Cornwall Music Service Trust (CMST) Statement to all Students, Parents, Guardians and Educational Settings - Reference: Coronavirus: Covid-19 March 18, 2020
Dear All,
The past 48 hours has seen a huge escalation in the Coronavirus pandemic. This has meant that many educational establishments are not allowing visiting professionals or contractors into their settings whilst they endeavour to remain open.
Understandably some CMST staff have been asked to not attend or have been refused entry to their respective schools, colleges and other educational settings. These settings are in turn facing many challenges with reduced staffing levels, pupils having to stay at home due to self isolation and many other issues all of which have led to partial school closures.
As the pandemic develops I am sure that more educational settings will be forced to close and ultimately a Government led closure could follow. Please ensure that in the event of school closures that every effort has been made to bring personal instruments home.
For CMST this undoubtedly will lead to an interruption to our teaching delivery. However, plans and measures are already being implemented to continue, through creative and innovative approaches, the music education for our students. This will be a range of strategies for example online learning, pre-recorded video sessions, future workshops (when appropriate) etc. that will attempt to fulfill our educational and teaching commitments to our learners.
In terms of finance, I appreciate that we are all going to face challenging times. If you have fees that are outstanding please endeavour to settle your account as soon as possible. If you have concerns, please contact our office to discuss options that will be able to help support you. Please be aware, in light of the aforementioned strategies, that invoices will be issued for the next academic term in line with our usual practices.
We are liaising closely with all partners, including educational settings, to address any potential under delivery and again, will endeavour to fulfill our obligations to customers.
Gareth Churcher MA, LTCL (Hons), MAAT - Head of Service Cornwall Music Service Trust
