UK Piano Page Piano Forum

hi,
hoping someone can help. I really want to teach piano privately, preferably to children. I believe I have oodles of patience with children, and am grade 6 standard myself, but no formal piano teaching qualifications. Does anyone know if I need qualifications, or how to get started as a teacher? I'm willing to learn, take my time, and do it properly. I live in west of Scotland, and there does seem to be a drought of teachers around here.
I also have full Disclosure Scotland checks through my current job. (similar to CRB checks in England). I would have thought parents consider these checks important for child protection resaons, is this the case?

Police checks aren't really necessary, as most teachers are found by word of mouth/recommendation, and nobody would recommend a dodgy teacher to their friends - or even enemies! That said, if in the future you get work teaching in a school, a police check is an excellent thing to have ready.
If you're only Grade VI yourself, I wouldn't teach beyond Grade III. I would suggest taking on a few beginner pupils, and working like mad yourself at the same time to get your Grade VIII or evenb a diploma.

The male teachers on this site who are CRB checked get more work than those who are not.

All CRB tells you is that the person who has been CRB checked has not been caught doing anything in the last 3 years if best practise is used. It is not a replacement for common sense on your part.

Now here is one for Gill did you know that a piano tuner, tuning pianos in school in school time is classed as an unsupervised tradesman and therefore should be CRB checked even after 3.30 if the school has an after school club. However, if they are supervised they don't need to be CRB checked and CRBs definition of supervised "a member of staff should be in the same room as the tradesman and be in line of site"

Barrie,

I'm not a tradesman, I'm a craftsman. And I work too fast to be kept in line of sight!

Gill the Piano wrote:I'm not a tradesman, I'm a craftsman. And I work too fast to be kept in line of sight!

{PC} craftswoman

I was booking in some school work today and informed the school sec of the above "What!! stand in a room with you wile you plink plik for an hour or two I would rather pay the £50.0 and have you CRBed" They way she put it I wan wondering if I should go to the Vets to get CRBed

Barrie

Liability insurance may be worth looking into if you are going to take on a large number of students who will be coming and going to your home at regular intervals. You will be carrying out a simple risk assessment of your studio before you start teaching anyway so that nothing will provide hazard to children, e.g delicate glass ornaments along the top of the piano, breakables, sharp items. Having said that, most of these things shouldn't be major issues but if you are thinking about liability insurance, you may as well be thorough the whole way!