Student Covid-19 Testing from January 2021
Some information in the text below may now be now out of date. Please also read our latest posts here to make sure you have all the correct information.
You may have seen in the media the new guidance from government asking schools and colleges to test students and staff for Covid-19 using ‘lateral flow’ tests. These provide much faster results than previous tests and we will be introducing these for the New Year.
To help us prepare for this testing, all teaching will be online on the 4th January, unless you have been notified otherwise. We are expecting a staggered start for all students thereafter and will share more details on the 4th January.
This new form of testing will help to deliver the national priority of keeping education open for all and help fight the spread of the virus while keeping the College safe. It will also help to reassure students, parents, and teachers about returning after the Christmas break.
The round of testing will also help to tackle the one in three who have the virus but do not have symptoms, so could be spreading the disease unknowingly, and minimise disruption during the spring term by helping identify positive cases when pupils return to face-to-face education.
Previously, close contacts had to isolate if one student or staff member tested positive. From now on, those who are close contacts can return to college when they are tested once a day in the morning – known as ‘serial testing’.
We are planning to implement this new form of testing as soon as possible, but you will appreciate that we will first need to create testing zones, train staff, and make other adjustments to introduce the initiative.
This is an important social responsibility and we are sure our students and staff will engage in order to ensure that Farnborough College of Technology remains a very safe community for all.
Please be assured that we are carefully working through the new information and being guided by government and local authorities. As this is a new initiative, we are expecting to receive further information and we will share updates with you as soon as we can. If you have any queries, please wait until further, more detailed, updates have been made in the New Year.
With best wishes for the holidays and the New Year,
Virginia Barrett
Principal CEO
