I was just wondering if any of you private music teachers do News Letters for your students/parents? If so, I have a list of questions:

- what is the general content?
- how often to you do them?
- have you had any feedback as to whether they are useful?
- do you think they are a valuable use of your time?

Thanks!

Very ad-hoc, usually to communicate things like concerts, workshops, exam entry deadlines, sponsored practice, term dates, fee increases.....

I generally try to do one at the beginning of term and then only as and when needed eg in the run up to a special event when I need to communicate details to parents. A bit like school letters, I suppose.

Well I haven't yet communicated the summer concert and was wondering about how to attack the subject of fee increases as I'm a new teacher and haven't had to yet. I was thinking about sending out formal letters to all parents to advise of the increases but would much prefer a more informal approach, so you think a news letter would be an acceptable method of communication for this?

I do a newsletter at the end of each term - it has a welcome for new students, exam results, photos from concerts, diary dates etc. I occasionally put in a short piece on something like 'caring for your piano', but tend to keep it all up-beat and positive as I give them to new students as a bit of an introduction to what goes on and see them as an advertising and PR tool.

Fee increases should definitely go out as a separate notification, not hidden away in a newsletter. Last time, I put a highlighted note on the last set of bills informing parents of forthcoming increase.

Definitely agree that fee increases shouldn't be in something as informal as a newsletter. I would either go down the route of adding it as a note to the parents on the next bill or talking to as many as possible beforehand and then confirming by letter / invoice note.

It certainly needs to be upbeat and informative - I've just sent out my first one and I've kept it to quite short paragraphs in a two column style. I'm only intending to send them out as and when I have something to say, rather than for the sake of sending it out. I've seen the amount of bumpf some parents have to contend with from school and I'd rather not add to it unless necessary!

The best bit of advice I got when I talked it over with my partner (who's a science teacher) was to suggest I didn't put "keep up the hard work" at the end but rather "keep up the good work". The first suggests it is a chore and the second is much more positive

Good luck with your teaching and your newsletter!

Catherine x

I do 2 termly newsletters. I teach in one school for just over 1 whole day- and they have their own newsletter- and I do another for all of my other pupils. The structure of both are very similar- A 'Welcome to' paragraph, to welcome new pupils. I have an exam results paragraph. I usually have a plug for the local music centre, praising it's benefits and listing what various pupils are doing there.
I award 'Star Pupil' certificates every 1/2 term, and name them and say why they are a star in my newsletter. I usually have a 'Theory' paragraph.
I have pupil concerts about twice a year- I will have a well done paragraph in there- mentioning any other major musical concert they have taken part in ( who got into County Wind Band, who played in Somerset Spectacular etc).
I usually have a Progress paragraph- about what people are doing (well done to X for transferring to Bb clari from Eb/ Y for learning to read clarion notes etc/ Z has mastered her Gr 6 scales at last! etc).

I try to mention all my pupils once- and when I hand out the newsletter, my young pupils look through the letter for their own mention and of course the mention is always positive!

I suppose I do newsletters to celebrate success and to help keep parents and all others involved. Parents do comment on them- one said to me this week- 'That Grade 5 girl- she did well, didn't she?' Daughter (pupil) then said 'Well, she does play nicely at the concerts, doesn't she?'

I find it well worth it!

I did a little newsletter last July in order to announce that I was putting up my fees in September. I think things like fee increases should be given in writing, but I didn't want to hand out a piece of paper with one statement on it, so I filled it out a bit and put in my single solitary exam result! some general advice about how to practice, little ones needing help to establish a routine etc!
I don't know if I will do another one unless I need to - as I haven't reached the stage of having concerts or competitions yet, so no diary dates to inform people of, and I also think that people probably don't need more unnecessary stuff appearing on the kitchen table!

I agree, though, that in future I will probably do fee increases in with the invoices - which I introduced this term.

Great ideas from everyone in the posts above - I'm looking forward to having a busier music school so that I can implement some of them.

I always do fee increases as a separate letter addressed individually to each set of parents. I usually offer economic reasons as well, such as keeping up with inflation.

This year I haven't yet decided whether to increase fees in September which is my usual time, but I'm making a rather different change. I've decided to invoice at the beginning of each half term, rather than in arrears because I've found with a few new pupils that I end up waiting til the start of the new term for the cheque and that's something I don't find acceptable now.

This is a very interesting thread to me and I've also been considering starting a newsletter - I've always liked the idea of doing one and now that I am expecting a baby, my students have been very enthusiastic about being updated about any news. On top of this, I would like to have a neat and tidy concise way of letting all my students know when lessons will be starting up again, etc and maybe including some encouragement to continue their efforts whilst I am away. I also like the idea of putting exam results in and praising each student with a personal mention.

Would anyone be willing to post/PM an example of one of their newsletters for those of us who aren't sure where to start with creating one? I for one know it would be invaluable to have an idea of what a successful newsletter can include and look like.

Cadence x

Thanks for all your advice, its very useful! I agree with Cadence, an example would be great, I have drafted one of my own but would love to make sure I'm on the right track!

Yes, I don't mind pm - ing a copy of one of mine.

I send them out once or twice a term - a 'welcome back' if appropriate, reminders of dates for the term, news of pupils' activities and exam results. Finally a welcome to new pupils and best wishes for a fruitful term / good holiday whichever is coming up.

I like the idea of newsletters, but with 21 just sat exams, and over 60 pupils in total im not sure i could mention everyone!!! or my newsletter would end up being a book!!! I like the idea someone gave about star pupils though, i already do this with my violin group informally, and give wee prize's for getting so many stars overall, so having it for all pupils in the newsletter sounds like a fab idea!! sounds like a brilliant idea to make a kind of community out of your pupils and parents, and for them to keep in the loop, if they only see each other at concerts etc... it gives them a way to keep updated with other pupils progress. several of my teenage pupils made friends at concerts i have given, but go to different schools and live in different areas so rarely see each other, im fed up of them asking how so and so is getting on!!! lol...

I think im gonna go away and have a think about newsletter ideas....

Maggie, would you mind sending me one too? That would really be great! Not sure how this works, do I need to give you my external email or can you send me a private message via the forum?

Thanks!

Gladly - you can receive it by pm but some of the formatting is lost. Have a look and if it doesn't give you enough of an idea, pm me your email and I'll send it as attachment.

Um....might I also receive it? At present, I just send out letters occasionally when information needs to be disseminated, but have often thought it might be good to turn it into more of a newsletter. I especially like Clari Nicki's Star Pupil idea, but would welcome other ideas for the content. Also, do you produce them yourself or have them printed as I think I recall dcmbarton did?

Have pm-ed one to you, Misterioso - I produce them myself on computer and home printer: one side of A4.

They are quite plain at the moment - one day I will do something fancier using one of the clever-dicky apps on my mac.

ps - have sent a few by pm: if I have missed any requests please give me a prod ...

I HATE the business side of music teaching and, although I increase my fees annually ,I still feel awkward doing so and deliberately put the new rates in near the end of a newsletter with lots of other good things in. Hopefully it's then seen as just a small amount extra to pay for all the good stuff that is going on.

Thank you so much maggiemay for pm'ing me your example of a newsletter.

I've now knocked up one of my own and will post it out tomorrow - I think it is one of those things that needs a bit a bit of confidence to implement, and having seen that other teachers were doing it and seen evidence that what I wanted to say in the newsletter wasn't abnormal, I'm taking the plunge!

In the newsletter, I've welcomed new students, said a bit about the past few months, congratulated those who passed their exams this last session, given people the dates I'm going on maternity leave and when I'll be returning, reminded students and parents about the new T&Cs and enclosed a copy for them to look over and thanked everyone for their support during my pregnancy and maternity leave - all in all, what I see as a successful newsletter!