Coronavirus Update Keeping Parents & Carers Up To Date

1st April 2022

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope you have had a good start to the year. As you are probably aware Covid Testing has recently been relaxed. Under the new Government guidance it is no longer recommended that our learners or staff carry out regular asymptomatic testing, however, you are of course welcome to continue if you wish. As of Friday 1st April the government has asked that we no longer provide test kits to any of our staff or learners. If you wish to test yourself or your young adult, you will be required to source these tests yourself.

Despite this relaxation Covid is still very much out there so to minimise the risk as much as possible we are still carrying out the following:

– Masks or visors available at the centres for those who wish to wear one.

– Hand sanitiser available around the centre.

– Maintaining of daily disinfectant fogging

– Carrying out good hygiene practices and regular cleaning.

– Asking our learners and staff to not come into centre if they are not very well or if they have tested positive for Covid.

We are asking that if your young adult tests positive for Covid you let us know ASAP and that you follow the Government guidance and stay at home for 5 days. We will continue to offer remote learning for those who are required to stay at home.

With kind regards

Adrian Gunner

SWRAC – MD

3rd Jan 2022

Hi to you all,

I hope that you had a peaceful and restful Christmas and New Year.

You may have heard in the news that schools and colleges have been asked to increase what they are doing to try to reduce the effect of Covid. We really do not want Covid to impact on us at SWRAC either so have reviewed our practices to try to keep things at bay. I am writing to you now to ask your assistance in lateral flow testing and to let you know about our arrangements regarding facemasks.

We have already introduced a requirement for facemasks to be worn whilst in common areas of our centres and we are now also requesting these are worn within classrooms as well. We are very much aware that some people will find this uncomfortable and/or worrying, we do not want to make coming to us stressful, so we will not absolutely insist – it is just a recommendation. This is in line with advice we have received from the Government which considers the differing needs and anxieties of some vulnerable young adults.

Although we cannot insist, we would like all students to take a Lateral Flow test during the evening or morning prior to their return and submit the results through the NHS reporting service https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result. If the test indicates a positive result, a PCR test should be sought prior to returning to us. If you do not have any supplies of Lateral Flow tests, we have plenty available and we’d ask that a test is taken as soon as possible on returning. We will continue to provide on-site testing twice each week, using our testing ‘bus’, which we would like everyone (where possible) to participate with. Again, we have plenty of testing kits available should people prefer to be tested at home.

I am you will appreciate that we are trying to balance keeping Covid away whilst maintaining face to face education and mitigating any undue anxieties & stresses on students. We have reviewed all our current arrangements and are hopeful that we are able to achieve a good compromise.

The Government have suggested that the latest guidance will be reviewed on the 26th January, we’ll adjust what we do in the light of any changes.

Thank you for help in this matter. May I wish you a happy & Healthy 2022 – Let’s hope it’s better than 2021 !

With kind regards

Adrian Gunner

SWRAC – MD

20th August 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

SWRAC new term & latest covid arrangements

As we are now rapidly approaching a return to normal activity following the quieter Summer period I thought it appropriate to provide an update on where we are with regard to Covid.

You are probably aware that, with effect from 16th August, there has been a further relaxation of covid restrictions. This will have an impact on SWRAC and we have now revised some of the ways we operate to broadly reflect the new requirements.

The salient points of how we will be operating are as follows :

1. We will no longer be working within distinct ‘bubbles’

2. Masks are not required to be worn within our Centres but students are welcomed to wear them should they wish

3. We advise that masks continue to be worn whilst in taxis or using any transport provided by SWRAC

4. We will maintain daily disinfectant fogging

5. We will maintain our own internal Contact Tracing arrangements in the event that someone tests positive – this is no longer a requirement on educational establishments but we have chosen to maintain this activity as a ‘belt & braces’ response

6. We are maintaining twice weekly covid testing at our centres and will still issue covid test kits for people to use at home

7. Rooms will be ventilated when occupied

8. Where any student is required to self-isolate, we will continue to offer remote learning through our ‘Teams’ portal and, where necessary, we are happy to lend any necessary IT equipment

I am hopeful that the impact of covid on our education services is continuing to decrease and we can now look forward to a near ‘normal’ provision for the Autumn period we will, however, maintain our awareness of covid requirements and respond accordingly.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any queries, comments or concerns.

With kind regards

Adrian Gunner

Managing Director

3rd March 2021

Dear Parents/Carers and students,

At last, it seems as though we are approaching the beginning of a slow return to normality after nearly a year of uncertainty, worry and lockdowns caused by the covid-19 pandemic. As I am sure you are aware, SWRAC has been open throughout the pandemic and, apart from a couple of small COVID-19 outbreaks, has been little effected by the virus.

My sincere thanks go to all our staff who have enabled us to provide a good degree of stability throughout these times and have enthusiastically embraced new technologies (to provide the live lessons to those students who were unable to attend), despite the increased risk of exposure to themselves and their families.

The Government have announced that education generally should fully open as from next week. As many of our students have continued to attend our centres this will largely mean a continuation of what has been happening since Christmas. For those students who have remained at home during the latest lock-down, the Government announcement means that they should return to attending our centres from next week. Whilst remote education has helped during lockdown, it cannot truly replace the continuity and social benefits of having direct contact with fellow students, friends and staff. As such, we certainly are looking forward to seeing everyone again, so please could you make every effort to encourage attendance.

We have been providing COVID-19 testing at our centres twice per week and we will be testing returning students on the day of their return. To facilitate this, we are staggering our opening times. We will welcome returning students to start back at Boscombe on Monday 8th March and at Dorchester on Tuesday 9th March. Timings to be as they were prior to lockdown. Where the local authority arrange transport, I have been informed that these arrangements have now been reinstated.

I understand that you may well still have worries over residual risks of students returning but I’d like to try to reassure you that the precautions we already have in place will continue for the foreseeable future and these precautions have been enhanced further since our introduction of Lateral Flow testing for all students and staff on a twice weekly basis. I believe that these precautions, coupled with the current levels of Covid-19 instances in the area, should reduce risk of infection to minimal & acceptable levels.

Should you still have worries, please do not hesitate to speak to your centre managers, we will be happy to support you in a slower transition back should you need a little more time.

With kind regards

Adrian Gunner

4th January 2021 20:10 hours

Dear All,

Having just listened to the Prime Ministers announcement this evening, it is very apparent that the Country is, yet again, experiencing a severe impact from the Covid Pandemic.

The Prime Minister announced that all schools are to close with effect from …………. However, as during the first lockdown last year, the Government have advised that education for vulnerable students should still continue and SWRAC falls within that category.

Therefore, we will remain open, I ask that you continue to make every effort to ensure that everyone attend our centres as normal. I do understand that people can be very anxious of the prospect of attending and you are obviously entitled to keep the person you care for away from the centre and this is certainly a choice you are more than entitled to take. Where students (or yourselves) choose to stay away from our centres, we will deliver online learning and, again, I ask that you encourage them to participate fully in this.

As per my previous notifications, we are nearly ready to commence the covid testing and still plan to start this with effect from next Monday (11th January). I will write further when I can confirm the exact details pending any changes that the general school shutdown may bring.

Thank you for your patience and continued support, it has been an interesting trying to keep abreast of all the continuing and short-notice changes.

With kind regards

Adrian Gunner

31st December 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

SWRAC Education Provision/Covid testing

I am contacting you to let you know of the latest situation regarding the re-opening of SWRAC on 4th January after the Christmas break. There has been a little confusion over recent Government announcements that some schools should remain closed for an extended period. However, as during the first lockdown period, they have also confirmed that provision for students with Education, Health and Care Plans should continue given the potential vulnerability of those students.

As we are a Specialist Independent College, most of our students are considered vulnerable and, therefore, we are pleased to let you know, that we will be opening as normal with effect from 4th January as we feel that it is important for students to maintain structure in their lives during this difficult period. We will do all we can to maintain normality. Please, therefore, adhere to the existing arrangements as far as attendance at SWRAC is concerned.

Additionally, you will probably have heard that education organisations are being asked to facilitate covid testing. We will participate in this programme but as yet we have not received any testing kits or any worthwhile advice from the Government as to how best to administer the testing process. I have made the decision to commence testing within our premises from 11th January which will allow us time to be properly ready. We will contact you again next week when we know more about the procedures we will adopt.

It is very likely that the current situation will change (sometimes at short notice!), we will keep abreast of these changes as best we can and keep you informed.

During this time, we’d like to maintain close contact with you, to aid us in doing this please would you be kind enough to let us know your email address and contact number. I know that, in most cases, we do have this information already but I’d be pleased if you would provide us this information, just to make sure.

Please call us on 01202 848099 or mail us at mail@swrac.ac.uk to provide us with the above information or if you have any concerns or queries. We have set up a new page on our website where will keep you informed of what’s going on ! It is https://swrac.co.uk/sen-education-plan-parents-carers/coronavirus-update-parents-carers/

Thank for your help in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me if you any concerns.

Yours faithfully

Adrian Gunner

Managing Director – SWRAC

18th December 2020

Dear all,

Covid Situation

As 2020 draws to a close, I’m afraid the confusion and pressure over the Covid pandemic continues. You may have heard in the news over the last day or so the Government has announced that there should be a staggered start to the new term to allow for frequent Covid testing of students and staff at educational organisations.

There has been a significant lack of clarity over all of these arrangements and, even at this late time, we are not aware of all of the facts or any of the processes involved in introducing testing within our premises. However, I just wanted to let everyone know of what we do know !

The majority of students that attend SWRAC are considered by the Government to ‘vulnerable’ as they are mostly in possession of Education, Health & Care Plans. Accordingly, we are required to start the Spring term on 4th January 2021 as we had already planned. So, please note that we will NOT be introducing any staggered or late starts to the term.

No doubt we will find out more about the testing regime during the Christmas holidays (not such a holiday now !!) and I will update this page as and when I find out more. Please be assured though, testing will be voluntary and we will certainly not be testing anyone without first seeking appropriate permissions.

In the meantime, I wish you all a lovely Christmas and a happy new year.

With all best wishes,

Adrian Gunner

Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                                                             2^nd November 2020

Covid Situation

I am sure that you are aware of the latest lockdown announcements for England. As an avid ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ fan, I was a little concerned that the Prime Minister’s announcement was going to encroach into my Saturday evening routine. In the end, Strictly still went ahead but not before another significant implication about Society was announced.

As far as education is concerned, it is a little more straight-forward than the last lock-down. As it stands now, the Government have told us that education is to continue to be delivered as normal. Therefore, we will remain open and operating as normal until we hear anything different. Please would you do all you can to encourage full attendance as far as possible? Despite the above, the situation is far from ‘set in stone’, I would not be surprised if the situation changes over the coming days/weeks. I will do all I can to keep abreast of the situation and I will let you know if there are any changes.

In terms of the arrangements in place at the SWRAC venues we have the following precautions in place:-

• Touchless Hand sanitisers available at the entrance points
• Hand sanitiser in every room
• Encouragement to wash hands frequently
• A requirement to wear face visors/masks whilst in communal areas of our buildings (we are happy to provide these)
• Disinfectant industrial ‘fogging’ machines to spray each room at the end of each day
• One-way systems (as far as possible)
• NHS Track & trace system
• Social distancing within educational rooms

I am hopeful that the above processes will ensure that our premises remain covid-free but, as the local risks change, we will adapt to try to reduce risk as far as possible. Our Management Team meets daily (online) just to keep up with the local situation and to respond to any emerging issues.

I am sure that you have all seen this message everywhere so  forgive me for offering a gentle reminder, please would you make sure that you do not send your child to us if they show any of the typical covid symptoms – call their tutor, centre manager or our head office instead. Where people are required to self-isolate, we will support them either through online sessions or with packs sent in the post.

I have put a copy of this letter on our website, and I will post any more news, as we know about it, on the same web-page. This can be found at :-

https://swrac.co.uk/sen-education-plan-parents-carers/coronavirus-update-parents-carers/

The easiest way to find this is to go to our website (www.swrac.ac.uk), hover over the ‘Parents/Carers’ menu item and drop-down to ‘Coronavirus Update’.

Thank you for your attention in this matter and for all the support that you have shown us over the last few months. Should you have any comments, queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me either by phone or email.

23rd March 2020 , 21:30 hours

Dear Parents/Carers,

As many of you will have done, I watched the public address from the Prime Minister earlier this evening. I thought I would email you to clarify our education provision from tomorrow onward.  I am writing as a first response to the announcement and this may change over the coming days.

The guidance we have received from the Department of Education has not changed.

Therefore, we still remain open , as we have today, and will be pleased to welcome students to our centres tomorrow (Tuesday) and until you hear further from me.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries. I would appreciate any comments you may have to gauge your response to us remaining open.

with best wishes

Adrian Gunner

MD – SWRAC

19th March 2020 , 11:50 hours

Good morning, We have sent the letter below to parents & carers of all students who are on our SEN or Alternative Provision Programmes and students with Education, Health & Care Plans:_

Dear Parents/Carers,

SWRAC Education Provision

As you may have heard through the News, the Government has declared that educational facilities should close in a bid to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus upon the whole population. However, they have also confirmed that provision for students with Education, Health and Care Plans should continue given the potential vulnerability of those students.

As we are a Specialist Independent College, most of our students are considered vulnerable and, therefore, we are pleased to let you know, that we remain open for business. Please , therefore adhere to the existing arrangements as far as attendance at SWRAC is concerned.

We are aware that the current situation changes and we will keep abreast of these changes as best we can and keep you informed.

We feel that it is important for students to maintain a structure in their lives during this difficult period and we will do all we can to maintain normality.

During this time, we’d would like to maintain very close contact with you, to aid us in doing this please would you be kind enough to let us know your email address and contact number. I know that, in most cases, we do have this information already but I’d be pleased if you would provide us this information, just to make sure.

Please call us on 01202 848099 or mail us at mail@swrac.ac.uk to provide us with the above information or if you have any concerns or queries. We have set up a new page on our website where will keep you informed of what’s going on !  It is https://swrac.co.uk/sen-education-plan-parents-carers/coronavirus-update-parents-carers/

Thank for your help in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me if you any concerns.

Yours faithfully

Adrian Gunner

Managing Director – SWRAC

23rd March 2020 , 21:30 hours

Dear Parents/Carers,

As many of you will have done, I watched the public address from the Prime Minister earlier this evening. I thought I would email you to clarify our education provision from tomorrow onward.  I am writing as a first response to the announcement and this may change over the coming days.

The guidance we have received from the Department of Education has not changed.

Therefore, we still remain open , as we have today, and will be pleased to welcome students to our centres tomorrow (Tuesday) and until you hear further from me.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries. I would appreciate any comments you may have to gauge your response to us remaining open.

with best wishes

Adrian Gunner

MD – SWRAC

19th March 2020 , 11:50 hours

Good morning, We have sent the letter below to parents & carers of all students who are on our SEN or Alternative Provision Programmes and students with Education, Health & Care Plans:_

Dear Parents/Carers,

SWRAC Education Provision

As you may have heard through the News, the Government has declared that educational facilities should close in a bid to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus upon the whole population. However, they have also confirmed that provision for students with Education, Health and Care Plans should continue given the potential vulnerability of those students.

As we are a Specialist Independent College, most of our students are considered vulnerable and, therefore, we are pleased to let you know, that we remain open for business. Please , therefore adhere to the existing arrangements as far as attendance at SWRAC is concerned.

We are aware that the current situation changes and we will keep abreast of these changes as best we can and keep you informed.

We feel that it is important for students to maintain a structure in their lives during this difficult period and we will do all we can to maintain normality.

During this time, we’d would like to maintain very close contact with you, to aid us in doing this please would you be kind enough to let us know your email address and contact number. I know that, in most cases, we do have this information already but I’d be pleased if you would provide us this information, just to make sure.

Please call us on 01202 848099 or mail us at mail@swrac.ac.uk to provide us with the above information or if you have any concerns or queries. We have set up a new page on our website where will keep you informed of what’s going on !  It is https://swrac.co.uk/sen-education-plan-parents-carers/coronavirus-update-parents-carers/

Thank for your help in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me if you any concerns.

Yours faithfully

Adrian Gunner

Managing Director – SWRAC

23rd March 2020 , 21:30 hours

Dear Parents/Carers,

As many of you will have done, I watched the public address from the Prime Minister earlier this evening. I thought I would email you to clarify our education provision from tomorrow onward.  I am writing as a first response to the announcement and this may change over the coming days.

The guidance we have received from the Department of Education has not changed.

Therefore, we still remain open , as we have today, and will be pleased to welcome students to our centres tomorrow (Tuesday) and until you hear further from me.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries. I would appreciate any comments you may have to gauge your response to us remaining open.

with best wishes

Adrian Gunner

MD – SWRAC

19th March 2020 , 11:50 hours

Good morning, We have sent the letter below to parents & carers of all students who are on our SEN or Alternative Provision Programmes and students with Education, Health & Care Plans:_

Dear Parents/Carers,

SWRAC Education Provision

As you may have heard through the News, the Government has declared that educational facilities should close in a bid to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus upon the whole population. However, they have also confirmed that provision for students with Education, Health and Care Plans should continue given the potential vulnerability of those students.

As we are a Specialist Independent College, most of our students are considered vulnerable and, therefore, we are pleased to let you know, that we remain open for business. Please , therefore adhere to the existing arrangements as far as attendance at SWRAC is concerned.

We are aware that the current situation changes and we will keep abreast of these changes as best we can and keep you informed.

We feel that it is important for students to maintain a structure in their lives during this difficult period and we will do all we can to maintain normality.

During this time, we’d would like to maintain very close contact with you, to aid us in doing this please would you be kind enough to let us know your email address and contact number. I know that, in most cases, we do have this information already but I’d be pleased if you would provide us this information, just to make sure.

Please call us on 01202 848099 or mail us at mail@swrac.ac.uk to provide us with the above information or if you have any concerns or queries. We have set up a new page on our website where will keep you informed of what’s going on !  It is https://swrac.co.uk/sen-education-plan-parents-carers/coronavirus-update-parents-carers/

Thank for your help in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me if you any concerns.

Yours faithfully

Adrian Gunner

Managing Director – SWRAC