In this podcast I have a lovely chat with the marvellous Abi Haberfield, who is a partner at The Playing Space and also teaches independently in schools. She is a hugely experienced LAMDA teacher, having prepared students for exams of all subjects and grades for more than 12 years.
We talk about the variety of different set ups we have encountered in the different schools we go into. Areas of discussion include:
Dealing with parents directly, including invoicing.
Invoicing the school and having no contact with parents.
Having to deal with admin including timetabling and exam entries.
Switching from private classes to shared classes or small groups as numbers increase.
Paying rent for the teaching space.
Public versus Private Exam Centres.
Entering students for exams - do it yourself and charge an admin fee, or let the school/parents do the entries themselves.
Taking over from other teachers and making changes.
Turning down work if you don’t think the school is running things in the way you think best serves the students (e.g. too many children in a group).
Negotiating a suitable teaching space.
Benefits of LAMDA exams for students who are falling behind academically.
How to manage preparation for exams in schools with limited funds.
Offering free sessions to students in the run up to exams - generosity or downfall? Building free sessions into your fee structure.
The difficulty of getting into schools.
LAMDA Horror Stories: mistakes we’ve made.
Visit Gabi’s Speech and Drama Community for loads more resources - articles, worksheets, meet ups and more!
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