Covid-19 Information

Update 2nd January

A Happy new year to all students and their families. As we start the new term I am sure everyone will be aware of the current position nationally regarding COVID-19 and the need to take additional precautionary measures to reduce the risk while attending college. These measures will help make us all safer and also help protect our families at home.

Please can I ask you to follow two important pieces of government guidance from the start of the new term on Tuesday 4^th January:

Students are asked to take a lateral flow test at home on the morning or the evening before their first day back in college after the Christmas break. You should then take home tests twice per week.

Students and staff are now required to wear a face covering in all classrooms, as well as all corridors and communal areas (unless you are medically exempt).

Additional information:

Home testing kits and face masks will be available from the college main reception from 8:30am on Tuesday 4^th January. Students can take a test in their course area before start of class if they do not have any kits left at home. Please allow extra time to do this if required.

Additional COVID-19 testing kits will be distributed on the basis of 1 kit per student every three weeks (on the basis of students completing two home tests per week). Additional kits will be made available for students who have to participate in daily testing as a close contact of a positive COVID case. The government has indicated the supply of home testing kits will be increased via chemists during the coming week for your wider family.

Please remember to report your test result to the NHS test and trace website at Report a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test result – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If your test result is positive or you develop symptoms please follow NHS self-isolation guidelines and please also report any positive test result to the college at covidtest@iwcollege.ac.uk

The college will be hosting a vaccination centre on Wednesday 12^th January which will provide a further opportunity for students to have first, second or booster vaccinations. You can also book vaccinations for other venues on the Island before then via the NHS website

If you have any queries please contact info@iwcollege.ac.uk (staff will be available to answer queries from 8:30am on Tuesday 4^th January and will respond to queries as quickly as possible).

Thank you for helping to play your part in keeping everyone at college and your family and friends safe.

Debbie Lavin CBE,

Principal

The Isle of Wight College

Covid-19 Risk Assessment & Action Plan

The college’s detailed risk assessment for protecting students and staff can be found here.

Further updates will be provided after the 16th August.

Support

16 to 19 tuition fund 2021 to 2022 academic year

Statement from the Isle of Wight College

The college has received additional funding from the government to support students whose learning has been disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The college is using this funding to provide eligible students with additional support in small groups of up to five students, and in exceptional cases up to seven. Where deemed to be in a student’s best interest, one-to-one support may be provided. The support will be provided by suitably trained and experienced college staff, including teachers and learning support staff. The support will be based on an individual assessment of needs and may be in English and maths, and / or vocational subjects.

The college will prioritise support to those students who are potentially most disadvantaged. This will be students who have not yet achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE maths and/or English. As funds permit, support will also be provided for students from economically disadvantaged back ground (students from the 27% most economically deprived areas of the country based on the index of multiple deprivation) and who have achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE maths and/or English and who would benefit from additional catch-up support. The college will also take into account the needs of students who have a special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

We also continue to have a wide range of resources available to help support your health and well-being during the summer and into the Autumn. Full details of these resources can be found by clicking the relevant links below.