LESSON PROCEDURES/ARRIVAL:  As the teaching studio/learning space and the waiting area are all in one, please, converse with friends, acquaintances or make/receive phone calls outside of our learning space.    

Communication: Please, feel free to email me or call me during my office hours 12:00-2:00 pm on weekdays. If you need to miss a lesson, please notify me as soon as possible. Feel free to write to me at any time if there is anything relevant and important I need to know that may impact your child’s progress or to ask questions. I love hearing from you! Please, note, that during lessons my attention is on teaching, and only wish to discuss matters briefly. If you urgently need to talk to me regarding piano matters the only way you can meet me is to let me know in advance that we are using part or the whole of your next lesson time. Regarding the last lessons of the day: Please, note, I am not available to stay back beyond a couple of minutes of wrapping up, unless we arranged meeting. As The Piano Studio is also our home, after our lesson I am ready to make dinner. Thank you for your understanding! 🙂 

Answering phone: With any matters, please, only call before 3 pm. Only SMS later as I am busy teaching.

Invoices, Receipts, Late Fees:  To avoid any additional fees, ($15) please, finalise payment before your Lesson 1 commences. If you are to delay payment due to unavoidable circumstances, please, notify me at the reception of your Invoice.

2021 Queensland Term Dates – with Fees Due Dates

Please, enter your upcoming lesson and payment dates into your phone calendar as I do not send out lesson reminders. 

Arrival: Max 5 minutes prior to your lesson start, quietly. While everyone is encouraged to make themselves comfortable, SHOES OFF THE FURNITURE at all times! Kick them off, then you can snuggle. 🙂

Practising: Regular practice is imperative to learn how to play proficiently. Around 20 minutes of practice, 4(!) days a week would be ideal for lower grades and 45mins to an hour  recommended for higher grades. More is not always better (if it lacks thoughtfulness!) but in different phases of our learning journey, for example during exam preparation, more practise is essential. Please, note! Regular ‘non-practisers’ may lose their place to someone on waitlist, who is eager to learn. To prevent this, please, do not mistake my seemingly easy-going nature by being oblivious. 🙂

Exams: I use the AMEB system.  Exams are not compulsory and I only recommend them, when the student is already proficient on the level they wish to sit. In my view the student’s sense of well-being and confidence can not be jeopardised. If you would prefer exams, please, mention it at the time of enrolling – for when the student will be ready. Please, note, I am unable to estimate this date. The student’s effort is essential at each lesson along with mindful home practising and progress and keeping absence minimal. Please, respect my final decision about the best timing. Yes, sometimes I will say, the grade level in question is not yet ready but this simply just means, we need to work more toward it. IF the timing is right, upon entering  an exam comes increased responsibility, accountability and workload. Please, also be aware of the temporary increase of lessons and related expenses when needed. This is unavoidable as we are to fine tune our practise toward a best performance and best results. Sorry, I do not prepare for “scraping through’.. as this is not only stressful, but you can not scaffold the next, more complex grade level onto it. So, basically, anyone who does this CUTS THE STUDENT OFF FROM SITTING HIGHER EXAM LEVELS. I hope, this makes perfect sense.

Purchase of Books: I do keep some of the books for purchase, if so, I do let you know and you can buy what you need, when you need it. If I don’t have something on shelf, please, visit our local, wonderful music shop and put your order in via calling them or in person. The shop is OZWINDS, Gold Coast Brass and Woodwinds, Address: 2/25 Alicia St, Southport QLD 4215, Phone: (07) 5561 1773 – KAREN AND ROB. Tell them I have sent you. 🙂 Some books that I will be trialling next year are best ordered online. 

Photographing / Videoing Lessons, Events: As I am in the process of building an online school as well, I understand that images and short videos are the way of future education. When something has much teaching or fun value, with your permission I wish to share it on an appropriate, professional platform such as on my Piano School FB page on our closed teaching groups page or on my website. Please, mention to me if that is OK with you.

Missed Lessons: As your Term Payments hold your permanent lesson space, refunds would cancel your enrolment and your space would free up for an other student to take it! Any other missed after school activities, whether it is art, swimming or dancing, –  just to name a few – are all the same. They do not provide reschedule opportunity. To be eligible for a make up lesson, please, let me know of your absence early. If you require it, 1 Lesson /Term can be arranged with me after your absence that was illness related. The times allocated for this are early evening, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday 6.30-7pm. If you are not able to organise the 1 make up lesson you are eligible to have within the Term, the opportunity will expire on the last school day and no longer carries into any of the holidays. If other family emergency, school events or family vacation prevent you from attending, your early notice is still required to maintain your enrolled status and also non-refundable. 

Illness: You are asked not to attend your lesson and please, notify me asap. You are eligible for 1 reschedule/Term as it is outlined above. Students who are mildly ill can schedule a Skype or ZOOM lesson during their regular time.

Swapping System:  May it be a family emergency, medical appointments that isn’t sickness related on the day, school events, play dates, games, non-emergency appointments or family vacations that would keep you away from attending your lesson. Please provide 48 hour notice where possible. A buddy system between you parents, may ensure that your child’s learning progress is not compromised! When you are unable to attend in your lesson time you could  swap lessons directly between each other. Example: You have an urgent dentist appointment at 3pm and there is a long waiting list to see that doctor so you will not reschedule, but, your lesson is at 4pm – if you could swap it with the 5.30pm lesson or better, change the day, you could attend your lesson without having to cancel. Please, let me know if you would be happy to trial it. You can OPT IN or OUT any time.

My Travel Make Ups: As you know, we have ties to Europe, and while every effort is made to ‘squeeze’ our travels into school holidays I am letting you know, that I may be away for several weeks each year in which case I am ALWAYS offering to make those lessons up before leaving or after my return or by then via my online piano school where you will be able to see recorded lessons that is relevant to your personal learning. That way the kids don’t miss out, the progress continues.

Changing Lesson Time During The Year:  Circumstances, afternoon activities, work etc can change, I understand. Sometimes it takes much shuffling and can be time consuming to deliver what you require. In the case of requesting to change lesson time during the year I can not guarantee it, but we can always try. 

Discontinuing Piano Lessons: If you stop your tuition for any reason, your fees needs to be paid for all of your lessons that you are finishing off.