Monday, February 19, 2024 by Joanne Trewick | Newsletter

Hello wonderful music families - new and established :)

Thank you for joining me on this journey of music education for your family in 2024. We have already accomplished much in our lessons so far this term, with much more fabulous learning ahead of us.

There is always so much information to put down in every newsletter, I know how busy parents are - so a big thank you for taking the time to read and make note of anything that pertains to your family. If per chance this email goes astray all past newsletters are easy to view within the student portal - check back anytime!

CONCERTS FOR THIS YEAR

As most of you would be aware, every term, we have a showcase for our students and what they are working on, usually held at the Mossman Shire hall, which has a beautiful grand piano and plenty of space for us all. We always encourage students of all stages to get up and have a go, and gaining experience in sharing our music with each other, plus being inspired by other students, is a vital part of the learning program.

Sadly, this year though, we are not able to offer a Student Showcase in term 1, due to the unavailability of venues. That means the term 2 one - will be SUPER important - so get this date into your diary now!! 

TERM 2 STUDENT SHOWCASE Sunday June 2

3pm@ Mossman Shire hall. Gold coin entry at the door to offset hall hire costs. 

This event will need to be registered for, in the student portal, registrations will open on May 1st and close on May 24th. 

RECITAL: The only non-negotiable event for all of our music students each year is our Annual Recital and Awards Event. Normally held in term 4 but this year we are trialling holding this major event in term 3. 

No registration is required for this one as it is assumed that all families will participate, levies are applied to family accounts during term 2. More info to come, but SAVE THE DATE NOW………

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 8th. Clear the whole day as we have numerous parts to the program and students need to be available for rehearsals and performances during the day, then the big evening event begins at 5pm. If you haven’t participated in a recital before, feel free to ask any questions you need, but also - rest assured that all the information you need will be forthcoming in newsletters as the year progresses. 

Also on the subject of keeping dates free for later in the year - our Celebration Lunch for families who have been with us for five years or more will be held on Nov 24 - if this is your family - highlight this date in you diary as well and await your invite at the start of term 4. 

EISTEDDFOD 2024

If your child might be interested in competing in this event in Cairns in late June, please be in touch.

PRACTICE DIARIES
Individual practice diaries for recording home tasks and tracking what is practiced at home each day have been a mainstay in our studio for as many years as I can remember. However, I am finding increasing numbers of families prefer to record their practice in the student portal and to rely on the lesson note emails for instructions on what to work on at home. In some classes, the practice diaries are being phased out. If per chance your child has not received a diary but you would like them to work with this rather than the online option - please say so and one will be provided. If your child’s class is still using diaries, please ensure that they come to every lesson and don’t get left at home.

AUTOMATIONS 

Please be aware that account overdue reminders are completely automated from within the student portal, if you have recently made a payment that just has not yet been reconciled through the accounting software, you can just delete the reminder without concern. 

Lesson reminders and cancellation notices are also from the student portal, only email replies make it to me. Replies to automated texts do not send. 

SCHOLARSHIPS

My studio is here to support young people in our community becoming musicians for life. If your family budget is going through a particularly difficult time, and you need some fee relief to be able to keep your child in the music learning that they love, do request scholarship information.

A FEW NOTES ABOUT THE RESOURCE FEE AND MUSIC BOOKS

There has been a significant delay on many music books ordered late last year or early this year. We have a huge amount of our books used in lessons on backorder from our supplier in Sydney. I am working around this problem and learning continues, but if you have been waiting for a book - then thank you for your patience. 

Whenever I have the opportunity to do so, I source secondhand copies of books used in our studio so that for a few lucky students I can provide a book at a much cheaper cost than buying new. If you have a low cost book on your invoice, that is how it got there and lucky you ;)

It is unfortunate just how high the cost of new music books has become, but we cannot avoid copyright laws and we also love to support music composers and publishers whose industry supports us in our learning. 

Resource fees are charged once a term, for term 1, it will appear on your March invoice. New students who have just registered do not get charged the resource fee until the following term. Resource fees are for things that students use apart from their own copies of music books.

What are some of the things the resource fee contributes to? This is not a comprehensive list but gives you some idea.

-personalised practice diaries

-certificates and awards

-subscriptions to teaching platforms/websites etc. used in lessons

-cost of apps and web based programs used in lessons

-purchase of backing tracks

-purchase of music books used by many students in our studio library

-maintenance/repair/purchase of classroom instruments

-cleaning of classroom spaces

-printing costs

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Since last newsletter I have engaged in the following short courses:

Brisbane - Repair of stringed instruments

Brisbane - Australian Guild of Music teacher training day/ innovations in music education

Online - Contemporary Harmony Practices

AMEB - workshop on Intermediate flute teaching and new resources for grade 5/6 flute exams

AWARDS SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER

Khobi Arthurson - Credit grade 2 Theory and Distinction grade 4 piano

Jasper Keech - Distinction grade 1 Guitar

Rebecca Farraway - Credit grade 5 piano

Mietta Hilton - Distinction grade 1 piano

Lola Gonsalves - Distinction grade 2 piano

Robyn Rose - Distinction grade 1 flute

AVAILABILITY

We currently have some availability in our First Piano Adventures Class on Tuesday mornings at 8am. If you have friends who have thought about starting piano, get them to come for a trial lesson now so they don’t miss out.

Our Kinder Beat (ages 2-5) classes are also taking new enrolments for Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Please enquire for details. 

That is it for now, thank you for reading with me. Email me with any joys or concerns about your child's progress, their learning program and  goals, or the activities within our studio.

Warmly,

Ms Joanne :)