Dear Parents / Students,
Throughout this challenging period, we have put the health and welfare of our students first and foremost while balancing their vital education needs. As mentioned before, we are continually reviewing the situation in order to get this balance right for our students.
Therefore, in light of recent Covid-19 cases at our college and following consultation with Public Health England, we have taken the difficult decision as of 19/11/2020 to move learning for all students to our online Google Classroom platform for the next 14 days. This means the college will be closed to ALL students until Thursday 03/12/2020.
We must stress that while the college site will be closed, online lessons will still be delivered on the usual timetabled days for all students. As before, staff will be arranging Google Hangouts and making use of our Goggle Classroom platforms to ensure that learning continues throughout the lockdown. Additionally, Discovery College will make Chromebook laptops available for students who do not have access to suitable computers at home. Guidance and help using our online learning platform can be found here.
We understand this situation is not ideal for parents or students, however at Discovery College we pride ourselves on being a “family” where our priority is always the welfare of our students who we are here to support.
If any parent or student has any questions or queries please contact us on 01752 761011 or email enquiries@discoverycollege.org.uk where we will be more than willing to help.
It must also be noted that this is not just a Discovery College issue. The graph below gives information about the current Plymouth Covid-19 context. With the local ‘exponential rise’ (606 cases in Plymouth this week up from 473 the week before) it is little surprise that all schools and colleges are having to deal with increasing numbers of students who are Covid-positive. To ensure everyone is kept safe, Headteachers are having to make very difficult decisions knowing the very negative impact it will have on our community.
I am sure that we all hope the latest month-long national lockdown will have a significant impact on this trend. Until this happens, the unfortunate fact is that schools and colleges will be forced to isolate groups and potentially close, to keep them and others safe.
On behalf of the whole Discovery College team I’d like to thank parents and students for their continued support and understanding during this difficult time and I sincerely hope that you all continue to stay safe.
Tom Lavis, CEO
Discovery College
