CCMC Online Teaching Child Protection Statement PDF

Parental Consent Form for Music Lessons Via Internet PDF

Cork City Music College is committed to a child-centred approach in all our work with children.  We are fully committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for children and young people, and to safeguarding the wellbeing of our young students, both within the main centre in Coláiste Éamann Rís and in the context of our Outreach Network.

This policy extends the Child Protection Policy of Cork City Music College which is available from the Cork City Music College office (email: info@ccmc.ie) and on our website at www.ccmc.ie.

Musical tuition via the Internet

In facilitating access to instrumental, vocal, and theory tuition for our students, Cork City Music College extends the opportunity to study via the internet.  In providing these opportunities, we commit to adhering to the following best practices in the interest of safeguarding both students and CCMC teachers.

Child Protection Concerns Related to Internet Tuition

Teaching music classes over the internet raises the following concerns in relation to child protection:

• The situation introduces the student to the idea of communicating with an adult that is not part of their family group over the internet. This is not a practice that should come to be considered normal by the student and it should be emphasised by parents that communicating in this manner is something that requires permission and supervision;
• This method of teaching invites the teacher into the student’s home, and vice versa, without being physically present and, therefore, possibly unknown to other members of either household. There should be an awareness on behalf of all involved that there is someone virtually present in their home and that everyone’s actions need to be reflected in this.  Insofar as is possible, the teaching situation should closely reflect that of teaching face-to-face in Cork City Music College;
• The possibility exists for distribution of recordings of lessons on the internet by the student, parents, the teacher or Cork City Music College. This may be desirable at times, such as using the recordings to promote the usefulness of internet lessons and best practice in the area, or to share the recordings with parents of students from within the same closed group. However, the written agreement of all parties is an absolute requirement before any materials are distributed;
• Cork City Music College's teachers undertake as part of our Child Protection Policy to report any concerns over child welfare to Virginia Metcalfe, who is the designated liaison person with Cork City Music College for child welfare matters. This relates not only to the student but to the welfare of any child in the location in which they are working, physically or virtually.

Parental Consent

Written parental consent shall be sought for the purposes of:

• Engaging with the young person in their home, or other locations as decided, via live video calls (Zoom video calls or other video conferencing software)
• Agreeing to allow access to Cork City Music College lessons on the parent’s devices only
• The occasional recording of such lessons as a record of the interactions between teacher and student(s) and the sharing of recorded classes with parents of students from within the same closed class group, such as Music Bug Club classes
• The retention of such recorded materials for four weeks by Cork City Music College

Location and Supervision of Lessons

• All lessons should be held in an area of the home that is open and accessible to the parents/guardians of the student. Lessons should not, for instance, take place in a room with a closed door without parental/guardian’s supervision.
• Lessons will, however, need to be held in an area where student and CCMC teacher can concentrate on the lesson and not be unnecessarily interrupted. This may be hard to balance with younger children in the house and may take a few lessons to establish a good routine.  All concerned need to show some patience in forming a routine and be willing to discuss ways to improve concentration during lessons.
• A parent/guardian or other responsible adult should be available to drop in and out of the teaching space throughout the duration of the lesson.

Email Addresses (for Zoom classes)

• All lessons and student-teacher interaction on the student’s part must take place using parent/guardian email addresses and devices.

Alternative Contact Methods

• All arrangements/re-arrangements to lessons must be made through a parent/guardian.
• Student and teacher are not to communicate via alternative video/electronic methods other than specifically agreed with the parent/guardian.
• Any and all communications between student and teacher must be fully controlled by or accessible to parents/guardians.

Grounds for Concern

The grounds for concern laid out in Cork City Music College's Child Protection Policy shall apply in all lessons given online and shall apply to all children in the student’s home.  This includes things that happen in the background or off-camera.

If a parent/guardian has any concerns about the process or relationship between student and teacher, they should contact Virginia Metcalfe principal@ccmc.ie, the designated liaison person with Cork City Music College, to discuss the situation.  Cork City Music College undertakes to investigate all complaints or concerns regarding its teaching staff in line with our Child Protection Policy.

Raising Concerns

Concerns for the welfare of students will be dealt with in line with Cork City Music College's Child Protection Policy.

Recording of Lesson

• No recordings are to be made of one-to-one lessons, without the explicit consent of both teacher and parent/guardian.
• Group classes may be recorded by the CCMC teacher in order to share the class with parents of students from within that class only with the consent of parents/guardians from within that group. No recordings are to be made of group classes by parents.
• The teacher will record lessons on their own computer.
• The teacher may keep copies of the recordings for four weeks for the purpose of sharing the recordings with parents of students from within the same, closed group and for reviewing and improving their teaching practice, after which recordings will be erased.
• Videos of the lessons may be transferred to Cork City Music College. CCMC will erase any recordings of classes after a period of four weeks from the date of receiving the recordings.
• All other data collected in relation to the student will be dealt with in line with Cork City Music College’s Data Protection Policy.

General Code of Conduct

All participants in Cork City Music College programmes online must agree to:

• Treat all teachers, colleagues, and users fairly and equally. Stimulate conversation, be respectful of others’ views, and refrain from personal attacks.
• Respect legitimate intellectual property rights, do not plagiarise work, and give credit to the originators of ideas.
• Dress appropriately for learning.
• Don’t share the posts of others without permission.

Signed: Virginia Metcalfe, Principal                                Date: 23rd March 2022

Cork City Music College