Statement from Shrewsbury Colleges Group - 14/5/2021

Statement from Shrewsbury Colleges Group following the government’s relaxation of COVID restrictions.

On Tuesday 11 May, updated guidance was issued to schools and colleges as part of the government’s relaxation of COVID restrictions. The main changes that schools and colleges will work to as part of the changing guidelines relates to the wearing of face coverings.

The approach that the college will follow effective from Monday 17 May is as follows:

• Corridors and communal areas: Face coverings remain mandatory for students and staff in corridors and communal areas (i.e. as per September to December)
• Workshops and specialist activities: Face coverings remain mandatory in specialist areas and where social distancing cannot be maintained (i.e. as per September to December): e.g. In construction, motor vehicle and engineering workshops, catering, hair, and beauty salons, or during other indoor practical sessions where there is a need for students to regularly move around the room
• Classrooms: There will be no requirement for face coverings to be worn in classrooms (existing covid measures such as front facing seating and ventilation measures already in place will remain) – wearing of face covers remains optional for all
  • There may be occasions where a member of staff may ask that their students continue to wear face coverings when in their class
  • While we expect students to respect their teacher’s request, the teacher will not compel you to wear a face covering in these circumstances. Where this is the case class seating plans may be adjusted so that a student choosing not to wear face coverings is seated further from the staff member in question
• Outside areas: There will be no requirement for face coverings when outside - wearing of face covers obviously remains optional for all.

We believe that the approach above delivers the best balance of maintaining COVID safety alongside the increased flexibility over the wearing of face coverings.

This is a more limited relaxation than is possible under the updated guidance. We would prefer a more cautious approach at this stage, and we consider the guidance does allow us the discretion to adopt this approach. We will keep this under review over the coming weeks.

Teacher Assessed Grades

If you are completing your current course this summer, then your final course assessment outcome may be determined by Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). We wanted to give further information about how assessment outcomes will be determined for courses that will complete in summer 2021.
There are several different approaches for the assessment outcomes for the courses that we offer at the college, so we have created a webpage here to give further information on the Teacher Assessed Grades.

Please read the information on that page carefully. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section available on that page which will detail some further information that will hopefully address any further questions that you may have.

The Government have produced a comprehensive guide to the awarding of assessments this summer and the guide is available here.