I am a part-time secondary school teacher who also has 3 double bass pupils. The new syllabus has really thrown me, and almost all my standard teaching books are now surplus to requirements for exam purposes. I live in a part of the UK where there are no music shops where you can browse through repertoire and one of the books which covers several grades (so is of interest!) hass not yet been published.
Do other teachers feel similarly? How can I potentially prepare pupils for exams in March under the new syllabus when the pieces are not available in November? Does anyone know why the Board has done away with almost everything on the old syllabus? It is going to cost me a fortune to buy new repertoire, and with only 3 students, I can't justify it. Were the new pieces available separately, it would at least be cheaper, but they are all part of collections of pieces and therefore at least £10 each, some of which have the piano accompaniment in another book, costing yet more. During the current economic climate, I feel that the Board has potentially driven away students whose parents are struggling to pay for the lessons and simply cannot afford a set of new books for just one exam.