Numbers

Overall we’ve lost 60+ students. Added to this we have been subsidising (paying for) around 20 students’ lessons whose parents have been very badly affected by this situation. Obviously we will not be able to continue with this going into September so teacher numbers will be affected (if parents are unable to pick up with payments).

September

We always lose a percentage of students in September so there may be further losses. Obviously there is always usually a ‘bounce’ in September, which obviously we hope will outweigh the losses. This will depend on parent confidence / parent job losses etc.

One thing is clear, form our perspective, is that there isn’t the appetite for online lessons that you would expect. We’ve spent approximately £1,000 & many hours of work, to test Facebook and Google promotions. The results have been really poor. Pretty much right on lockdown our enquiries went from 30+ per month to zero, and a few exceptions aside, we’ve had no further enquiries. The enquiries that we’ve had have all said that they will “wait until things get back to normal”.

Basically, we need to get back to Pulse – with the model that has worked so well in the past couple of years. Culturally, I don’t think parents are ready for buying this type of service as an online activity. We will be switching the marketing spend back on in early August, to hopefully catch the ‘getting back to normal’ feel that I hope parents will have.

Sarah & I created Pulse for business reasons obviously, but also with a real emphasis on the community that we would create with parents & children, and also with teachers. We’ve all created a fantastic environment together and our feeling, from a human / health perspective, is that there’s so much more to be gained from this, as opposed to us all working in our own little silos, as we have been doing.

We are starting to plan works within the building for September and also how we will operate with music & education lessons. There will be more detail soon and an induction day. Some headlines:

• Distancing in place – double keyboards in each room / screens for singing & woodwind lessons. We will be fitting a window between two rooms to enable voice & woodwind lessons – teacher in one room and student in the other.

•  All signage will be in place and hand sanitisers are already installed. A new toilet / wash facility will be installed upstairs.

• The number of rooms in operation will be reduced to ensure distancing

• To achieve the above, some teacher sessions (four per night) will rotate – online one week – at Pulse the following week. This will be adopted for sessions where a teacher has a full schedule – therefore allowing teachers who have gaps to be at Pulse for new tasters.

• Sessions will be staggered – half of lessons will start at the normal on the hour and half past times – with the other half starting at twenty to and ten past – so 3:30 & 3:40 start times, to stagger arrivals & departures of children.

• Parents will not be allowed into the building.

The above will be implemented for the first half term and reviewed. Obviously we have to factor in a second spike and full return to online lessons.