One of my pupils has just informed me that she thinks she will "try out" lessons at school next term.

"If I don't like it I can come back" she said. (really ??)

All done verbally - no message from parents as yet.

Granted she is changing schools - but her new one is much nearer than her current school; she'll be about 10-15 mins walk away.

Cheeky monkey. If it is true and not just her imagination, and she wants to come back in November, make sure you charge her more!

I've had a couple who did that while still having lessons with me.

They both gave up the in school lessons after a short time.

Keep your door open as I'm sure your pupil will return. School lessons are short and you don't get so much attention.

I'd still feel rather insulted, but what's the point. You almost certainly can fill this pupils gap! People like the idea of getting something on the cheap, but they may nt find it the bargin they think they are getting!

Do you have a waiting list at the moment? If one of mine did that it would be "yes of course you can come back - you might just have to wait a couple of years for an available slot!"

Yes - that's pretty much what I did say!

Don`t worry. If you`re any good as a teacher the pupil will come back if they are keen. It`s a lesson they can learn, quality over quantity huh :-)

Well - thank you for that! I suspect it's parents trying to lose the after-school-taxi service, rather than the pupil wanting to change.

The (slightly) annoying thing is that she's been with me only half a year; had done several years previously with another teacher but couldn't really read music. Was used to hearing her pieces first and semi-copying them. Her mother guessed that she was around grade 4 when she came to me - she struggled with the Shostakovitch March in C ( the one from 6 children's pieces) and I would barely have put her at grade one.

I am just starting to feel we have got the building blocks together and are starting to get somewhere; she's now reading and understanding much more confidently and I was looking forward, I guess, to seeing her move on. Instead of which she now faces another upheaval.

But let's be practical - let's not put progress before convenience!!

I have also lost a few private pupils to school lessons. Now I teach in schools myself and although I do my best for these pupils the lack of time really does mean that school lessons are not as productive as private ones. Like has been said many parents simply find them cheaper and more convenient and that seems to come before the childs musical progression. I guess money is tight for some families but not all!

That's so annoying, Maggie when you can see them starting to make solid progress-and they now face the upheaval of another teacher change. I teach in a school and privately and have lost the occasional pupil in the past to school lessons-to be honest convenience in the area where I work is the only factor as school lessons aren't any cheaper and in fact in the county where I do my school teaching they're considerably more expensive if you compare the hourly rate to lessons at home. I've lost the odd school pupil to lessons at home due to parents not liking them being taken out of school lessons during the day for their piano lessons-sometimes you just can't win! My lot at the moment seem very stable, touch wood, I've got one leaving at the end of term but haven't had many enquiries lately for private lessons at home-time for some marketing soon I think!

Changing school is no excuse. If one of my students said that to me, I'd get rid of them. I am not here for their convenience. It's so annoying -especially when the child has done so well with you.



If it were me, the student would never reach the top of the waiting list. I would never take back a student who left me.

Thanks everyone. I still haven't heard anything "officially" from the parents. A younger sister is on my waiting list, and it's possible they think she will take over the slot - but I'd be wary of taking on another from the same family if this is how they regard their booking. I'm tempted to contact them and ask why they are dissatisfied !

I have already indicated to another pupil who needs a change of day that a space looks likely ...

It's so annoying -especially when the child has done so well with you.

Well, I think she has. I' ve no idea whether the parents think so.

to be honest convenience in the area where I work is the only factor as school lessons aren't any cheaper

I'm pretty sure that's the case here too - I kept in line with peri rates while my two were at school locally, and my daughter has been left school only a year. I think they get a better deal on the whole too, learning privately, with fewer disruptions to lessons.

I used to teach a small boy on trombone, who was not particularly talented but was progressing slowly; anyway, one day, the doorbell rang at his lesson time and I found his younger brother on my step instead, looking lost and clutching the trombone case. Mum explained that younger brother was going to learn with me now - she'd sent the older one to "proper" lessons at school now he'd got the hang of playing.

Needless to say I did not teach him, but she couldn't understand why I had a problem with it as I was "still getting the money".

I have had that happen a couple of times - replacing an older child with a younger one - usually with 3 or 4 child families. It has always been with my agreement, but I am usually rather gutted to be be losing the nice older child who has progressed quite far for the youngest one who has to start from scratch!

Not so bad if the replacement is because one gave up for some reason but the Scoobydog's experience of mum telling you in one breath that you aren't a 'proper' teacher and asking in the next for you to take on another child is a bit off putting

Must add an update to the original post - pupil came today and mum (fortunately) needed a word about something else; this gave me chance to say that I understood from xxxxxx that she was changing teacher next term.

Mum very puzzled - no, apparently the possibility was discussed briefly but they had decided not to change - which was definitely not what I understood from her daughter last week!

Anyway - at least it looks as if she will be settled for a bit. Let's hope this is the final version now!

How does these parents manage to conjure up such wonderful standards for their progeny?

search me ! I haven't a clue. I guess it was because she had learnt for several years and mum hoped she might have moved on about a grade a year.

You just have to laugh!

I guess parents who are not musical don't always have a comparison - after all, the number of people who are either from, ie, the US, or just aren't familiar with the UK grading system who think that grade x must relate to school year, or how long one has played, or whatever... to say someone is "grade x" just isn't meaningful if you don't know what that means.