Instrumental and Vocal Provision
What is Instrumental and Vocal Provision?
Instrumental and Vocal Teaching enables schools and settings to bring in expert tuition, available on a wide range of instruments including voice, to their school. The high-quality teaching, provided by suitably qualified and experienced staff, can be delivered in both small and larger-sized groups.
Students progress through our own schemes of work, developed appropriately to their instrument, which is recognised and celebrated with a Stage Certificate when completed. At higher levels, our HMS teachers can also support pupils through external exams and certificates. Many of our students choose to play in school ensembles before then joining our area and county groups. A comprehensive and well-resourced instrument hire service complements this provision.
Who is it for?
Instrumental and Vocal Teaching is for any child or young person in your school who wishes to gain skills and expertise on a musical instrument or voice, whilst developing a solid musical understanding. The transferable skills of learning to play an instrument, such as improved memory, creativity, ability to focus on tasks, and physical coordination support pupils in all other areas of the school-life.
What does HMS provide?
Our instrumental and vocal teachers will be with you each week (except for one PPA session per term, and 1 x CPD day which will be communicated in advance).
For all our beginner students, resources are provided free of charge including repertoire books and practice diaries. For customers on our instrument hire scheme loaning instruments that pupils might outgrow (violin and guitar, for example) we will replace this with the next size up at no extra cost.
We provide tuition on:
- Brass
- Drums / Orchestral Percussion
- Guitars (including ukulele)
- Keyboard / Piano
- Music Production
- Music Theory
- Strings
- Voice
- Woodwind
We can also provide music clubs such as choirs, orchestras, and bands for you. Just let us know what you’re interested in!
How much time do I need?
You can choose how much time you need based on the number of pupils learning each instrument. The recommended minimum time for a visit is 30mins. Teachers are timetabled for the whole year at the start of each academic year. Most schools budget for between 6-8 pupils per hour, but we can accommodate more beginners in an hour than that.
You can refer to our ‘Managing Instrumental Provision’ leaflet for further guidance.
How much does it cost?
Using funding from Arts Council England, Hampshire Music Service can heavily subsidise the cost of our instrumental and vocal teaching for you. We charge £51.50 per hour, across all 39 weeks of the academic year. Schools are refunded for missed lessons due to staff absence, which they are then able to pass back to parents and carers.
For more details on managing this cost between pupils, please see the FAQs below.
For further information, please contact:
Greg Walker – Progression and Musical Development Lead – greg.walker@hants.gov.uk
FAQs
How do I spread the cost of the HMS hourly teacher rate across my pupils?
Please see our ‘Managing Instrumental Provision’ leaflet, where you can view examples of how to spread the cost of group teaching. For further help, Please contact us to arrange a conversation with a member of our Leadership Team for help, support or advice you may require
Does the HMS teacher visit school at the same time each week?
Yes. The teacher will be timetabled to be at your school on the same day and at the same time each week. Due to other schools on their timetables, there is little flexibility to work around school INSET days, residentials, etc, and this is a good time for our teachers to use their PPA week.
Do pupils have their lesson at the same time each week? Will they miss the same class lesson each week?
In most cases, pupils are placed on a rotating timetable which means that they will come out of a different lesson each week. However, when teachers are only visiting a school for less than 60 minutes, this is not always possible.
What happens if the HMS teacher is absent?
Where possible, lessons will be made up by the teacher. Otherwise, schools are refunded for missed lessons, which they are then able to pass back to parents and carers.
Can you teach mixed ability lessons?
Yes! HMS has a large bank of mixed ability resources that our teachers use to ensure every pupil, regardless of ability, makes progress in each lesson. Our staff receive regular CPD, including small group teaching techniques to support this.
Can you teach mixed instrument lessons?
Yes! Our staff have access to a range of mixed instrument resources that enable everyone to engage fully in each lesson. Our staff receive regular CPD, including small mixed instrument teaching techniques to support this.
A parent would like their child to have individual lessons. Is this possible?
We recommend that pupils learn in small groups as much as possible. However, there are times when it might be appropriate for a pupil to have individual lesson. If Pupil Premium is available for that child, then it could be used to subsidise the cost for their lesson time. Alternatively, schools can model their charges so that an individual lesson is charged more than the groups lesson, ensuring that the full cost of time is met.
How does PPA work?
All HMS teachers are contracted on Teachers’ Pay and Conditions and are entitled to non-teaching PPA time. This is achieved, with professional association support, by teachers taking one session per term, per school for PPA. This is always in negotiation with each school and should not disrupt teaching if it can coincide with school commitments such as CPD days, exams, arts week, school trips etc and is used for planning resources, organising timetables, writing reports, and liaising with the schools over the needs of the pupils.
Who will be teaching in my school?
You will have a music teacher who is a specialist on the instruments that you have requested. They will have the relevant experience and qualifications to deliver a high-quality provision for your school.
Hampshire Music Service have in place appropriate safeguarding procedures for all safer recruitment checks carried out on their staff. Please refer to the Why HMS? Page for further information on our pre-employment and safer recruitment processes.
How do I advertise this opportunity to parents and pupils?
How do I help my pupils choose the right instrument?
Providing the opportunity for your pupils to discover and explore a range of instruments and seeing what excites / appeals to them is the best way to support them in deciding what to learn. To help you with this, you could explore our Beyond the Beat provision, which enables pupils to receive whole class tuition on brass, strings, and woodwind instruments. Alternatively, a video such as this one by the Sydney Opera House is a fun and informative way of exploring a range of instruments during the school day.
How do I apply for remissions? Click here for Financial Assistance Page
What happens if a pupil gives up?
We know that sometimes a pupil decides to stop learning. This might be because the instrument isn’t the most suitable for them. In this instance, they would be able to hire an alternative instrument at no extra cost and lessons could transfer to the teacher of the new instrument. If they decide not to continue with any instrument, the HMS teacher will then be in a position to recruit a new pupil, or group of pupils.
PDFs (click to download)
Instrumental and Vocal Tuition – information for parents (PDF)