Important Update for Learners, Parents & Guardians - 31/12/20

Dear Learners, Parents & Guardians

As you may be aware, yesterday, 30 December 2020, the Secretary of State for Education delivered a briefing outlining changes to plans for schools and colleges to return in January.

It has taken a while for us to receive all of the relevant information, but we can now confirm that the last minute changes mean we unfortunately have to make adjustments to our plans for the start of term. Essentially, the College campus will be closed to most learners during w/c Monday 4 January 2021, with the exception of the following groups:

• Learners who are taking BTEC exams/assessments during January, should attend according to the timetable provided prior to Christmas, until they’ve completed their final January exam. Text reminders will be sent, however, if learners are unsure whether they need to attend during w/c 4 January, they should contact their Tutor in the first instance.
• Vulnerable learners, who will be contacted directly by the Student Services Team.
• Learners whose parents are key workers, who have the opportunity to attend should they so wish.

All learners not in the above groups will switch to full remote learning during w/c 4 January 2021.

Prior to Christmas, NSCG became one of the first colleges in the country to offer staff and students the opportunity of on-site COVID-19 testing, in an effort to identify asymptomatic cases in our college community and bring down the number of cases in our local area. We are currently planning for this testing to continue in January, starting w/c 4 January 2021 for staff and learners in attendance. We are actively encouraging as many members of our college community to participate in testing, to allow us to quickly identify asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and keep our college community as safe as possible; however, the decision to take a test remains optional.

Advice for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms is unchanged - you must NOT come to college and must inform us of your absence via the student absence line. If you are displaying symptoms, you should follow the NHS advice and book a test using this link.

Learner and staff safety remains our top priority and the significant COVID-19 measures implemented since September continue to remain in place. You can find further details on the actions we have taken to mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19 here.

We anticipate that the Government’s plans may be subject to further review in the New Year therefore we are currently planning our delivery on a week-by-week basis. We will be in touch again early next week to confirm delivery arrangements for w/c 11 January 2021 and thereafter. Updates will continue to be posted on our social media pages and website and learners are encouraged to regularly check their college email for any specific course, timetable or exam updates.

Enjoy the remainder of the festive break and as always, a huge thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.