FAQ - Instrumental lessons

How do I sign up?

Please use the email form on the Instrumental Lessons webpage, or email [email protected]

**A reminder for returning students - you will also need to register for lessons for this year to confirm you still want to continue with lessons**

 

How much does it cost?

There is a one-off fee of $20 - this applies whether you start lessons in Term 1 or as late as Term 3.  Please do not send money to school, this fee will be added to your school account.

 

When do the lessons happen?

Lessons are once a week on a specific day, and take place during the school day (8:40am to 3:15pm). Boys come out of their curriculum subject class for a half-period music lesson. The music lessons rotate each week to minimise the impact on their curriculum subjects. Timetables are emailed out, as well as posted on the door to the lesson studio once a term. We encourage students to take a photo of this or download to their devices so it is easy to check.

 

Are individual lessons available?

No. This funding is directly tagged for group lessons by the Ministry of Education. Students are grouped by ability level rather than year level for these lessons.

 

Can I hire an instrument from the school?

Yes - there are limited stocks of some instruments here at school, able to be hired for a very reasonable price.

We do not hire guitars, bass guitars or drum kits. 

Local music stores also provide hireage options. You may wish to try Bay City Music or the Rock Shop.

 

Completing the registration doesn’t mean lessons are guaranteed - why not?

We are allocated our number of teaching hours by the Ministry of Education, dependant on the number of students on the school roll.

To be fair with these limited hours, a priority system is in place for lessons;

Priority 1 - students who are taking NCEA Music - perfomance on their instrument is a compulsory part of their curriculum assessment.

Priority 2 - students taking Year 9 or Year 10 Music as a timetabled subject.

Priority 3 - Year 9 students and returning instrumentalists from the previous year.

Priority 4 - all other students where spaces are available.

Waiting lists are compiled and each term we reassess the lesson groupings.  We try to move as many boys as possible to lessons where there are suitable spaces available.

 

When will I find out if my son’s registration has been successful?

You will be contacted via the email address you use when you first indicate your interest.  Please make sure that your email provider has not marked emails from Tauranga Boys’ College as spam.

Emails will be sent home in week 2 and 3 of Term 1 as applications close and timetables are constructed.

Timetables will then also be sent out at the start of each subsequent term. 

 

How does the lesson timetable work?

Boys are grouped according to ability (not year level). Each group is given a number, and this corresponds to a time-slot on the timetable. The lessons rotate througout the term to ensure the impact of coming out of classes is as minimal as possible.

 

What happens if my son ends up on a waiting list for the instrument he has chosen?

We re-assess each instrument timetable at the end of every term.  This gives us a chance to rearrange the groups as boys progress at different rates during the year, as well as taking out students who have decided not to continue or those who have poor attendance.  We do our very best to get as many boys from the waiting lists to lessons, but can not make a guarantee that this is possible for every instrument.