Dear AAL learner,

As you may have seen, the government has stated that face coverings should be worn in classrooms now, in addition to communal settings. The government guidance stresses this new stipulation will change as soon as possible, but as yet we have no time frame.

The guidance, however, also states:

“We would not ordinarily expect teachers to wear a face covering whilst teaching students if they are at the front of the class, to support education delivery, although settings should be sensitive to the needs of individual teachers.”

So, your tutors may elect to not wear a mask as they teach in front of the class. If they are monitoring learners around the class, and therefore much closer to them, then tutors will wear a mask.

Please can you test before coming to your first class in January, and then regularly after that (government guidance is twice weekly).

Of course, please continue the the ‘catch it, kill it, bin it’ approach along with use of hand sanitisers and your tutors will ensure good ventilation by keeping doors and windows open (I know this will be a challenge in the upcoming cold snap).

Finally, if you are a close contact of someone with Covid, you should test every day for a period of 7 days rather than self isolate.

Many thanks for all of your support and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for all your support and wish you a happy and safe 2022.

Nick Fenn
Principal AAL