5th of May Update

As of Friday the government has taken a new approach to living with Covid.   This is in the context of the vaccination programme having given the general population much greater protection against serious illness through Covid.   We are therefore changing our college guidance.

  • The core of the new advice is that we treat Covid similarly to other respiratory diseases.    If you feel unwell and have a higher than normal temperature, please stay at home, but if you have only the milder symptoms associated with a range of respiratory diseases including Covid, but feel otherwise well, you may attend college unless you have had a recent positive test.

This is what the government guidance says:

  • adults with the symptoms of a respiratory infection, and who have a high temperature or feel unwell, should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people until they feel well enough to resume normal activities and they no longer have a high temperature
  • children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They can go back to school, college or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend
  • adults with a positive COVID-19 test result should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days, which is when they are most infectious. For children and young people aged 18 and under, the advice will be 3 days.

The stay home days start from the day after the test result.

The government is no longer recommending self-testing for Covid in general education settings and we have been asked not to distribute any remaining stock. Some people working in specific settings or with specific conditions may still be given tests and we can assume medical professionals may sometimes advise a test.

If you attend college feeling well but with any of the symptoms of respiratory disease, we encourage you to wear a face covering in crowded areas although this is not mandatory.

We will continue to ask staff and students to take basic precautions:

  • practise frequent and thorough hand cleaning
  • use tissues to ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ with coughs and sneezes
  • ventilate rooms when possible
  • wipe down shared equipment or surfaces regularly when feasible 

January 27th Update

From Thursday January 27th, we are no longer generally requiring students and staff to wear face coverings on campus.

This decision is in line with the national guidance. We will keep the decision under review and may ask for face coverings if infections increase in a group.

Students and staff are welcome to continue to wear face coverings in any area through personal choice.

Please continue to follow other important precautions including:

  • Hand cleansing
  • Twice weekly lateral flow testing (see details below)
  • ‘Catch it, kill it, bin it’ with coughs and sneezes using tissues
  • Good ventilation where you can (regularly open windows)

Please remember to collect lateral flow test kits from College reception.  Staff and students should test twice weekly and report all results to the NHS.

If test positive for COVID 19 you must self-isolate immediately and inform the college.

Vaccination is also critically important to protecting yourself and others.

There will be a pop up vaccination clinic for any students and staff not yet fully vaccinated at Folly Lane,  February 3rd and 4th;  more details to follow.

 

 

For the safety of students, staff and our wider community we ask you to follow our updated HCA COVID Code including the following key points:

  • Get fully vaccinated (unless medically screened as unsuitable)
  • Know the symptoms of COVID and stay off campus if you develop any of them, self- isolate and take a PCR test as soon as possible
  • Test twice a week at home for COVID without symptoms with lateral flow tests
  • Clean your hands thoroughly and frequently
  • Catch coughs and seizes hygienically in a tissue– ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’!
  • Keep your space clean and clean shared resources with sanitizer
  • Respect social distancing when practical
  • Keep windows and doors open to improve ventilation when you can safely
  • Wear a face covering in any poorly ventilated spaces as requested by College if social distancing cannot be maintained, unless registered exempt
  • If you are identified as a close contact but are full vaccinated and without symptoms you may continue to come to college.  Please take a PCR test as soon as possible (although check the NHS advice if you have recently had Covid yourself) and also take daily lateral flow tests for 7 days (this is a recommendation from our Covid Outbreak Control Team).

Visitors to the college

  • Please if possible take a lateral flow test prior to your visit
  • Wear face covering in designated areas unless medically exempt
  • Use hand sanitizer provided around the campus

20th January Update

We’ve received updated guidance from the Department of Education following the government’s announcement of easing of some Covid restrictions.

From today Thursday 20 January, face coverings no longer have to be worn in studios and classrooms although of course you may choose to continue to do so.

Please continue to wear face coverings (unless exempt) as you move around inside the college, and in designated communal areas including the library, workshops and IT suites.  

From next Thursday 27 January, the national guidance changes again and we will update our Covid Code accordingly with respect to communal areas.

The DfE writes that “the decision comes in response to national infection data showing the prevalence of COVID-19 to be on a downward trajectory. Whilst there are some groups where cases are likely to continue rising, it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally”.

Whilst this is good news, Covid remains a real risk to health and learning and it is important we continue to follow all other important precautions including:

  • Lateral flow testing
  • Maintaining good ventilation
  • Repeated hand cleansing through the day
  • Practising good hygiene around  coughs and sneezes “Catch it, Kill it, Bin it”.

We have made updates to the HCA Covid Code, please familiarise yourselves with the updates in the HCA Covid Code.

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy New Year to you all. We hope students have enjoyed a good break and are looking forward to a new term. As you will be no doubt be aware the government has revised its Covid guidance for education, including colleges, and we wanted to share with you what this means for students.

Face coverings

We already expect students to wear face coverings in designated communal areas. The government has now asked us to introduce the wearing of face coverings in studios and other teaching spaces as well as in communal areas, unless students are exempt. This is intended to be a short term measure until the end of January.

We ask students to bring their own fabric face covering as these are generally more comfortable but we do have disposable face coverings available to pick up from reception if students forget to bring one.

Students who are exempt from wearing face coverings should ask their tutors for an exemption lanyard to wear with their college pass; this is to save them from possibly being asked to put on a face covering multiple times in the day.

Covid testing

We are asking all students to do a lateral flow test before returning to college and then to test twice a week and report the results to the NHS online. If you don’t have any tests left at home, then students may pick up a test at reception or from their tutor on their first day back in and test immediately.

If a student tests positive – if a student tests positive for Covid they should self-isolate and seek a confirmatory PCR test as soon as possible, if this is also positive they should self-isolate for ten days from the date of the first positive result. This isolation can now end after seven days if the student has a negative lateral flow test on both days six and seven.

If a student is a close contact of someone who has tested positive they do not need to self-isolate unless they develop symptoms or test positive but they should take daily Lateral Flow Test for seven days.

We are delighted the government is making in person learning on campus a priority. However, we may face some pressure points when staff are absent or if the number of cases increases in the college or externally. We have a range of contingency plans including remote learning but our focus is on maintaining campus based teaching and learning.

More Information

Herefordshire Council has asked us to share their Back to School Safely webpage that sits on the Herefordshire Council website. The page includes information on how families can keep themselves and others safe, the wearing of face coverings, etc. Despite the link’s title most of the information applies to colleges as well as schools.

Our thanks as always for your help and support – never hesitate to contact the college if you have questions.

Best wishes,

Abigail Appleton – Principal

Xaviere Hughes – Head of FE

We are looking forward very much to welcoming new and returning students back to college this month.

For the safety of students, staff and our wider community we ask you to follow our updated HCA COVID Code including the following key points:

  • Get fully vaccinated (unless medically screened as unsuitable)
  • Know the symptoms of COVID and stay off campus if you develop any of them, self- isolate and take a PCR test as soon as possible
  • Test twice a week at home for COVID without symptoms with lateral flow tests
  • Clean your hands thoroughly and frequently
  • Catch coughs and seizes hygienically – ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’!
  • Keep your space clean and clean shared resources
  • Respect social distancing when practical
  • Keep windows and doors open to improve ventilation when you can safely
  • Wear a face covering in any poorly ventilated spaces as requested by college if social distancing cannot be maintained, unless registered exempt
  • Face coverings may be worn throughout the campus and we encourage all students and staff to wear face coverings when moving around at busy times

You can read the full code here.

We will update our guidance and bring in new measures if required by the national or local situation.  We follow government guidance for education and also consult regularly with students and staff and our local Outbreak Control Group.

Face to face teaching and learning is at the heart of our provision whilst we also use digital platforms to enhance teaching and learning and to support students who need to self-isolate.

We are proud of how our students and staff have looked after themselves and others through the challenges of COVID.  We can each of us make a difference by behaving thoughtfully and responsibly.  If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to raise them.

Take care and enjoy the start of a new academic year!

Thank you

Change to guidance around wearing masks on campus

• All students as well as staff moving around the campus should wear masks (unless exempt, according to government guidelines, in which case please wear your exemption lanyard)

• Students invigilating exhibitions may remove masks when the exhibition space is empty but please wear your masks when visitors enter your space. This shows respect and reinforces the care the college is taking around COVID security which is important.

• In other studios and workshops students may remove masks when they are easily able to maintain a clear 2 metre minimum social distance

• Masks must be worn where a social distance cannot be easily maintained and when moving around near other people

• Students to continue to wear masks in IT suites where we cannot easily ventilate with outside air

Please keep up the twice weekly tests for cases without symptoms, you can collect more kits from college when you need them. Do please also remember to report the results to us through studentnet as the government requests us to ask you.   

 The government is now offering everybody the chance to test and this is very important part of the national COVID control programme.

Whilst we cannot supply kits for friends or family everybody can now order them Order coronavirus (COVID-19) rapid lateral flow tests – GOV.UK 

If a student or member of staff tests positive all their close contacts over the previous two days will be contacted to take a LTF test, if the LTF indicates a positive result you will be required to take a PCR test to confirm.

We will of course keep all this under-review and update you if the guidance changes.

 

With greatly reduced infection rates and vaccine roll out, the government has amended the guidance around face coverings in colleges in order to improve student experience, whilst also reinforcing the absolute importance of maintaining other measures to continue to reduce risk:

Existing control measures …including good ventilation, handwashing, social distancing where possible and twice weekly testing remain hugely important.

From Monday 17 May in line with the new guidance, HCA students will no longer be required to wear face coverings in college studios, class/seminar rooms and communal areas, with a few exceptions.

We will continue to expect students to wear face coverings in some situations when we are not able to implement other key measures. These include, but are not limited to the following:

IT suites where we cannot easily ventilate with outside air
Workshops where students are working in mixed groups and moving around frequently
In the study centre/library unless students are fully able to social distance

Some of you may feel anxious about not wearing a mask. That is entirely understandable and you are welcome to continue wearing a mask throughout the campus.

The government guidance for staff is that they continue to wear masks when moving around the college unless able to maintain a full 2m social distance.

Whether or not you are wearing a mask, you should continue to maintain a safe social distance whenever possible and avoid mixing between tutor groups/bubbles when you can unless you can maintain social distance.    Please take particular care in the café areas to use screens and respect social distance.

The government and Public Health England also continue to reinforce the importance of frequent and careful hand washing, cleaning shared surfaces and following the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ procedure with coughs and sneezes.

Music and Performing Arts will continue to follow the specialist guidance for these activities.

HCA’s COVID Code Updated March 2021. The COVID Code is HCA’s response to the current Coronavirus pandemic and should be used in conjunction with the college’s health and safety, risk assessment, safeguarding and other relevant policies and procedures. It has been produced in line with the most recent government guidelines relating to Further and Higher Education institutions around COVID-19 and where appropriate other government guidelines have also been used as a reference point. As the situation and guidelines change the HCA COVID Code may also be subject to change.

 

Following the Prime Minister’s announcements, we are looking forward very much to welcoming both our degree and pre-degree students back to our Folly Lane and College Road campuses from Monday 8 March.

We will be offering all students lateral flow testing which is a simple, quick-result test to help keep staff and students safe in college. Up to one-third of people who have coronavirus are asymptomatic. By testing, we will help to reduce the spread in college through asymptomatic transmission. We therefore strongly encourage everyone to be tested. Further details on testing will follow in the next week.

The return of pre-degree students to Folly Lane will be phased through the week to ensure we have space and time to test and we will share timetables shortly.

Further details on testing for degree students will follow in the next week.

We will continue to offer a blend of on-campus and digital sessions, particularly for any larger group meetings, we will be updating the HCA COVID Code in line with the new guidelines before your return.

Extremely vulnerable students should continue to shield and any one asked to self- isolate by NHS Test and Trace must do so, but always let us know so we can support you.

Whilst we are excited to welcome you back we know that some of you may feel a little anxiety. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch through the wellbeing button studentnet to discuss any concerns.

Thank you for all you are doing to look after yourselves and others.

The Folly Campus will be open for staff, and a minority of students with particular needs such as EHCP plans this week, but all other students will start their term remotely from Tuesday January 5. We will work out a phased return for face-to-face teaching through the following week beginning January 11. Staff will be in contact with the small number of students who can access campus from the start of term.