Steps to Register
Contact us at n.rabie@proarte.co.za OR musicacademy@proarte.co.za if you would like to register for music lessons. We will email you back with an application form that you will download, fill in and send back to us.
The relevant teacher from the academy will then contact you to inform you when your child has been placed with them and to make further arrangements. Take note, any new applications are placed on a waiting list FIRST and you might have to wait for a while to have your child placed with one of our staff.
An informal first meeting (in person, telephonically, or online) will be arranged where the teacher will go through the contract with you again (explaining expectations regarding lesson attendance, the cancellation policy, and crucially, our social media policy), outline their personal approach to the lessons and answer any questions you might have.
Lesson fees
Academy fees are payable per quarter and accounts for 32 lessons per year (on average, 8-10 lessons per quarter). We do not teach during the government school holidays or on public holidays.
Fee Structure for 2024:
| Subject | Duration of lesson/week | Fee (per term) |
|---|---|---|
| Practical | 30 minutes | R1590 |
| Practical | 45 minutes | R2030 |
| Practical | 60 minutes | R2560 |
| Practical | 90 minutes | R3590 |
| Theory Gr 5 – 6 | 30 minutes | R1590 |
| Ensemble (non-enrolled learners) | 45 – 60 minutes | R750 |
| Group theory (non-enrolled learners) | 30 – 60 minutes | R900 |
*A discount tariff for 2 or more enrolments are offered to families. Please enquire at the Administration Office.
Take note, school quarters are usually 10-11 weeks long, so this model means that during some quarters a student may receive 10 lessons and during others only the minimum amount (8 lessons).
Instrument Rentals
At Pro Arte Music Academy we offer certain instruments for rent (payable quarterly) at competitive rates, subject to a rental agreement which you will need to fill in and sign.
When you rent an instrument from us, we undertake to provide an instrument in playable condition along with a protective case. Any rental instrument will naturally exhibit some wear and tear, and we make careful note of the instrument’s existing physical condition BEFORE we rent an instrument.
However, once an instrument is released to a student, the student undertakes to maintain the instrument in playable condition and should the instrument be damaged while in their care they will have to repair or replace the instrument at their own cost. For this reason, it is advised on the rental contract to take out insurance.
Our rental rates are as follows:
- A non-refundable deposit of R120
- Rental of instruments range between R380 and R445 per term for enrolled students
- Rental of instruments range between R565 and R630 per term for non-enrolled students
For more information, please enquire at musicacademy@proarte.co.za
Payment
All fees are payable within the first 30 days of a new term. Take note, we work according to the public school calendar of the GDE which divides the year into four terms.
Look out for an email with an invoice from musicacademy@proarte.co.za. If you are not receiving emails from us, please send an email from an account that you check regularly to the above address and also add our email to your address book.
Pro Arte account fees have to be paid into a specific account, using your unique registration number (found on the invoice) as a reference.
Lesson Attendance and Progress
The Pro Arte Music Academy has a waiting list for lessons with the full-time staff. Since students with full-time staff are subsidised by the State we naturally have certain expectations for these students:
- Lesson attendance
- Progress measured in terms of internal and external examinations as mandated by the teacher
- Participation in Academy concerts and Arts Festivals
We would like to stress that especially lesson attendance weighs heavily when considering a child’s continued placement with full-time staff. Every effort should be made to attend all lessons since too many cancellations would put a child’s placement in jeopardy.
Absenteeism and Rescheduling Lessons
We follow a no-make-up lesson policy and teachers are NOT obliged to reschedule lessons that have been cancelled by the student.
However, should a student cancel a lesson more than 72 hours in advance, a teacher in general will try to reschedule the lesson in other students’ cancelled timeslots. However, the earlier you try to reschedule a lesson, the better your chances are. No-shows and short-notice cancellations will not be made up since students who give early notice are prioritized on a first-come first-served basis.
All Pro Arte Music Academy teachers have annual sick leave. If a teacher cancels a lesson due to sickness the teacher will ensure that each learner has a minimum of 8 lessons per term. The same rule applies for workshops and training that the staff needs to attend from time to time.
Should a teacher cancel a lesson for other reasons every effort will be made to reschedule the lesson.
Children who miss a group class have to do the missed work on their own in order to keep up. No group classes will be rescheduled.
Discontinuation of Lessons
As per the application contract and because fees are payable per quarter, a quarter’s written notice has to be given in writing to Mrs Alkema (musicacademy@proarte.co.za) AND Mrs Rabie (n.rabie@proarte.co.za).
If you want to discontinue your child’s lessons, the latest date to give notice of your intention is within the first week of the previous quarter. Thus, to discontinue lessons in August of the 3rd quarter, notice has to be given by the Friday of the 1st week in the 2nd quarter.
This policy is followed whether or not you are cancelling all lessons or only lessons for a particular instrument, and whether or not the student has attended or will attend lessons during the “notice” quarter.
For example, if you inform us at the end of the 2nd quarter that you wish to discontinue lessons, you will still be liable to pay for the whole of the 3rd quarter.
We unfortunately also cannot “save” a student’s place with a particular teacher should you decide to cancel lessons for a quarter. Such a student, upon re-entry to the academy, will be placed on the waiting list until a slot with their preferred teacher opens up again.
Our Social Media Policy
We enjoy showing off photos of our students’ musical activities and achievements in our newsletter, website and on our notice boards at school. We have also found that students who are honoured in this way are proud of their achievements and frequently feel motivated to work even harder.
However, we also take consent seriously and on our application form, you have the opportunity to indicate that you would prefer that we NOT use photos of your child in the newsletter, website or noticeboard. There is also an option for blanket approval that you may withdraw at any time. Should you be uncertain and have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Our students’ personal safety is very important to us and we will never reveal information such as names, ages, addresses or contact details of our students when using their photos on these platforms. If on occasion we would like to showcase a particular student’s achievements as an individual in a video or photo (and thus will say something like “We congratulate Mrs Rabie’s student Sally Cronje on her excellent results for her Grade 8 exam”), we will always ask first.