This page contains our previous updates and advice on the Coronavirus situation. Information on this page will not be updated and should not be taken as our current guidance.
For the latest up-to-date information and our current guidance we recommend that you refer to our main updates page here: https://www.halesowen.ac.uk/home/coronavirus-update/
A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China.
The incubation period of COVID-19 is between 2 and 14 days. This means that if a person remains well 14 days after contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus, it is unlikely that they have been infected.
The following symptoms may develop in the 14 days after exposure to someone who has COVID-19 infection:
Generally, these infections can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. There is no evidence that children are more affected than other age groups – very few cases have been reported in children.
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are a new, continuous cough or a high temperature.
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild infection.
The infection is mild for most people, including children. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease) may be at higher risk of more serious illness.
Most people get better with enough rest, and plenty to eat and drink.
Public Health England recommends using good hand, respiratory and personal hygiene. Coughing and sneezing should be into tissues that are promptly disposed of in bins. Hands should be washed frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, even if hands are visibly clean.
The NHS has guidance on the best way to wash your hands.
If you think you or anyone in your home may have the virus, you should:
The NHS has comprehensive advice on their website about what to do if you think you may have the virus, precautionary measures, and self-isolation procedures.
If you are a student, please also notify the College by using the online absence notification form on My Halesowen. If you are a member of staff, please call the staff absence line.
If somebody in your home is displaying symptoms, then follow the advice in the question “What should I do if I am displaying symptoms or think I may have the virus?” above.
Self-isolation
If you have been symptomatic, then you may end your self-isolation after 7 days. The 7-day period starts from the day when you first became ill
Household Isolation
If living with others, then all household members who remain well may end household-isolation after 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day illness began in the first person to become ill. Fourteen days is the incubation period for coronavirus; people who remain well after 14 days are unlikely to be infectious.
After 7 days, if the first person to become ill feels better and no longer has a high temperature, they can return to their normal routine. If any other family members become unwell during the 14-day household-isolation period, they should follow the same advice – that is, after 7 days of their symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can also return to their normal routine.
Should a household member develop coronavirus symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (for example, on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended, but the person with the new symptoms has to stay at home for 7 days. The 14-day household-isolation period will have greatly reduced the overall amount of infection the rest of the household could pass on, and it is not necessary to re-start 14 days of isolation for the whole household. This will have provided a high level of community protection. Further isolation of members of this household will provide very little additional community protection.
At the end of the 14-day period, any family member who has not become unwell can leave household isolation.
The cough may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared. A persistent cough alone does not mean someone must continue to self-isolate for more than 7 days.
The College is acting on advice from sources including Public Health England, the NHS, the World Health Organisation and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We have taken proactive steps to contact our students and staff to ensure that everyone has access to the latest advice.
The College has established a special response taskforce that is monitoring the situation and making plans to act quickly if the situation changes. This group is taking regular advice from Public Health England to ensure any change in guidance is implemented here at Halesowen as soon as possible.
During the current phase to delay a wider outbreak in the UK, we have increased the frequency of cleaning of key areas and are ensuring that soap is readily available. We are displaying posters around the campus and on our digital display screens, reminding our staff, students and visitors about the importance of good, personal hygiene – particularly in relation to thorough and frequent handwashing.
The decision on testing is made by Public Health England. Halesowen College has to follow the advice given by Public Health England. Current advice is to self-isolate for 14 days if you feel that you have a mild occurrence of coronavirus, so that public services can deal with the most severely affected.
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
We have made the decision to postpone the following College events:
We have also decided that Advice and Guidance interviews for new applicants to discuss your programme of study – scheduled for the evening of Monday 23rd March – will now be done by telephone over the coming days. We will contact you in due course. We will also notify you of future Open Events to ensure you have an opportunity to visit the College.
No. The Government are advising people against all unnecessary social contact with others and all unnecessary travel. They also said we should steer clear of pubs, clubs, cinemas and restaurants. So, the College Restaurant will be closed to the public until the Government advice is updated.
Amethyst will be honouring bookings until Friday 20th March 2020. In addition to your pre-consultation checks, you will be asked a few health related questions prior to your treatment.
After Friday 20th March 2020 the College Hair and Beauty section will not be offering treatments to the public until the Government advice is updated as the Government are advising people against all unnecessary social contact with others and all unnecessary travel.
Yes, all services and classes will be running as normal this week (Monday 16th – Friday 20th March).
Students who wish to, can study from home for the week (Monday 16th – Friday 20th March). This will not impact attendance, but you must notify your personal coach immediately to let them know that this is your intention. If you do not know your personal coach’s email, please contact absence@halesowen.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can register your absence on STaRS. Where possible, your personal coach will contact you to offer advice and suggestions for study during the week.
Students can stay in touch by accessing their email and other College services using the links above. There are also resources on Moodle to support assignment writing or home-study.
This page will be updated throughout the week with other ways that you can access and stay up-to-date with College work.
PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COLLEGE SWITCHBOARD NUMBER TO NOTIFY US OF YOUR INTENDED ABSENCE.
Trinity Reading and Writing Exams (ESOL)
Following the latest Government advice regarding COVID-19 Trinity has postponed all Skills for Life exams from Wednesday 18th March until Thursday 30th April.
Halesowen College will inform all relevant candidates of re-arranged exam dates as soon as they are confirmed.
Functional Skills English, Hair Dressing, Beauty and Nail Technologies Exams
The current position with exams in Functional Skills English, Hairdressing, Beauty & Nail Technologies is that they will take place week commencing Monday March 23rd.
Halesowen College will put additional measures in place to ensure examination areas are cleaned thoroughly. We will continue to monitor the situation and announce further changes.
The College remains open as normal this week (Monday 16th – Friday 20th March). You should continue to attend your placements unless you have been specifically advised otherwise.
If you are expected at a work placement but have made the decision to study from home, you should contact your placement officer at Halesowen College who will notify the work placement for you.
If your placement is disrupted through a workplace closure, or because you are self-isolating, you should contact your course leader/placement officer.
The College is acting on advice from sources including Public Health England, the NHS, the World Health Organisation and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We have taken proactive steps to contact our students and staff to ensure that everyone has access to the latest advice.
The College has established a special response taskforce that is monitoring the situation and making plans to act quickly if the situation changes. This group is taking regular advice from Public Health England to ensure any change in guidance is implemented here at Halesowen as soon as possible.
During the current phase to delay a wider outbreak in the UK, we have increased the frequency of cleaning of key areas and are ensuring that soap is readily available. We are displaying posters around the campus and on our digital display screens, reminding our staff, students and visitors about the importance of good, personal hygiene – particularly in relation to thorough and frequent handwashing.
Please do not be worried about being absent from your studies for this short period. Your Student Support Manager and Course leader will help to make sure this does not affect your studies. You should notify us online in the normal way to advise them that you will not be attending class.
If you are not ill but have to self-isolate following Public Health England’s advice, you should follow the national advice on self-isolating.
You must notify your personal coach to let them know that self-isolating. If you do not know your personal coach’s email, please contact absence@halesowen.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can register your absence on STaRS. Where possible, your personal coach will contact you to offer advice and suggestions for study during the week.
Students can stay in touch by accessing their email and other College services using the links above. There are also resources on Moodle to support assignment writing or home-study.
This page will be updated throughout the week with other ways that you can access and stay up-to-date with College work.
PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COLLEGE SWITCHBOARD NUMBER TO NOTIFY US OF YOUR INTENDED ABSENCE.
For more information see Public Health England’s blog post on “self-isolation and why it’s important”.
The College cannot give specific health advice. You should use the national guidance in the links above or speak to the medical professional who knows your condition. If you make the decision to not attend, you should follow the advice in the question “I am not ill but have been advised to self-isolate, who should I tell?”.
There are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you are in this category, next week the NHS in England will directly contact you with advice the more stringent measures you should take in order to keep yourself and others safe. For now, you should rigorously follow the social distancing advice in full
People falling into this group are those who may be at particular risk due to complex health problems such as:
This group includes those who are:
The College cannot give specific health advice. You should use the national guidance in the links above or speak to the medical professional who knows your condition. If you make the decision to not attend, you should follow the advice in the question “I am not ill but have been advised to self-isolate, who should I tell?”.
The Government guidance is that by this coming weekend – it will be necessary to go further and to ensure that those with the most serious health conditions are largely shielded from social contact for around 12 weeks.
The College cannot give specific health advice. You should use the national guidance in the links above or speak to the medical professional who knows your condition. If you make the decision to not attend, you should follow the advice in the question “I am not ill but have been advised to self-isolate, who should I tell?”.
The Government guidance is that by this coming weekend – it will be necessary to go further and to ensure that those with the most serious health conditions are largely shielded from social contact for around 12 weeks.
If you become concerned about your own health in relation to Coronavirus while you are at College, please do not delay in contacting a member of staff for advice.
If you become concerned about your own health while at home, then follow the advice in the question “What should I do if I am displaying symptoms or think I may have the virus?” above.
We are in direct contact with Public Health England and are closely following their advice. We have risk assessed the necessity for the whole College to be cleaned/closed and, at this time, deep cleaning the nursery is the most effective course of action. Please rest assured that, if further measures were required, we would not hesitate to act.
Following a deep clean, the College Nursery will be closed for a week (Monday 16th – Friday 20th March).
Yes, those affected will receive a refund for the closure period.
If your employer is uncomfortable with you attending College, please contact your assessor. It may be possible to arrange alternative methods of learning.
Please contact your assessor if your employer is not accepting external visitors.
The College remains open for all classes and normal activity. We will be contacting schools who normally attend for taster sessions, advising about the current situation. Schools will be asked to carry out a risk assessment to determine whether they feel it is appropriate to bring pupils to the College. Schools who decide not to attend can notify the school liaison team at slt@halesowen.ac.uk
If you are self-isolating at this moment in time, please do not breach this and continue to follow national guidance.
If you are able to attend, please contact your host in the first instance to ensure that they are still able to receive you.
Visitors who attend site will be asked a few health related questions prior to entry.
We know that many staff will be approached by students with concerns about coronavirus. If a student raises a concern about their health, please ask them to follow the advice on this page.
If you are concerned about a student in College who is displaying symptoms, then please do not delay in contacting the Health and Safety Manager for advice.
Please support yourself, colleagues and students by following the advice provided by Public Health England and the World Health Organization which is designed to minimise the spread of any infection. You may wish to remind and reassure colleagues and students of this advice at the start of lectures or meetings.
You can download resources that promote good practice and include them alongside your lectures and presentations.
If your child’s school or nursery takes the decision to close or send children home and you need to care for your young child(ren), despite them not displaying any symptoms of the virus, reasonable time off will be permitted in order for you to make arrangements for alternative childcare (1 – 2 days is recommended) please discuss this with your line manager.
Home working, unpaid leave or annual leave may be considered if a longer period is required and alternative childcare is not possible. You should contact HR in the first instance to notify them of your absence.
If you are not ill but have to self-isolate following Public Health England’s advice, you should follow the national advice on self-isolating.
You should notify HR on the staff absence line in the first instance. Your line manager will be able to discuss with you whether you are able to work from home. Where this is not possible for some, or all, of the recommended self-isolation period (currently 14 days), the normal College Sick Pay Scheme will apply, you will not be required to provide a doctor’s note.
For more information see Public Health England’s blog post on “self-isolation and why it’s important”.
The College cannot give specific health advice. You should use the national guidance in the links above or speak to the medical professional who knows your condition. If you make the decision to not attend, you should follow the advice in the question “I am not ill but have been advised to self-isolate, who should I tell?”.
There are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you are in this category, next week the NHS in England will directly contact you with advice the more stringent measures you should take in order to keep yourself and others safe. For now, you should rigorously follow the social distancing advice in full
People falling into this group are those who may be at particular risk due to complex health problems such as:
This group includes those who are:
The College cannot give specific health advice. You should use the national guidance in the links above or speak to the medical professional who knows your condition. If you make the decision to not attend, you should follow the advice in the question “I am not ill but have been advised to self-isolate, who should I tell?”.
The Government guidance is that by this coming weekend – it will be necessary to go further and to ensure that those with the most serious health conditions are largely shielded from social contact for around 12 weeks.
If you meet the criteria to self-isolate, the normal College Sick Pay Scheme will apply, you will not be required to provide a doctor’s note.
If you have to self-isolate you should not attend work and should notify HR without delay, following the agreed standard procedure.
You will need to discuss this with your line manager to assess the appropriateness of your request. The College is open and operating as normal, following Public Health England advice.
We encourage you to explore the Employee Assistance Programme if you feel you need support. It is available to all College staff. The programme is run by BHSF first and offers, among other things, a helpline with confidential, 24-hour personal assistance from experienced counsellors. The helpline number is 0800 1076147.
If you have any other concerns about the virus, please contact your line manager.
If you become concerned about your own health in relation to Coronavirus while you are at College, please do not delay in contacting the Health and Safety Manager for advice.
If you become concerned about your own health while at home, then follow the advice in the question “What should I do if I am displaying symptoms or think I may have the virus?” above.
In the current situation, we are concerned about staff and students going on visits on behalf of the College, just as other institutions are concerned about their students and staff visiting us.
For overseas travel the Government advises against all overseas education trips for children under 18.
As a result, the College has decided that:
The Department for Education is not currently advising against domestic trips (residential and non-residential) for children under 18 organised by education settings. However, For UK trips the main issue is that an individual on the trip may fall ill while away from the College.
As a result, the College has decided that:
If you and/or anyone in your household has returned from overseas travel the current advice is if they become symptomatic to follow the guidance in the question “What should I do if I am displaying symptoms or think I may have the virus?” above.