My Tweets for the week 2011-05-29

Posted by Ian on 29th May 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
29 May
  • I don't believe CBC. They have sent us the invoice for my daughter's violin lessons that we canceled at the end of March. How many others? #
  • RT @SyfyUK: Here's an article from our newest blogger that lists ten shows that were axed before their time – http://bit.ly/lJNKfD – V gone #
  • 1911 census online at Ancestry. Searching for grandfather now. #
  • RT @PayPalUK: We're giving away 10 iPad 2s. Like us on Facebook and re-tweet this to enter: http://t.co/AGS3zHG via @PayPalUK #
  • Replaced the broken shed window that last weekend's wind blew out. Brrr… chilly out there – typical bank holiday weekend weather then. #
  • Listening to 1812 Overture Opus 49, by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky on @classicfm #
  • Just peeled the protective film off the other side of the new shed window. We now have clear glass not green. Doh! #

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More on the cancellation of music tuition lessons

Posted by Ian on 24th May 2011 at 5:43 pm
2011
24 May

The fiasco that is the fees rises for Central Bedfordshire Music Service continues. Yesterday, we received an invoice for this term for both my son and daughter’s violin lessons. We had cancelled my daughter’s lessons at the end of March by email and gave notice that we were cancelling all use of the service at the end of the Summer Term.

Jo rang Bedfordshire Music yesterday and they were going to investigate where my notification had got to. Looking last night at the email address I sent it to, I realised that the details printed on their fee rise letter were wrong; they had printed the wrong email address. Jo rang them again today and they confirmed that the email address was wrong on some of the letters. I wonder just how many ‘some’ is? I have now forwarded my email to the correct address.

It also makes me wonder how much difference that will make to the reduction in numbers for musical instrument tuition that Central Bedfordshire provided me with. If many people used email to notify of their intent to cancel, then the numbers cancelling could be significantly higher.

So in summary, if you notified Central Bedfordshire by email and the address on your letter was @centralbedfordshire.co.uk rather than @centralbedfordshire.gov.uk, then they probably didn’t get it and you will have to contact them to sort the invoicing out.

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My Tweets for the week 2011-05-22

Posted by Ian on 22nd May 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
22 May

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My Tweets for the week 2011-05-15

Posted by Ian on 15th May 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
15 May
  • Just looking at the website opposing the housing development in north-west Dunstable http://bit.ly/mFhhjs #
  • I fought the elder in the back garden and I think I won this round. Let's see which re-groups first. #
  • Received an invitation to the next partnership event to discuss the future of Central Bedfordshire Music Service at the beginning of June. #

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Reduction in numbers for musical instrument tuition

Posted by Ian on 13th May 2011 at 10:32 pm
2011
13 May

From the spring term to the summer term, following the fee rise, 40% of those taking musical instrument tuition with Bedfordshire Music Service have cancelled their lessons.

This isn’t as high a number as I was expecting, however many people may be doing the same as us, seeing it through to the end of the summer term. It will be interesting to see the figures again in the autumn term.

From the council’s Agenda for the Executive meeting on 7th December 2010, fees, charges and other activities provided funding of £1,105,000. If we said 3,000 people having tuition at £100 a term, that raises £900,000 leaving the ‘charges and other activites’ with the remaining £205,000.

The fees went up 69% and the numbers dropped 40%, so that would be 1,800 people paying £169, raising £912,000, not a massive change from the original amount raised. Does this mean the fees have to go up again to cover the shortfall. I guess not, as the number of staff hours needed to teach would have dropped by 40% in line with the cancellations. Maybe the 40% staffing costs is enough to provide a cost neutral service, but at what cost.

Intentional or otherwise, the impact of these reductions in numbers of users of the service cannot be good for the future of music in Bedfordshire schools.

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My Tweets for the week 2011-05-08

Posted by Ian on 8th May 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
8 May

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