Hello all!

I'm looking for some advice on a (quite possibly) delicate issue...

I've been teaching basic keyboard/piano at a community centre to a group of 5 kids for the last year.

The cost for parents is ?4 for the full hour, paid directly to the centre, and as long as there's an average of ?12.50 coming in each week, the local council will subsidise the rest, and I then invoice the centre for ?25 per lesson.

This has worked really well, since even when one or more of the students can't make the class, (usually with a full week or more's notice, but sometimes not.) as long as the averages work out, I can still invoice for the full amount.

However... I've just had a call from the centre to say that all funding for music lessons has been cut by the council, so I can no longer invoice them. This means that when I have a full class of 5 I'll make ?20 for the hour, but if any of the students can't make it, the fee will be much less.

The room is still available for free so i've still got a teaching space equipped with keyboards etc so I've not got to shell out any extra for the lessons, but there are quite often occasions where only 3 will make it, and since it takes quite a while to get to the class, much less quite a lot of time planning lessons, ?12 for the full hour seems a little meagre.

Classes run on Sundays, so I expect that from time to time families will have things on - I usually operate a 24 hour cancellation policy, and at the moment each parent pays 10 weeks in advance.

They've all paid till the end of June, but the centre can't cover lessons at all, effective immediately. They're going to uphold my last invoice and then hand back and extra money that parents have paid, so I'll be covered at a reduced rate till then, but I'm not sure how to go about changing rates/policies or even whether I should, after that.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Becky.

Can you stick with the 10 weeks in advance but make it clear that the commitment is for the 10 lessons?
If you have the money for the block of 10 lessons it's not your problem if they don't turn up.
Swimming and dancing classes are like this.

sbhoa's suggestion is good. Could you also put up the fees to ?5 a lesson, so that you still get your ?25? If you explained that the council no longer susidises the lessons, it would be clear why you need to put up the fees by 25%.

How about offering an incentive to pay in a block - 10 advance lessons for ?40 or ?6 drop-in fee. That might encourage them to pay in advance if they know they save ?2 per lesson.

I hope you can find a way to make it work - having the room for free is a great deal but you do need to earn a living wage!

I agree - stay factual, rather than political, but don't be afraid to give a full explanation of the change to your circumstances.

Thanks everyone, I'm seeing them all today so will explain the situation. Block booking at ?5 an hour seems fair, so I'll see how they take it.

Thanks again!