To get the most out of Saturday Music’s program, we highly encourage our students to attend all lessons where possible. This will help students of the same class to progress together at a similar rate.
Students are expected to regularly practice their instrument at home. Frequent and regular shorter practice sessions are more beneficial than a handful of irregular long practice sessions. The most important practice session is the one immediately after any Saturday Music lesson. This session will help to revise and reinforce everything they learned within that lesson.
Finally, we expect all students to participate in any concert performances for that class. These concerts will give students valuable performance experience, which is an essential part of learning an instrument.
If your child is unable to attend a class for any reason, please inform your class tutor as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected] to notify us of an absence. When emailing us, please state the student’s name, instrument and class time.
Please note: The Ministry of Education states that any student who is absent for more than two weeks with no prior explanation must be removed from the class list. As Saturday Music operates under Ministry of Education regulations, it's vital that we are notified of absences as soon as possible.
Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School generously provides Saturday Music with a location for music lessons, under the condition that their guests do not touch or interfere with anything in the classrooms. Parents and caregivers are guests, and therefore must show respect for their surroundings.
We ask students and their parents/caregivers to only enter classrooms if their tutors are present. Students are required to remove their shoes and leave them on the racks outside classroom doors before entering the classrooms.
Parents/caregivers and siblings are encouraged to quietly observe class lessons, without distracting the students who are attending the lesson. All of our classes are group learning experiences, so we ask students and parents to respect this arrangement. Any disruptive individuals, whether students, parents/caregivers or siblings, may be asked to leave the class.
Children must be collected promptly at the conclusion of their lesson. Saturday Music accepts no responsibility for children outside their lesson time.
Any concerns or complaints must be directed to the Director or Operations Manager as soon as possible, in order for the issues to be addressed as soon as possible.
To prevent distractions, phones must be switched to silent mode, and calls must be taken outside the classroom.
No food or drink may be taken into the classrooms.
It is unethical for students attending Saturday Music lessons to also have private lessons on the same instrument. If this is likely to become an issue, parents/caregivers should discuss this with the director.
Any parent or caregiver wishing to take photos or audio/video recordings during their child’s music lesson must get prior permission from the director.
Saturday Music may occasionally photograph students, but only with the permission of their parents. Photographs may be used for display on the Saturday Music website, as well as for other publicity or promotional purposes. Students will not be individually named except with parental permission.
Children must not run when in the classrooms and corridors. Children may use the play equipment in the school quadrangle, provided that they are supervised by a parent/caregiver at the time. The challenge course is not to be used. Please report any accidents while on school grounds to the director.
In the event of an emergency, all students, parents/caregivers and siblings must follow the instructions of the class tutors. In the event that the school must be evacuated, the meeting point for everybody is the field beyond the car park – please refer to the Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School map.
Parents/caregivers bringing children to classes by car must enter the Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School grounds through the South Street or Linton Street entrances, where there is room for parking. When parking your car, please allow plenty of room for other people to get out.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR SPEED DOWN! Drivers are asked to be watchful for children who are leaving or going to lessons.
If you need to withdraw your enrolment within the first two weeks of lessons, we are able to offer a refund, though a $20 administration fee applies. After this date, no refunds will be issued except in exceptional circumstances.