Hi all

I've been trying to get my name around as a piano teacher - not many pupils biting so far, but all I can do is keep trying. I have experience teaching adults and older teenagers, but none at all teaching younger children: so if I do find any young pupils I'll just have to do my best and learn as I go!

An obvious issue that occurse to me is what we call Disclosure in Scotland - I don't know what it's called in England, but it's the criminal record etc check which is pretty much mandatory if you're going to work with children or young people.

Now I got the Enhanced Disclosure - maximum possible check! - just over a year ago as a condition of starting my postgrad course at the RSAMD; I imagine that all students have to have this check as we may well end up teaching music to under-18s. That form came back with absolutely nothing of interest recorded against me, as I expected.

I'm applying for all kinds of jobs (this is the fate of pianists graduating from a conservatoire!). Today a job came up as a childrens' entertainer in a shopping centre over the Christmas period. The agency picked me because I'd mentioned on my CV that I had the Enhanced Disclosure. I think I'd enjoy this job - though the thought of it is a bit daunting!

But it turns out that my previous check won't be accepted, because it's over a year old. No problem, I said - send me a form or whatever, ask whatever questions you like, and we'll get a new one done. I think the idea of this check is a great one in principle - when I eventually have to deal with parents' possible anxieties about me teaching their children (I'm a man), being able to at least assure them that I have no criminal record would be a great help.

But: it turns out that the agency want me to pay for this check myself! £23, for a certificate that is not transferable to any other job! I checked on the website Disclosure Scotland, hoping that what I'd heard was exaggerated rumour rather than fact, and found this:



So I'm being asked to cough up £23, for a seasonal 3-week job at £7/hour, for a certificate that will be of no further use to me whatsoever! I think this is outrageous.

And I can't apply for an Enhanced Disclosure as an individual, as I'd like to given that I'm trying to get teaching work. No, that would be too simple. You have to apply in conjunction with an "approved body" or some such nonsense - and then the certificate is only valid for the specific employer and position.

So how on earth do music teachers manage this nightmare? Anyone who thinks a musician can survive working for a single employer is obviously away with the fairies. It's hard enough to get work, and I've been marketing myself to every school and college I can think of. Am I expected to go through the whole Disclosure process, and pay £23, every time a different organisation offers me e.g. 2-3 hours of dep work?

The only small consolation is that the proposed new ISA certification system looks to be even worse.

Any advice welcome!

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Although technically these are not transeferable, some organisations do accept checks done through another organisation. It is also true that they are out of date as soon as they are produced - since by definition they only check the records up to the date they are issued. However, if you have one to wave at anxious parents it won't matter what organisation it was done for: it still days you were an OK chappie on that date. Some organisations want them renewed once a year, some every three years, some don't bother after the initial one. I've got a draw full of them! I've never had to pay for one myself, though.

I could paper the walls with Enhanced Disclosures yet that still doesn't exempt me from having to get another one every time I so much as breathe in a school. The best case scenario is to get in with someone who counts as a single employer, so an education authority for example. But each private school still has to get their own. I would never, ever expect to pay for a Disclosure, though. Probably the biggest moment of lunacy was when I was changing from student teacher to qualified teacher, and although my previous Disclosure had been good for the whole time I was a student teacher (5 years) I suddenly needed a new one, to be sent to the same teaching body as last time, to prove I was still not up to anything when I graduated. Being a student I was somewhat short on ID, and one of the pieces of ID I was allowed to send was a previous Disclosure. So the GTCS, who had my previous Disclosure, gave me the number from my previous Disclosure in order that I could send away for a copy of it and then send it back to them as ID for applying for a new Disclosure, to be sent to them. Has your brain leaked out through your earhole yet? I also have 2 Disclosures from each of the gymnastics coaching courses I did, one from a childminding course, 1 from a private school and 3 more from the GTCS. I also have an England and Wales Enhanced CRB check. NONE of these documents counts as me having an Enhanced Disclosure!!

Where parents are concerned most will not understand the finer points, but will just feel reassured by the fact you own this paperwork. I'd tell teh organisation that wants you to pay for it that this is not normal practice and on that basis you won't, but depedns how m uch you want this work. You'd have to do quite a bit of work to break even, though! Maybe offer to go halves on it?

In England, the employer is meant to pay for the Enhanced Disclosure Check. I don't know the rules in Scotland, but you could point out that it makes the job not worthwhile. The ISA check is meant to be 'live' so only one payment is meant to be necessary.

It is annoying, but I can't help feeling that you might consider doing some voluntary work in a local primary school. Any checks will be paid for by the school, you'll get your experience, experienced adults will be around, and you will get the chance to see teachers and TAs dealing with children.

Try going back to the agency who have offered you the work and say, any chance they could pick up the bill until they've paid you for some work?