NMPAT commits to provide for this Service Level Agreement:

The ability and capacity to provide for all of your musical education requirements, including:

• First Access whole class teaching and progression routes
• small group and individual lessons
• music curriculum delivery
• ensemble coaching, small group teaching and music clubs
• instrumental and vocal provision
• access to exam entry and medal assessment – ABRSM and Trinity – and to accompanists
• access to continuation routes including Regional Centres and auditioned County Groups

NMPAT provides specialist music education professionals – all of our staff are:

• subject to a safer recruitment process and enhanced DBS disclosures
• trained and certificated in Safeguarding for children and young people
• expected to wear NMPAT identification
• highly skilled and qualified music professionals that participate in ongoing CPD and keep up to date with developments in their practice

Access to and provision from NMPAT’s stock of over 10,000 maintained instruments:

• Instruments provided for all First Access delivery
• Instrument loan available for small group delivery
• Access to specialist and high value instruments
• Teaching and practice instruments – e.g. double basses in schools

NMPAT provides the management, administration and organisational infrastructure to support delivery, including:

• all appropriate employer’s liability and public liability insurances
• management of staff and resolution of concerns or disputes
• timetabling
• administration
• all matters relating to NICs, holiday pay, absences, sickness, maternity or paternity leave, etc.
• subsidised costs – through National Music Grant and additional fundraising from other sources – including some access to bursaries and fees remissions for students

Collaboration with NMPAT provides access for young people to a wide range of progression routes and follow up opportunities:

• Regional Centres and Rock Schools
• residential courses
• masterclasses, family play days, careers events, audition support
• Auditioned County Groups
• concerts and performance opportunities – including participation opportunities with the annual Music for Youth festival series
• bursaries and fees remission support
• theory and aural support for exam entrants

Schools can expect their NMPAT instrumental teachers to be willing to:

• have a coherent scheme of work for projects, as appropriate (e.g. for First Access)
• liaise with parents through the use of NMPAT practice diaries
• plan sessions with shared deliverers, as appropriate
• discuss progress with schools and teachers
• support schools with concerts as far as possible
• discuss opportunities for ongoing support facilitated by school staff, as appropriate
• provide written reports once a year for small group and individual instrumental students

As a school inviting NMPAT to work in partnership, you commit to:

• Ensure that there is a designated contact person to liaise with NMPAT and to provide their name and contact
• Offer a direct line of communication with NMPAT teachers and make them feel valued as members of staff in the school
• Ensure your NMPAT teachers are aware of relevant dates in the school calendar, e.g. INSET days, school trips, concerts, and similar
• Provide your NMPAT teachers with all relevant medical and social information about pupils being taught and Health and Safety information relating to your site
• Ensure there is an appropriate space and environment for the project or teaching to take place, with suitable visibility for safeguarding purposes and where music making can take place uninterrupted and without disturbing others
• Where appropriate, enable concerts and sharing of work with parents and audiences – for example at the end of a project – and to liaise over the administration, presentation and delivery of these
• Where students participating in small group and individual lessons and are provided with an instrument, to support the requirement for this to be registered with our instrument loan scheme via paperwork administered by trust staff
• From time to time be invited, as representatives from the school, to attend concerts or events and experience NMPAT’s work in practice, particularly if the school’s students are performing
• From time to time, NMPAT may ask schools to disseminate information to students about our Regional Centres / County Groups /  other activities. Please do let us know if there are opportunities to provide information to be included in school newsletters, book bags, or similar

Students must, where appropriate, provide their own music books, strings and reeds, as advised by the instrumental or vocal teacher. Every effort will be made to offer students the free loan of an instrument (subject to availability and not including guitars, keyboards and drum kits) particularly in the early stages of study.

Advice for students

• You will be expected to commit to learning and practice between lessons – remember the more you play, the better you get
• You will be provided with a practice diary for your teacher to write down what you should be practicing between lessons and for you to record when you have practiced  
• Aim to make music every day if you can
• Always remember to think about your posture
• Listen for a good sound
• Have fun when you make music, that way your personality will shine through your music