CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

We are following all Public Health Wales advice and guidance and will ensure that we communicate regularly with our staff and students, parents and guardians and the general public via this website and other means of communication.

The college’s Emergency Response Team is meeting frequency to ensure we have the most up-to-date information and that risk is continually assessed to enable us to update staff and students and to take any appropriate action if required.

Rest assured that a strict protocol is in place for a confirmed case. We have a duty to work closely with the local Health Protection Team under Public Health Wales where a collaborative risk assessment will be undertaken which will inform all necessary actions.

Due to the current and continually evolving challenges and risks associated with Coronavirus COVID-19, we have taken the decision to pause face-to-face teaching for all learners from the end of this week (Friday 20 March 2020). From Monday 23 March 2020, teaching and learning will move to online provision until further notice.

Learners should continue to access learning via Google Classroom and should check both their personal and college email accounts regularly for learning updates and tasks from tutors.

Instructions for learners and staff on how to access college systems (including Google Classroom) remotely can be found here: www.bridgend.ac.uk/coronavirus

We will continue to review advice from Public Health Wales and Welsh Government and will publish all updates at www.bridgend.ac.uk/coronavirus. We will also publish any changes to our current status via the College’s main social media channels and via direct email to our staff and learners.

The situation is evolving rapidly. Staff and students are asked to continue to visit and regularly check the following websites for the latest updates and guidance:

• Public Health Wales 
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website
• GOV.UK website
• Welsh Government FAQs

Just like the common cold, the Coronavirus infection usually occurs through close contact with a person who has the infection or by touching contaminated surfaces if you do not wash your hands correctly. There are some simple things that you can do to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and look after yourself and those around you.  Here are some guidelines to help you:

• Frequently clean hands by using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. You can see the correct way to clean your hands by clicking HERE.
• Viruses love warm, moist environments so avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• When coughing and sneezing cover your mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw the tissue away immediately and wash your hands. ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’.

Further advice and guidance can be accessed using the following links:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019:

https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/

We understand you may be concerned if you feel you are more vulnerable to the coronavirus than others (for example if you have a specific health condition, or have vulnerable family members).

Public Health Wales defines underlying conditions as people with weakened immune systems and those with long-term conditions such as diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. If you are worried, members of staff should speak to their GP in the first instance.

You may also contact the student wellbeing team, upstairs in A Block at Cowbridge Road Campus or in The Old House in Pencoed Campus or can call them on 01656 302 302 ext 488.

We will support you as much as possible, based on any specific advice you have received from medical professionals, as well as general public health guidance. You should continue to follow Public Health Wales advice about the precautionary measures you can take to avoid catching the virus such as hand-washing (also see the NHS advice page), and ensure you are up to date with any prescriptions for medicines you usually take.

Our college campuses are currently closed.

Due to the current and continually evolving challenges and risks associated with Coronavirus COVID-19,  we have taken the decision to pause face-to-face teaching for all learners from the end of this week (Friday 20 March 2020). From Monday 23 March 2020, teaching and learning will move to online provision until further notice.

Learners should continue to access learning via Google Classroom and should check both their personal and college email accounts regularly for learning updates and tasks from tutors. 

Instructions for learners and staff on how to access college systems (including Google Classroom) remotely can be found here: www.bridgend.ac.uk/coronavirus 

We will continue to review advice from Public Health Wales and Welsh Government and will publish all updates at www.bridgend.ac.uk/coronavirus. We will also publish any changes to our current status via the College’s main social media channels and via direct email to our staff and learners.

We have followed all Public Health Wales advice and guidance and communicated regularly with our staff and students. We are working closely with NHS services and Public Health Wales who are taking the lead.

The College’s Senior Management Team is meeting regularly to ensure we have the most up-to-date information to share with our staff and students and to take appropriate action if required.

If you or someone you live with has the recent onset of either a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, current advice from Public Health Wales is that you should self-isolate.

Full guidance on self-isolation and symptoms can be found here:

https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/latest-information-on-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

You can also use the NHS Direct Wales symptom checker: 

Click here

You should report your diagnosis to HR and your line Manager.   You can contact HR on ext 350. We will ensure that we maintain confidentiality in line with our legal obligations, however, we will advise any close colleagues who may be particularly vulnerable to the virus so that they can make any appropriate arrangements.

To support us with this, please ensure your contact details are up to date on MyPage.

If you have any queries beyond this, please e mail dl_hr@bridgend.ac.uk and one of our team will come back to you.

We recognise that it may be difficult for colleagues to obtain fit notes to cover their absence beyond 7 days in line with usual procedures, due to the pressures on the NHS. If you find yourself in this situation, you should contact your manager and HR (ext 350) to advise them of the situation.  We would ask that you continue to attempt to obtain a fit note during your absence, but we will maintain sick pay during your absence.

This information applies to permanent, fixed term,casual and hourly paid workers.

If you have any queries beyond this, please e mail dl_hr@bridgend.ac.uk and one of our team will come back to you.

As you are aware, one of our values is a person centred approach.  We understand the needs of our colleagues will change over the coming months and it is therefore impossible to apply a ‘one size fits all’ approach.   This means that some colleagues might feel that they are contributing more than others during this difficult period (as not all colleagues will be able to apply the principles of remote working).  We trust however that everyone will do the very best they can to support our students, our families and each other during these difficult times.

If you have any queries beyond this, please e mail dl_hr@bridgend.ac.uk and one of our team will come back to you.

If you are self-isolating either on the basis of current Government advice, and you are not unwell, you will be classed as working from home working.  Your line manager will agree what this looks like for your particular role.

If you are absent from work due to any type of illness and are unable to work, you will be paid sick in the usual way. 

Please be assured that any sickness absence relating to Coronavirus will not impact a Bradford Factor score.  We will also ensure that you are not financially at a detriment in terms of any sickness absence relating to the coronavirus.

If you have any queries beyond this, please e mail dl_hr@bridgend.ac.uk and one of our team will come back to you.

First and foremost, our commitment is to ensure our learners continue their education throughout this difficult time and as such our activities should be focused on achieving this outcome.

We understand that in some roles, work activity may be more limited and therefore encourage staff to engage with volunteering opportunities.  Maintaining a sense of purpose during this difficult time will contribute to better personal wellbeing and will help those in our community when they are at their most vulnerable.  Volunteering opportunities can be found here. NHS Volunteer Wales  and Bridgend Volunteering Services. 

Additionally here is some information about keeping yourself safe whilst volunteering https://gov.wales/safe-help/volunteering.

Yes, please discuss the opportunity with your line manager in the first instance.  They will look to support you to undertake meaningful work during these challenging times.  We would also like to hear about the difference you are making (as an individual or team) and share this with others across the organisation from time to time.  This will help us all stay connected and will help reinforce the great work we do.

Your contract remains unchanged and you continue to be a member of Bridgend College.

Please note that to engage in any form of paid work with another organisation, or generate money from freelance activities, you must seek permission from your line manager in the first instance.   It is not permissible to receive payment through another means for hours we are already paying you for.

Yes. You will still continue to receive EMA whilst college campuses are closed.

All EMA payments have been approved and will be paid into bank accounts on Monday 30 March 2020. For w/c 09/03, register attendance has been used, but for w/c 16/03 we have assumed positive attendance for all learners. This means that if you were self-isolating, it will not affect your attendance.

Yes. WGLG payments will still be made whilst campuses are closed.

We are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government and the WJEC in light of the announcement that GCSE and A Level exams have been cancelled. It is not yet clear what the process will be for people sitting vocational qualifications. 

What we do know is that you will need to work hard to ensure you continue to prove that you are developing your knowledge and that you have produced a body of evidence that we can use to support any grades you need. 

So our advice at the moment is keep logging on and keep working to ensure you are putting yourself in the best position to succeed. 

We are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government and the WJEC in light of the announcement that GCSE and A Level exams have been cancelled. Until we have further guidance, please take note of the government statement released yesterday: 

  “Learners due to sit their GCSEs and A levels this summer will be awarded a fair grade to recognise their work, drawing on the range of information that is available. We will be working with the sector to announce further details shortly but wanted to give this early certainty.” 

 At this stage, we do not want to speculate as to how your grade will be calculated.  All we can do in the meantime is continue to teach you remotely and help you to prepare a body of evidence that can be used to support whatever the process will be.  

 Please continue to make your best efforts to work through learning materials to continue to demonstrate progress in learning. 

We are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government and the WJEC in light of the announcement that GCSE and A Level exams have been cancelled. Until we have further guidance, please take note of the government statement released yesterday: 

 “Learners due to sit their GCSEs and A levels this summer will be awarded a fair grade to recognise their work, drawing on the range of information that is available. We will be working with the sector to announce further details shortly but wanted to give this early certainty.” 

At this stage, we do not want to speculate as to how your grade will be calculated.  All we can do in the meantime is continue to teach you remotely and help you to prepare a body of evidence that can be used to support whatever the process will be.  

Please continue to make your best efforts to work through learning materials to continue to demonstrate progress in learning. 

Don’t worry – we will be block filling registers in the next few weeks, but we are awaiting further guidance from Welsh Government on this. Please do not worry if your attendance is wrong when you are using MiHub, this is because tutors have been asked not to mark registers.

Your attendance will not be affected and this will be updated in the coming weeks.

You can reset your password using the guide further down this page. If you need support, please complete the IT Support webform which can also be found on this page and a member of the team will get back to you.

If you currently receive a free meal, we will be paying funds directly into your bank account. If we have received your bank details, you will receive the first payment on Wednesday 25 March 2020.

We are still waiting for responses from some learners, so any details received between now and Wednesday 25 March, will have payment made on Friday 27 March 2020.

After this week, payments will be made every Monday, including payments during the Easter break – we hope that this will help to support a little.

Although physical face-to face-teaching has been suspended, the College continues to support all of our learners to achieve their desired learning outcomes. As such, we will not be refunding tuition fees for HE courses.

The College is remaining open during this time and has transitioned towards remote methods of delivery, so that as students you can continue to work towards achieving your qualification and help you be all that you can be. 

Your tuition fee covers a wide range of activities and services, including online teaching sessions, tutorials, virtual learning environment and the supporting infrastructure that make all of this possible. 

If you are paying your tuition fees yourself – or if you are using the Maintenance Loan to pay your fees – it is important that you keep up with payment of fees as per the instalment plan set up at enrolment. Failing to keep up with payments may prevent you from progressing to the next stage of your course or from graduating. 

If however, the coronavirus crisis has caused financial hardship and is affecting your ability to keep up with your tuition fee payments please contact the higher education team for advice by email: heenquiries@bridgend.ac.uk 

If you intend to withhold tuition fees due to the temporary suspension of face to face teaching due to coronavirus you should refer to the Students Complaints Procedure which can be found here:- https://www1.bridgend.ac.uk/about-us/

SLC can confirm that as students you will receive your scheduled or next instalment of your Maintenance Loan at the planned start of the summer term, regardless of whether their university or provider has made alternative arrangements for teaching.

The Student Loans Company has published more information for students here:- 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-current-students

We know that some of you will have plans to travel in the near future, including pre-booked holidays. Certain countries have been identified as having been severely affected by the virus and we would ask that you consider, for your own health reasons, whether your travel is necessary.

If you do travel, please complete the relevant notification form below.  We need to know of the countries you intend to visit so that we can manage your return appropriately. Additionally, please keep yourself up to date on the countries which require self-isolation upon return. If you are a member of staff and would like to cancel any pre-booked annual leave, please speak to your manager.

STUDENT Travel Notification Form

STAFF Travel Notification Form

You can find up to date information on travel via the web links below:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-the-foreign-commonwealth-office-puts-together-travel-advice

Due to current travel advice, we have suspended all overseas visits. We will communicate directly with students affected to discuss next steps.

Your wellbeing is incredibly important to us.  Whilst we might be changing the way we work and starting to work more remotely, we wanted to take the opportunity to signpost you to some helpful guides:

This guide explores how to keep mentally well throughout the Coronavirus outbreak  and has been developed by the mental health charity, Mind. Click here to access further information Coronavirus and your wellbeing 

In addition to your mental health, it is really important to maintain good physical health.  These videos, which have been developed by NHS Wales can be accessed from home. Click here to access  Fitness Videos which will support you to maintain your physical fitness during periods of self isolation.

Additionally we would like to remind staff of our confidential  24/7 counselling service, which is delivered by Carefirst. Please access by clicking on this link Care first Access

As well as all of the above, if you have any queries or concerns about your health in the context of the workplace please contact your line manager or a member of the HR Team (ext 350)