If you have any enquiries, please contact volunteer lead coordinators by emailing 3110-Music@schools.vic.edu.au
The parent volunteer coordinators in 2023 are Ineke Muir and Kirsten Hall.
Full terms and conditions for the program are on this link After School Music Program Guidelines.
Lessons are available to Merri Creek Primary School students and take place at the school. The program runs from Monday to Thursday between 3.35pm and 5.55pm. The exception is drums and piano/keyboard which run on Friday as well.
As only a relatively small number of lessons start immediately after school, parents need to consider how they will manage any gap between school finishing and a music lesson beginning. Children can be brought back to school for their lesson; be picked up from after school care or wait with a parent in the yard – but only until 3.45pm. Parents are responsible for the supervision of their child before the lesson and for collecting them after the lesson. Children cannot be left unsupervised at school outside lesson times.
Students in OSHC (with parental consent) will be signed out by the music tutor to attend their music lesson, and then signed back into OSHC.
If your child (or another child in a paired or group lesson) is in OSHC, the time spent locating the child(ren) is part of the lesson time. It is up to parents and children to make it as easy for the tutor to locate the child as quickly as possible in order to minimise the time gap between classes.
Tutors in the program are paid at Victorian Music Teachers’ Association (VMTA) recommended rates for individual lessons and ensembles. For paired and group lessons, tutors offer a discounted VMTA rate. Parents pay tutors directly, one term in advance. An account is issued early each term. If payment is not received by the required date, the tutor is entitled to suspend lessons until payment is received.
20 minute individual lesson – $2830 minute individual lesson – $42Paired (recorder only), 20 minute lesson – $16Paired (recorder & beginner piano only), 30 minute lesson – $24Group of 3 (recorder only), 20 minute lesson $11Group of 3 (recorder only), 30 minute lesson – $16Paired (voice), 30 minute lesson – $24Group of 3 (voice), 30 minute lesson – $16
The cost for ensemble will be no more than $11 per session (depending on student numbers).
The After School Music Program is coordinated by volunteer parents but the program is still reliant on your financial support in the form of an annual administration fee. The fee is payable for each child in the program and covers expenses such as utilities, maintaining the pianos, keyboards and drums, purchasing new equipment, and tutors’ time at the two school concerts. For 2023 the admin fee is $35 for all students.
Please pay the fee at the via Compass or Qkr! once you have received confirmation of lesson/s.
5.5 Submission of an enrolment form constitutes a commitment to learning an instrument for a full year. In the event of an unexpected change in circumstances, a minimum of four weeks’ notice prior to the end of the current term is required. Notice must be made in writing to both the tutor and the music coordinators. If less than four weeks’ notice is given, then the student will be required commit to the following term.
While not guaranteed, we will attempt to find a replacement student, if this is successful no further payment will be required once the new student starts. This is to make it fair for tutors, children in paired and group lesson, and parents. Extenuating circumstances will also be considered by the tutors, school and music coordinators.
The After School Music Program volunteer coordinators are responsible for scheduling music lessons and for promoting and supporting the mid and end of year concerts. Any scheduling issues arising through the course of the year should be directed through the coordinators. Issues such as lesson fees or missed lessons are directed to the music tutor.
If circumstances affecting your enrolment change please notify the coordinators as soon as possible.
New students are advised to begin learning one instrument only. Current students wanting to study more than one instrument should discuss the idea with tutors and parents. In scheduling lessons, separate days for each instrument are preferable.
All students need to have their own instruments. The appropriate age for music lessons depends to some degree on each child’s strength, maturity, size, coordination, and the instrument chosen. Lessons are offered from Year 1.
Piano/KeyboardAlex Rindfleish Bonnie Smith
Shai Martin
Jean Proude Omid Shayan
GuitarPeter Sinis
Jean Proude
RecorderRachel Snedden
Flute, clarinet and saxophone – For Year 3 and aboveOmid Shayan
Drums
Alexandra Czarnecki-Roper
Andrew Doo
Pelaya Arapakis
Trumpet and trombone – For Year 3 and above
Edward Farrar
VoiceRuby McLellan
ViolinJackson Fumberger
See the Music Teacher Biographies here.
