After half term

1) College reopening

Please note these plans are all subject to the decisions of the Government in regard to schools and colleges re-opening. 

We have considered very carefully our strategy in reopening the College after half-term in light of Government guidance. The safety of all members of the College community has been paramount in our planning, particularly given the current guidance to avoid public transport where possible. We will therefore only be inviting learners back to College in a very limited capacity over the next few weeks.

Our focus for the rest of the summer term will continue to be on developing and delivering remote learning, with an additional emphasis on providing one-to-one or small group support.

There will also be the potential from the 15th June for curriculum areas who need to do practical work to invite in students, obviously with social distancing measures in place. Where we have students who are struggling to access remote learning, or need specific support, we will also provide the opportunity for some of them to attend.

  • Term will recommence as planned on Monday 1st of June.
  • Students will be set progress assessment work for this week, so that teachers can thoroughly understand the progress each student is making and identify further support needs and knowledge/skills gaps.
  • There will be no taught lessons online or face to face during this week, to allow staff the time to complete the GCSE, A Level and Vocational grading required by the examination boards, due to the cancellation of public examinations and assessments this summer.
  • Teaching will recommence for students on Monday 8th June until the end of the academic year which is Friday 3rd July. 

2) Continuation of remote / online learning

  • Remote teaching will continue for all students from 8th June. This will be in addition to any scheduled classes on campus.
  • We have been working hard over the last few weeks to refine and improve our remote teaching, and from 8th June all subjects will be delivering a minimum of two live or recorded lessons per week and well as additional set work on eBrock. Live one-to-one or small group support will also be delivered to each student during this period.
  • It is not always possible to deliver these live sessions in normal timetabled slots, and therefore following your feedback, each course will be publishing their online learning schedule on their course pages on eBrock, so that students know exactly when classes are taking place.
  • With the continuing focus on remote teaching and learning for the rest of the academic year, we will continue to make resources available electronically via eBrock.  We will not be sending out paper based resources as a matter of course, except for Foundation students.

3) Students who will be invited to return to College for some classes

  • Only a very limited number of students will be asked to attend College.
  • During the week commencing 1st June, if students need to attend any classes from the week commencing 15th June, they will be contacted by their subject teachers, who will tell them when they will be invited in to attend lessons at the College.
  • Some students will also be required to attend College in order to complete work to finish their courses.
  • Study space will be made available for any student who is not able to work at home – for example has limited internet or computer/ mobile device access. Students who require this study space may attend daily from 8th June. Please note there will be no additional teaching for students attending to access the study spaces and there will be no opportunity for socialising with friends.

We recognise that not all students may wish to return at the current time and that some may not be able to due to health conditions or for the protection of family members. Attendance at College will therefore not be mandatory, and students will continue to be able to access learning remotely. Students will not be penalised if they are not able to attend classes.

4) Revision to the College day and timetables for students attending College

  • For students attending in person the College day will be shortened and will run from 09:30am until 1:00pm. This is to enable students to travel to and from College avoiding peak times to reduce the risk of infection.
  • Students attending College will not follow their normal timetable but instead will be invited in for specific days, and for the whole of the College day. We will contact all students during the week of 1st June to confirm these days.

5) Travel

  • Government guidance is currently to avoid the use of public transport where possible. We recognise that some students will be reliant on public transport to get to College which is why the College day has been amended to avoid peak times.
  • We recommend, if possible, that members of the student’s family drop off and pick up students by car.
  • The College bus service will be operating but on a revised and limited service.
    • We have been working with the bus company to devise a timetable based around the revised College days and the demand on routes from students.
    • The maximum number of students able to travel on an individual bus will be reduced significantly so that all passengers are able to practice appropriate social distancing.
    • We must know if advance if you are planning to use the service so that we can plan routes. Please ensure that you have filled in the questions about travel below.
    • No passes will be issued. Passage will be on a pay-as-you-go basis with contactless payments direct to drivers.  Students in receipt of a College bursary will be eligible for a 50% refund on fares.
    • A revised service timetable will be published on the travel section of the College website during the week commencing 1st June.
    • Separate arrangements will be made for students needing to travel to the Marchwood site.
  • We will not be providing passes for rail users, and tickets should be purchased directly from the rail company for travel.
    • Rail users in receipt of a bursary will be entitled to 50% reduction in fares through the purchase of a 16-17 railcard, the cost of which will be refunded by the College. Details will be provided directly to eligible students.

6) College Facilities

Not all College facilities will be available when we reopen, please see below:

Facilities open:

  • LRC
  • Student services
  • IT services
  • College nurse or first aid.
  • Emotional support and counselling services (urgent cases only) and by appointment only.

Facilities which will not be open:

  • Hard Brock Café. Students must bring their own food and drink to College.
  • Inspiration room, although alternative provision will be available.

7) Other changes and restrictions

There will a number of other changes put in place to ensure the safety of member of both the College and the wider community and to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. Full details will be provided on return to College, but these will include:

  • Students will only be permitted on campus for lessons or study, and where possible students should arrive just before and leave immediately after lessons.
  • Students will not be permitted to leave site during the College day and will not be allowed to go into Brockenhurst village. This is to protect the residents of Brockenhurst, many of whom fall into the most vulnerable category for infection.
  • In order to minimise interaction between groups, different groups will be asked to use specific entrances and exits, follow directional arrows for traffic flow around buildings and only be allowed to use certain toilets.
  • No smoking will be allowed on or nearby the College premises.

8) COVID code of conduct and personal protection equipment

In the interests of public health and in order to keep all members of the College community safe, we have developed a COVID code of conduct for students which will remain in place until the requirement for social distancing is removed. Students will not be allowed to return to College unless they have verified that they have read and agreed to this code of conduct. If this is broken in any way, the student will be immediately asked to leave the College campus and disciplinary action will be taken.

The code of conduct is here: Code of Conduct COVID19

All staff and students will be issued with personal protection equipment (PPE) on their return to College. This includes plastic full face visors for both staff and students. These have been supplied by a local company so that we are not taking any supplies needed by the NHS. Although the wearing of PPE is not mandatory, we would strongly recommend that this is worn whenever it is not possible to maintain social distancing.

PPE equipment will be issued to students the first time they return to College. This will be supplied on the production of an e-ticket that will be issued to them. Students will only be allowed enter the College campus once they have produced this e-ticket which will allow us to issue them with PPE and verify that they have signed the College COVID code of conduct. The e-ticket will be generated and emailed to students on completion of the questionnaire below.

9) Return to College information

We need some information from you to help us properly plan for after half term.

Please follow the Eventbrite link below to complete a very short questionnaire. In the questionnaire you will be asked whether, if invited, you will return to classes or access study space because you are unable to work at home.

Once the questionnaire is complete, you will receive an e-ticket from Eventbrite. You will need to bring this ticket to College on your first day back so that we can issue you with your PPE and verify you have agreed to the terms of returning to campus. If you do not bring the ticket with you, you will be asked to return home.

Please complete this questionnaire by 19 August.

Please ignore the wording on the ticket system link, which set by Eventbrite, just click on the link below.