Covid-19 safety measures at college

We’ve made our college campuses as safe as possible since we reopened to many of our students. Thanks to the success of the NHS vaccine programme rollout and lockdown measures so far, the Government has relaxed some Covid-19 restrictions as of 17 May. You can find our latest campus rules and safety measures below.

Face coverings

You may have seen in the news that face coverings are no longer required in the classroom or communal areas, however, the Department for Education has said that face coverings should be used in response to localised outbreaks or new variants of the virus. Given the infection rates in Yorkshire are currently twice as high as the national average, we are taking a cautious approach to face coverings.

Face coverings must be worn at all times where social distancing cannot be maintained. This includes corridors, communal spaces and classrooms. 

We will review our face covering position regularly and if local infection rates reduce we will update our approach.

Other safety measures on campus

Studying in college is important for the quality of our students’ learning and wellbeing. We will continue to take safety measures seriously to keep our students and staff safe. 

This includes:

• Home testing for staff and students twice a week – see below
• the continuation of 2m social distancing measures
• wearing face coverings in all corridors and communal areas
• the ‘bubble’ grouping system
• increased hand sanitiser stations on campus

If you haven’t already, please speak to your teacher before you return to college. 

We know you may have concerns about being at college during the pandemic, but the safety measures we’ve had in place have proved a real success at controlling the spread of Covid-19. We want to reassure you that we are teaching in a Covid-19 safe environment and we will continue to implement extensive measures to ensure student and staff safety. The safety of students and staff is at the forefront of all our plans for on-site learning.

Testing

To keep everyone even safer on campus, it is expected that all students who attend campus will take a Covid-19 test twice weekly. You can ask for Covid-19 tests at your local pharmacy or you can order these via the Gov.uk website.

Our campuses have had successful safety measures in place and these tests are an additional precaution. Testing is really important because Covid-19 cases can show no symptoms, allowing it to spread without the host realising.

This process may be different if you are an apprentice, higher education or adult learner, so please speak with your teacher to confirm your approach to testing.

For any students who are self-isolating, remote education will continue. If you are a student and have any questions, please speak with your teacher .

How to take a test

Taking a test is quick and easy. Watch this video from Public Health England to see how it’s done. You can also read the guides below.

How to take your tests (with a helper)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WGuBzkndBqbjsX4IxYDO_gk-bYsXKt30/view?usp=sharing

How to do a rapid Covid-19 self-test

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pelamroxJaBwcuSJrRI9lFHMuaw0ZQ0b/view?usp=sharing

Vaccine information

If you’re offered the vaccine, please take this opportunity as it is proving effective against Covid-19. You can find more information about the vaccine here.