FAQ

Anyone from years 3 – 6* with an interest in playing an instrument can join the Band Program. Many years we have one or two students from year 6 who have decided to take up a second instrument and spend their last year playing in two bands! Students starting their first instrument are placed in Junior Band, however older students are often accelerated through the bands to join their peers as soon as possible. Students with previous musical experience in an instrument are welcome to audition for Intermediate or Senior Band. We welcome new members to the Band Program at any point during the school year.
*String Ensemble accepts students from years 1 – 6.

Generally speaking, if your query is regarding your child's music education, your first point of contact should be their Band Conductor or Band Director. 
Examples: Queries regarding student progress, behaviour, learning material (music pieces), student progression, or advice on private tutoring. 

If your query is administrative, you should get in contact with your Band Coordinator, Band Administrator, or Convenor. 
Examples: Queries regarding upcoming performance details, instrument hire, instrument repairs, absentees, Band Camp, Band Fees, etc. 

Awesome - Welcome Aboard! 

The first step is to decide which instrument your child will be enrolling in. This decision is made in consultation from the Band Director and Conductor after the Try An Instrument Day. Head over to Choosing An Instrument for more info. 

Once you have confirmation on which instrument your child will be playing, head over to our MySchoolMusic page to register. 

For more info, check out our page on How To Join. 

No Worries - we have you covered! 

When you register your child into Band, via MySchoolMusic there will be a box to tick asking you if you need to hire an instrument. If you've ticked YES to hiring an instrument, we will reserve an instrument for you. 

At the start of the year we have our Band Orientation Day, where we hand out all our hire instruments and give new students a short lesson on how to play and maintain their instrument. Information about Band Orientation will be sent out to our registered families in January. 

For more info on hiring instruments, click here.

We understand that our Extension Ensembles are a big hit with many RPS students. However, we must remember that our ensembles are just that - EXTENSION Ensembles. They are designed to extend a students music education, not to be their only source of music. The skills learnt in a small ensemble are vastly different from those learnt in a larger ensemble such as our Concert Bands. 

It is for these reasons, and more, that we expect students to be in a Concert Band to be eligible for an Extension Ensemble. 

Note: The only exception to this is our String Ensemble, as string instruments are not catered for in our Concert Bands.