Peri contract Options

[owainsutton]

The situation is not quite the same with piano which is what I started out teaching.

Fair point!

I think the downsides mentioned were lack of continuity because of all the school holidays and the loss of ground in holidays where it's seen as an in school activity only and lack of contact with parents and the potential associated problems (not buying music, hard to pass on advice about practice, and general idea that it's something that happens in school so more chance of no practice). Also what seem to be common problem with suitable teaching space.

I agree with most of that, with the added reminder that often the difficulties with support at home can be that the parents simply have no idea how to support the pupils, or that there isn't sufficient space in an overcrowded house for a 'practice area', etc. In other words, those pupils who probably wouldn't be getting the chance at all if it were not at school. ("I used to practice in my bedroom, but now my new sister's cot is taking up all the space" is one line I remember well.)

Regarding suitable teaching space, most of my peri work was fortunately in schools which were generally co-operative, and I had the backing of a music service who would fight battles on our behalf if necessary (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)