Music

There is a wide range of instrumental tuition available at The Chalfonts Community College, which is provided by a variety of expert private tutors. More information about each tutor is available in the links below. 

All lessons need to be pre-booked in advance, and you will need to send an email to Mark Swindell or Tracey Winterborne before the end of June so that arrangements can be made to book appropriate teachers. In most cases, your child will need to have their own instrument which they must bring to school for lessons, with the obvious exception of drum kit and piano.

The department will try to meet your needs where possible, but it is the instrumental teacher who has the final control over group numbers. For example, if your child is Grade 2 on classical guitar and wishes only to be in a group of 4, this would only be possible if there are 3 others at the same stage. The instrumental teacher will always group students according to their ability and standards.

Due to the large number of students taking lessons, tuition takes place throughout the day. This involves students coming out of regular lessons for 20–30 minutes. Instrumental timetables are designed to be on a rotation system so that students never miss the same subject lesson two weeks running. Lesson times are posted on the noticeboard outside the music practice rooms, and students are expected to check regularly for any changes. Subject teachers expect students to catch up on any work missed.

In order to help develop their overall musical skills, all students taking instrumental/vocal lessons at school will be required, when appropriate, to take part in school choirs, bands or orchestras. Students will not be allowed lessons if they cannot attend these extra-curricular enrichment activities. 

Fees for lessons must be paid before the start of term. Students who have not filled in contract forms and have not paid prior to the beginning of the term will not be allowed to start. If a student wishes to stop having instrumental lessons, one term’s notice is required. There is plenty of storage space for students to leave their instruments throughout the day, and these are safe zones.

For further information about music at The Chalfonts Community College email: markswindell@chalfonts.org or traceywinterborne@chalfonts.org.