Well, it's bank holiday and they wanted a lesson. So me and my family didn't go out for tea as a treat. What do I get for my part.... No show! The excuse will be the usual lame ' Oh , I am sooo sorry. We completely forgot...note the use of the word 'completely'....it's no use to say a straight 'we forgot' because that doesn't sound genuine enough. Just add an extra word here and there to make the excuse longer and more waffly and drawn out.

Thanks for that....and don't worry about me ....I'm unimportant, obviously. It's totally unacceptable...would they 'forget' to go to the pictures if they had booked it...or the meal they had booked...or meet up with friends that they had booked. I'm afraid it is just plain disrespectful.

What I don't understand is the exam is looming, there will be missed lessons over half term ( my break I have chosen which everyone is aware of). They will probably ask for a catch up on a Saturday ( putting myself out again because of their ' compleeteleey forgot...fulness).


Interesting because I read the thread on' whether to teach bank holidays or not ' earlier today. I think I may book this pupil in on the next bank holiday...and then just go out! See how they like it.

Rant over

I operate a "Two Strikes and You're Out" policy, and am getting (locally) famous for enforcing it. Your pupil would now be on their last life.

My two who were supposedly coming today were also no shows.
It IS hard to understand but I think it's just one reminder to us that although they quite like lessons their instrument isn't quite as important to them as it is to us.
Do people find that those who tend to forget when are also likely to be the ones who don't really have regular practice as part of their lives? Though sometimes the child (when we are talking about children) may really hate missing lessons but the parents don't see it as that important.... hopefully in that situation most would actually be polite enough to tell you that they were not available for a lesson.

I'm afraid this is exactly the reason I no longer teach on bank holidays and during most school holidays. I do admire those teachers who seem to be able to get their pupils to come on such days, but I've never had any success! I got fed up of staying for people who in the end didn't show.

Neither do I. Holiday means holiday. There are enough days in the year for teaching and not enough (in my opinion) holidays, so I say make the most of the few holidays which we have.

But there are plenty of holidays.
Christmas, New Year and Easter I have time off from teaching.
I also finish up with at least two week for my own holidays and my students often take holidays at different times to me. As I said on the other thread I think that May is the worst. I don't like all the start/stop thing.
If I wasn't available to teach at least some bank holidays my Monday students would have fewer weeks left to them to choose holidays or to accommodate sickness within a 40 week year.
I don't teach many hours a week and would quite possibly feel differently if I was teaching full time.

I wouldn't cancel a family tea treat for one tiddly lesson. Bad idea. Makes the family resentful. Makes you furious. And if the student REALLY wants an extra lesson,, they'll be able to come at a time that is completely convenient to you.

Mind you, it is easy to forget. A couple of my absolutely best families have done it on the odd occasion.

And so I often send text messages or email messages reminding people about ad-hoc lessons that are not at the normal time. Then there's no excuse . . .

I am sorry, jellybean, for the fact that your pupil didn't show up. Is it worth emailing them and flagging up that you will be charging them for this - you could sound a bit put out that they didn't turn up. I usually begin by saying that I was rather worried about them (especially when I have late arrivals that annoy me a bit). Their behaviour is Not On.

I've had 4 who've all shown up this afternoon - their lessons were at their regular times. 3 are very young and relatively new pupils, and 1 is mid-GCSE revision and treats her music as light relief although she works hard at it and does music GCSE .

I travel to my students' homes to teach. On four occasions in the past (twice for the same student and two separate) I've turned up and they too "compleeetely" forgot to ring to cancel. Oscar winning performances by all. One (adult) wasn't even at home and treated it as a great joke when I rang to say I had turned up for the lesson. I make it clear from the start now that lessons will be charged for if they 'forget' to ring me. Charging has stopped these culprits and so far (fingers crossed) I've been lucky with my current group.

I'm around for most of the school holidays for lessons if anyone wants them (apart from my own holiday in August) but never teach on Bank Holidays.

Yes, sbhoa is right. Most of these have 'no time' to practice, and see lessons as a low priority. Yet none of them want to stop when I suggest that piano might not be for them after all. It's the parents who forget to ring so I can't blame the youngsters.

I take it you charge for missed lessons? I've found since enforcing this rule and making all my students aware of it that i've had a lot less "Oh i forgot" or "I'm off school so didn't think i'd have a lesson" type of excuses. If they don't turn, charge them for a missed lesson.

I used to have to work on Mondays, and bank holidays were always a bit of a problem. Occasionally, I'd get so many cancellations that I was able to reschedule the remainder and actually get a day off.

Recently, I decided to make Monday my day off. Not only does this solve the bank holiday problem, but I am finally getting a proper, 2-day weekend, albeit out of sync with the rest of the family. Wish I'd done it years ago.

My regular Monday evening students came this morning, at their choice as well as mine, then I did a load of extra singing rehearsals for the music festival that is happening this week, it all went very happily and felt like a treat - some of the singers heard each other for the first time and it was a helpful vibe to have someone there to listen. Just lucky I guess

It's very easy to forget when the rest of the family are coming and going at strange times and everything is totally out of routine.

I agree completely (!). Surely there are enough hours in the day that a lesson could be scheduled so as not to preclude the whole family having a nice outing together? If they said they were going out for the day, you should simply have said that you were going out for the evening. No point being a martyr, especially for a pupil who completely forgets...

What a good idea. Do you mind if I steal it?

You are not *required* to provide a catch-up lesson. They missed the lesson without giving you notice, and it is your choice whether you reschedule it. Perhaps a polite "it's such a shame that little jonny/janie has missed a lesson so close to the exam. S/he'll have to put in the extra work at home to make sure that it doesn't affect her exam" followed, if they don't take the hint and demand the time is made up, by "I'm sorry, but my schedule is very tight at the moment and I won't be able to do extra lessons..." You have a life too, and they can't force you to give up your Saturday time unless you chose to allow them to do so.

I'm really annoyed because I've just had a no-show too, and it was only their second lesson! Not very encouraging, is it! First lesson, they are great, Mother was really enthusiastic and daughter was shy but keen. Then last Saturday, a couple of hours before the lesson her mother called to say that she wasn't well and had been off school for the last few days so wouldn't make it. I decided that it wasn't a problem, I would just politely mention this week that in future I require more notice or the lesson will be charged for. Then, they don't turn up today! I called the house and left a message but I'm not impressed. I've only recently started teaching and I really need the money but I'm not going to be messed about, this is my livelihood!
What should I say if they do bother calling back?
X

Its unacceptable really, if the mother was to have a meeting at work with someone and they didnt turn up for two weeks she'd be suitable hacked off too. It depends what your T+C's are, I know our music service have a clause where if you do not cancel a lesson more than two weeks ahead of it you have forfeited the lesson and therefore the student must pay for that lesson, although if they're paying you weekly especially at the start it can be hard to enforce.

I think the mother really needs to evaluate whether said child actually wants lessons and be a lot more prompt and punctual, if your using a three strike system, now would be a good time to point out there are two strikes already this term and that you are a professional who needs the money.

It is up to you whether to keep the pupil however.

I've had this with new pupils, and my guess is that they have not yet got used to their change of Saturday timetable, and simply forgot. Not great, but you may well find that they are really embarrassed about it, and make an effort to see that it doesn't happen again.

If on the other hand it does, of course, you'll know it's a non-starter.

Sort out your Ts and Cs and maybe think about how many 'intro' lessons you want to allow new students before givng them a copy of the Ts and Cs and establishing the way you want to run your lessons.

With new students, I ask them to pay in advance at the first lesson if they wish to book a second lesson, otherwise I do not book them in. It's the easiest way to avoid no shows!

Sounds like an excellent plan!
The student's mother has called me back, so I'm guessing that she doesn't want the lessons anymore but why not just say so? I had done quite a bit of preparation as well. I can only assume that it wasn't what she expected. This can happen quite a bit with non musical teenagers who want singing lessons, they think that I'll click my fingers and then they'll be able to sing in tune or like Mariah Carey. They don't realise the work that's involved but why not just phone up and say 'sorry, it's not what we thought it would be' instead of stringing me on and wasting two weeks? Grr! Sorry, rant over!
X

I find this more of a problem for singers than any other group (particularly children/teenagers). One of my pet gripes is that I make it very clear to pupils/parents that I do not teach pop songs. My advertising and website states this clearly and when people make enquiries I also make this point again. When people book their first lesson, they get a sheet with directions etc. which also makes this point again...but...over an over again people turn up expecting that having singing lessons is about me putting on some backing tracks so they can sing their favourite pop songs for half an hour. I'm tempted to point out that there are plenty of so-called singing teachers out there who'll do that for them (probably at double the price too!).

I had this with an 11 year old recently - I made all these points as normal, they came to the lesson, seemed to be happy, then a few hours later e-mailed to say that they really wanted someone who'd focus on pop music. I used to offer a free trial lesson, but now I charge, for the exact reason there seem to be a lot of time-wasters out there who seem unable to read what it is you're offering!

Once people have been for the trial lesson, I send them away with my T&Cs etc. and make it clear that I will keep their chosen space free (if they want regular lessons) for a week, but that after that I may offer it elsewhere.

I used to get mucked around loads when I first started teaching as I wasn't clear from the outset about the payment system, but then I realised it was really quite simple to ask them to stump up at the end of the lesson if they want to book any more. Now I never get shafted by new students and left feeling like a mug!

I also make it very clear to new students that the first lesson is a trial to see how we get on with each other, but it is a paid lesson as a lot expect it for free.