Covid-19 guidance update

The safety of our staff and students remains our top priority, and we continue to follow all government guidelines. We are committed to supporting our students to achieve and progress.

Following the recent government announcement, the College was issued with new guidance. From Tuesday 30 November, the following applies to all students, staff and visitors:

Face coverings
We encourage that face coverings be worn in communal areas in all settings by staff, visitors and above, unless they are exempt. Students and staff (where applicable) should continue to wear face coverings on public transport, unless exempt.

Testing
The College encourages all students and staff to twice weekly use lateral flow device (LFD) tests. These can be collected from reception.

Contact tracing and isolation
The current guidance on contact tracing and isolation remains in place – which means that close contacts should take PCR tests but do not need to isolate unless they are over 18 and unvaccinated. The exception is for close contacts of suspected or confirmed Omicron cases, who will be asked to isolate for 10 days.

Vaccination
All eligible staff and students are encouraged to take up the offer of the vaccine, including boosters.

Vaccines are our best defence against COVID-19. They help protect young people and adults, and benefit those around them. Vaccination makes people less likely to catch the virus and less likely to pass it on. To book a vaccine, please visit: Book or manage a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk).

Good hygiene
Everyone in College should continue to follow the basic rules of good hygiene. This will help to protect individuals and others from COVID-19. These are:

• washing your hands
• cleaning your surroundings
• covering your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze.

The college also has a range of carefully planned methods in place to adapt and manage our teaching and learning, to ensure you can continue your studies. This includes being prepared to use blended learning (mixture of online and face-to-face teaching) for our courses, so we can respond and adapt to government guidance as needed to remain Covid secure.