5 Ways We Have Prepared for the New Teaching Year

As we begin teaching again on Monday, this past week has been spent making sure everything is organized and ready. We were also able to reflect on some of the things we have done in preparation for the new term:

1. Welcome Notice
So that the students feel welcomed back to Greenside, we have put up a friendly notice for them to read as they arrive at the front door.

2. Noticeboards
We've revamped the noticeboards in the Greenside hallway

They now include:

-Information for Greenside Pianists - the latest newsletter, facts about exams, composer of the week, and the total amount of money raised for charity by the pianists last year. 

- Information for Greenside Group members - details about each group and what they are rehearsing this term, and the total amount of money raised for charity by the groups last year. We plan to change the posters for each group each  term as we begin rehearsing new songs and pieces.

- Featured Greenside Pianist of the Month. Each month, a new pianist will be chosen to be filmed performing a piece we feel deserves recognition. They will then have their photo up on the board, with information about them and the reason why they have been chosen to be Featured Greenside Pianist of the Month.

- Information and advertisements for our charity project: Seasons. As people enter the hall they will be able to read: whose entries have been included in the book; what will be on the CD; and how they can order their copies.

- Exciting news about all the countries where our blog has been read.
Thank you to all our readers in different countries!

3. Piano Tutor Books
After teaching from piano tutor books that were first written by Catherine 10 years ago, we decided it was time to update them again. Based on our experiences from using them, we were able to discuss how they could be improved.  After many hours of brainstorming, and many more hours of writing and typing, we now have a set of piano tutor books we feel will be fun and enjoyable for us to teach with and students to learn from.

 4. Worksheets
Each week, Georgina gives her younger students a worksheet to take home, as she can then track their progress and find out the areas they may need extra help in. Over Summer, she produced worksheets for up to Christmas. She is especially looking forward to the children writing secret messages to each other using a musical code that they will create themselves; she is eager to see what sort of messages they'll write! 

5. Newsletters
To reflect the changes in how people access information, we decided that this year we would email pdfs of our current newsletters to the parents of our piano students, and the members of our music groups. They will also receive a hard copy, so there is no excuse for them not being aware of important information and dates!

It was lovely to have a break from teaching, but we're now re-energized and excited to help all our students progress over the next school year. We're looking forward to those inevitable moments when you feel very proud of your students' achievements, especially on days when you least expect it!