Dear Students and Parents
We hope that this update finds you well and that you are looking forward to the move into spring and hopefully some easing of restrictions over the coming months.
Continued Online Lessons
Following on from the Government update on 22nd February, we will see a reopening of state schools from the 8th March. However, as we do not fall into this category, we will continue to teach our students online for the remainder of this term. Provided the current guidance and suggested 'steps' can take place, we expect to be able to reopen after 12th April (Step 2) when indoor supervised activities for children can take place.
As we are closed for the Easter break from 2nd - 15th April, we hope to return to face to face teaching from Friday 16th April.
From this date, we will be able to welcome children taking part in group or one to one lessons and also adults taking one to one lessons, with the usual social distancing measures in place. It should be noted that group lessons for adults will need to wait a little longer, until Step 3 on 17th May.
We will of course keep you updated as we move closer to these dates, as we are aware there could be changes to this process of easing restrictions.
Online Lessons Feedback
As we approach what might be our final month of online teaching, we would like to ask you for some feedback to help us understand what has worked well or not so well. As teachers, we have worked hard to adapt our methods and find new ways to help our students progress while teaching online. We feel on the whole it has been successful and would be pleased to hear your views. If you can spare a few minutes, please complete the feedback form.
Virtual Concert
The month of March is usually all about our live band shows at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre. We were lucky that these went ahead last year after the months of preparation beforehand. As we cannot perform live this year, we would like to share some performances from our students during the final week of term on our social media accounts and welcome any videos you might be happy to share as part of a 'Virtual Concert'. This can be something you are working on with your teacher currently and would like us to share. Please speak to your teacher if you would like to take part or send us an email if you have any questions.
Once again we would like say a huge 'Thank you' for your continued understanding during these changing and difficult times. With your support, we have been able to continue to help students improve and progress through online lessons and also keep the Music School going, when so many other small businesses have unfortunately not survived. We hope it will not be long now until we can return to face to face teaching and a little bit of normality.
If you have any questions at all, please let us know.
Laura Thatcher
Principal
Stafford Music School