As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, the vast majority of our students have experienced a high level of disruption to their formal education.
From September 2020 to March 2021, any students isolating were required to join in online through Microsoft Teams in a hybrid classroom. Whilst attendance was consistently good, it should be noted that there are a number of wards within the local borough that fall into the top 1% of most deprived areas in the country. The challenges of working from home in a deprived household will almost certainly affect the progress that students will be able to make and this should be taken into account.
To support our students, we loaned out laptops and Wi-Fi units where necessary. We embrace the concept of ‘flipped learning’ and our teachers have been redesigning their schemes of work to take account of the increased time that students are spending outside of the college, learning alone and ensuring that time in class is spent developing practical skills. Although this does have its challenges, it nevertheless should be good preparation for higher education it is encouraging students to become independent learners.
