Parents/ Guardians Support

The new NHS Covid-19 app is a key part of the country’s ongoing Covid-19 response.

The app will aid NHS Test and Trace in England by automating some aspects of the process of contact tracing. Working together, NHS Test and Trace and the app are designed to slow the spread of coronavirus by alerting people who may have been exposed to infection so that they can take action.

The app is available to download for anyone aged 16 and over. We urge all students, parents and guardians to download the app. We've included some information below about the app and how it will work at Newcastle College but full guidance is available here.

App Features

The app has six key features that will help to reduce personal and public risk:

• Trace – alerts the individual if they were in close contact with a confirmed case
• Alert – provides the individual with the risk level associated with COVID-19 in their local area, based on the postcode district they enter
• Check in – allows the individual to check in to locations via the app and official NHS QR codes
• Symptoms – allows the individual to check symptoms against government guidance and to get advice
• Test – allows the individual to order a free test and to receive results and advice via the app
• Isolate – provides an isolation ‘companion’, which counts down how many days they have left to isolate and provides links to useful advice

How the app works

Bluetooth needs to be enabled in order to use the app, which uses Bluetooth low energy to anonymously assess the distance, over time, between people who have downloaded it.

If an individual with the app tests positive, the app will ask them to allow those that they have been in contact with to be alerted. If so, the app will then alert relevant individuals if they have been in close contact with a positive case.

‘Close contact’ is based on an algorithm, but generally means you’ve been within 2 metres of someone for 15 minutes or more. Individuals are not informed who the positive case is. Close contacts are likely to have taken place at least 1-2 days previously. The app uses the minimum amount of personal data possible, which means it will not know if that contact took place in college, or elsewhere.

The app has a check-in feature which enables a venue to register for an official NHS QR code and allows users to ‘check-in’ to participating venues on their app by scanning that code. The information stays on the user’s phone and provides the user with a ‘digital diary’ of where they have been, which can support contact tracing if they develop Covid-19. It also means that app users can receive public health advice if notified that they may have come into contact with Covid-19 at a venue they have visited.

Use of the app does not replace the requirement of individuals to social distance or to report positive cases to any places you have been to.

Using the app at Newcastle College

The app does not change the process of escalation that Newcastle College will follow in response to positive cases amongst our community. We will continue to follow our existing processes to keep colleagues and students safe.

It is possible that whilst on campus, students or staff could receive a notification via the app that they have been in close contact with a confirmed case and should therefore self-isolate.

Students must immediately report a notification to their lecturer. The notification itself will advise students that if they are under the age of 18, they should show the message to a trusted adult and self-isolate. The staff member will then report this to the safety team and make appropriate arrangements for the student to leave college at the earliest opportunity to begin self-isolation.

Newcastle College is open and will remain open for students throughout the new period of restrictions which come into force at 00.01 on Thursday 5 November.

We have been busy making changes to our campus and to our teaching and learning to ensure that we can keep all of our community safe. This means students will split their time between practical learning on campus and remote learning from home.

Whilst on campus, students and colleagues should wear face coverings, practice social distancing wherever possible and ensure they follow one-way systems and other signposted safety measures. Students have been provided with a 'Keeping You Safe' booklet and links to all of the safety information on our website, which details all of the safety measures in place on campus.

We have been busy making changes to our campus and to our teaching and learning to ensure that we can keep all of our community safe. This means students will split their time between practical learning on campus and remote learning from home. Whilst on campus, students and colleagues should practice social distancing wherever possible, wear face coverings outside of the classroom (unless they are exempt) and ensure they follow one-way systems and other signposted safety measures. Students have been provided with a 'Keeping You Safe' booklet which details all of the safety measures in place on campus.

Check out the video below which shows you all of the changes we've made to campus.

The health and wellbeing of our students, our colleagues and all of their loved ones is our first priority and Newcastle College is here to support you.

We understand that some students may be at additional risk or feel anxious about returning to college, particularly if they have an underlying health condition, are part of the BAME community or live with someone who is vulnerable.

Please be reassured that we have taken all possible and suitable precautions to ensure that our campus is a safe place to study. This includes increasing our cleaning schedules, limiting the time all of our students spend here, enabling social distancing in classrooms and introducing the use of face coverings in all communal areas. It means that when students are on campus they will not be around large crowds and will be in a safe and clean environment.

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance at college please speak to their tutor, who will be able to ensure we put the right support in place.

If a student, or someone in their household or support bubble experiences symptoms, students SHOULD NOT ATTEND campus. The main symptoms include a fever, a new and continuous cough, or a loss of taste and smell.

If a student develop symptoms

If students develop one or more of the main symptoms of Covid-19, they should self-isolate for 10 days before returning to campus and get tested wherever possible. They should not return to campus until they receive a negative test result or their isolation period has finished.

If they are already at college when they develop symptoms, they will be asked to go to an isolated room before going home to isolate and book a test.

Students or their parents should inform the college of test results as soon as you receive them.

If someone in a student household develops symptoms

If someone within a student's household or support bubble develops symptoms, students should self-isolate for 14 days from the onset of their symptoms or wait for them to receive a negative test result before returning to campus.

Students and their household members should stay at home for the time recommended by the NHS and book a test here.

If you or a student tests positive for Covid-19

If a student or a member of their household is awaiting a test result, they SHOULD NOT ATTEND CAMPUS. 

You should inform the college of a positive result as soon as it is received so that we can take the necessary action.

Steps that Newcastle College will take

When we receive news of a confirmed case from a student or a staff member, we follow the steps below. This explains why students and parents won't always be contacted directly regarding confirmed cases on campus.

Step 1

The first thing we do is contact the local Health Protection Team (that’s a local arm of the government’s Public Health department who help to manage our health and safety on a regional level).

They will ask us and the affected persons lots of questions about when they were last on campus, which areas they've been to and who they've been in contact with.

Step 2

From this information, they'll decide who will need to self-isolate or undertake testing. If a student is affected by this, for example because they're in the same class or share a floor on a building, we will contact that student directly.

In some cases, a student will be asked to self-isolate and at other times they may not be asked to self-isolate but their learning will be moved online temporarily, following their usual timetable.

If a student and their parent/guardian are not contacted directly, it is because it is extremely unlikely that they have been in any contact with the affected persons and therefore are not at any risk. Therefore, they should continue to follow their timetable as normal unless they are advised otherwise.

For those who are asked to self-isolate or remain at home, it is important to remember that the risk remains extremely low, thanks to the measures we have in place on campus which reduce contact with others.

Step 3

We will always undertake a deep cleaning of the affected areas when guided to do so, using specialist equipment and products designed to eradicate Covid-19. This means students may see teams of people in full PPE around campus from time to time and this is nothing to be concerned about.

While deep cleaning will usually only affect certain classrooms and facilities, we will update our website and social media (Facebook and Twitter) when this may impact on learning (for example if a building will be closed for a day).

However, it is not possible for us to contact all students individually. As you will understand, our priority is contacting students directly affected, following the advice of the local Health Protection Team and ensuring the learning of unaffected students continues uninterrupted. We will keep you updated via social media (Facebook and Twitter).

If you have symptoms

If a member of a student's household has symptoms or is awaiting a test result, it is important that the student DOES NOT ATTEND CAMPUS.

Students and the rest of your household or support bubble should self-isolate for 14 days from the onset of your symptoms, or wait for the symptomatic person to receive a negative test result before returning to campus.

If you test positive

You should inform the college of a positive result as soon as it is received so that we can take the necessary action.

Students and the rest of your household or support bubble should continue to self-isolate for 14 days from the onset of your symptoms, or from your test result if you did not experience any symptoms.

Students do not need to take a test unless they develop symptoms during the 14 day isolation period.

This year has been difficult for everyone and we understand that our students may have concerns and anxieties about attending college.

We believe that it is important for our students to be able to safely spend time on campus with their tutors and classmates, benefiting from learning in our specialist facilities. It is also the government's decision that colleges should remain open throughout the lockdown period and we must follow this guidance.

However, to keep everybody safe we have adapted our teaching and learning to reduce the time spent on campus and there will be changes to the way students interact while they're here.

Safety on Campus
If your child has concerns about their safety on campus, please be reassured that we have taken every possible precaution to make college a safe place to learn. We have already directed our students to all of our safety information but it may be helpful as their parent or guardian for you to go through this with them to ease their anxieties and concerns. This may be particularly helpful for those students who have joined us this year after a prolonged period out of education. If students need any support due to health concerns or mental health support, please advise them to speak to their tutor who will be able to signpost them to the relevant Student Support team within the college.

Remote Learning
Our existing students have already spent time adapting to Remote Learning since we closed our doors in March. However, particularly for new students, we understand that it may take some time to adapt to learning to the new hybrid learning timetable we have created.

Mental Health Support
Our Pastoral Team are always on hand for students to speak to if they have any concerns or feel they would benefit from additional support. You contact them on CSS@ncl-coll.ac.uk.

We have also partnered with mental fitness app Fika, to offer support to students as they spend more time at home and deal with the impacts of Covid-19 on their daily lives.
We encourage all of our students to download the app from the App Store or Google Play and register with their college email address. The app offers daily exercises and activities to help them look after their mental health. 

Your support is more important than ever. Please encourage students not to put too much pressure on themselves and that looking after their health and wellbeing is a priority at this time. We are doing everything we can to ensure that students are supported to complete their studies successfully and won’t be at a disadvantage. Please point students to our Remote Learning hub where we will continue to add resources. If you have any concerns you can also contact tutors directly to discuss these.

Attendance at college is extremely important for the progress and achievement of students. We have always asked students and their parents and guardians to refrain from booking holidays during term times. Term time holidays will be reported as unauthorised absences. You can find out term dates on our website here.

You are welcome to book holidays for students during designated holidays. However, please bear in mind that we would expect all students to attend their campus and remote lessons once term time begins and therefore we would ask that you make every attempt not to book holidays to countries which will require a quarantine period on your return. We do however, understand that government guidance and quarantine information is changing on a regular basis.

Update: 3 November

As of Thursday 5 November a national lockdown will come into force in England and all unnecessary travel will be banned.