and this contact will continue during the spring term.

For those who engage other agencies/teachers for MusicPlus:

If you engage a different music agency or a private peripatetic teacher, you will need to make contact with them and let them know if they are needed to teach in your school and when. Music Mark are continually updating their guidance on safe music delivery which can be found here.

Ensembles and Music Centres

Music Centres

Under current conditions, Kent Music’s in-person Music Centres are not running. However, since the start of the autumn term in 2020 we have been running a successful Online Music Centre.

Featuring online courses for all ages, from beginner through to advanced players, the courses include orchestral groups, a band, a choir, an online Music Lab, and more favourites from our in-person music centres.

The Online Music Centre is open to all musicians in Kent, whether you have attended a Music Centre before or are just starting out with ensemble playing. Even better, we have reduced the cost of membership for our Online Music Centre.

Find out more and join one or more of the ensembles via the Online Music Centre page.

County Groups

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic and the continuation of social distancing measures, we are currently reviewing how our County Groups will be taking place in 2021.

We will maintain the same ethos and excitement in our advanced groups, and we welcome new members, however the frequency of rehearsals and course types may change.

To find out more about our County Groups, please contact Valerie Cordina on vcordina@kent-music.com.

Funding

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

As per the communication that we sent in May 2020 there were some changes to funding for this financial year (20/21).

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 20th March 2020 we have had to make the decision to not fund mainstream schools at KS1,3 or 4 until September 2020.

This did not affect KS2 payments which started as usual in September 2020 and were for the sole purpose of fulfilling the Arts Councils core role of delivering whole class music tuition which in Kent which we call MusicPlus.

School closures in Jan2021 will not affect school funding at this point so funds paid directly to a school will continue until March 2021 as usual.

Funding amounts and how this is administered after March 2021 is currently under review and schools will receive communication from us this term which will detail any changes to the process/amounts received for the academic year 2021/22.

Terms and Conditions of funding for the current academic year can be found on our Schools Funding Page.

Guidance

Department for Education

Actions for schools during the Coronavirus outbreak

Music Mark

Music Unlocked: Guidance for Schools and Music Providers

Back to School, Back to Singing

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