Tomorrow, Thursday 6 January we will be welcoming all of our students back to College.

Working closely within the guidance provided by both Welsh Government and our local public health team in Swansea, we will be continuing to prioritise face to face teaching as much as possible, whilst taking a positive approach to reducing any transmission of the virus.

Contact groups
For all students we will be returning to the contact group model that we used successfully in 2020.

As you will all most probably be aware, there is a new variant of the Covid-19 virus called Omicron.

In line with the new Welsh Government guidance, all students should now wear face coverings while indoors across all campuses. 

We are already operating on this basis, but you will now be asked to wear your face covering:
•    When in classrooms 
•    When in common room areas – unless eating/drinking.

In line with recent Welsh Government guidelines to further reduce the transmission of Covid-19, the following changes will now be in place from Monday 11 October:

Throughout history, the science and maths industries have largely been dominated by men.

Young women have historically tended to stay away from STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects during their school years. This can be down to many things, but one of them is the outdated stereotype that STEM careers are better suited to men.

And as a result, women can often be outnumbered in these industries.

This week, we were advised by Swansea Bay Health Board that the Regional Incident Management Team (IMT) considers the current risk level of coronavirus in Swansea Bay equivalent to the high rating on their framework.

Subsequently, the guidance from the IMT is that, although the College is not itself a high risk, all organisations – including schools – are being asked to take extra steps to help prevent the continuing spread of the virus in the wider community.

As a College, we already have a number of control measures in place, which include

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed the summer break. 
 
As our students return to College we would like to make you aware of the arrangements that will be in place from the start of this autumn term and how we will continue to prioritise the health and safety of our students whilst they are at College. 
 
Firstly, it is our intention that the majority of teaching will be carried out on a face to face basis, although we will also be looking to provide enhanced support for those learners who are having to self-islolate at home. 

Principal Mark Jones looks forward to the start of the autumn term, explaining how the College is continuing to ensure that health and safety remains the top priority.  

As we near the start of the new term, it seems a good time to reflect on how things have gone so far at Gower College Swansea. 

We are delighted to report that, from Monday 12 April, all students will be invited to return to College for face-to-face learning in very much the same way that we were able to operate in the first term (from September to early December).

The focus during these weeks will be on catching up on any outstanding work, including skills development and in preparing our students for their end of year assessments in whatever form has been agreed by the examination bodies.

The most recent announcement by the Education Minister gives us the opportunity to build on the good work of the past couple of weeks and to bring more students back for face-to-face teaching from Monday 15 March.

We are now able to bring in more vocational students in learning areas where there are outstanding practical assessments, and it also means we can bring back A Level students where preparation for assessments will need to take place.

I will explain the arrangements that we need to put in place for students below.

I really hope you and your family are coping as well as possible during these incredibly strange and difficult times.

Whatever your circumstances, we all need to offer support and encouragement to one another to get through it. I know that your school is doing a great job in providing you with support, and is dedicated to the future aspirations of each and every one of its pupils.

For yourselves it is of course an even more important time with decisions needed about where to go next in your education and what path to take.