Dear Students,

We know this is a time of great uncertainty. You have been fantastic at maintaining attendance, either online or face-to-face and continuing your studies. I want you to know that most staff are still working either at college, or at home so you can access their support and guidance either via TEAMS, SKYPE, or MOODLE or by telephoning the College reception. This will carry on next week and thereafter. We will be registering your attendance via online learning.

I know the closure of college to students may add to your uncertainty about the near future. We will certainly miss our face-to-face daily interactions with you. Please know that we are closely monitoring the situation and awaiting updates on your examinations and assessments. We have plans in place to deal with requests from examination boards so that you will not be penalised and you will be able to progress to the next stage.

You have so much talent and ability that cannot be measured by examinations. You are a credit to your community and to your families. We will work together to make sure your learning is recognised and valued.

Please contact your personal tutor via TEAMS, or email for additional support you need, or further guidance than the online learning may provide. We encourage you to telephone the College as well on 608608 if you have any concerns, or feedback. We have re-allocated staff to pick up extra calls.

The Learning Support team will be available during your regular support times to provide remote support and any new students can self-refer by detailing their learning support needs and availability in an email to       Desiree.madelin@highlands.ac.uk titled “Learning support request”.

The Admissions, Careers & Employability Team will continue to be available to offer support and guidance via Teams while the College is closed to students.  They can help with:

• Careers Information, advice and guidance
• CVs
• Completing job applications
• Job searching
• Interview preparation
• Higher Education guidance
• Course information and applications for programmes starting September 2020.

External queries can be directed to employability@highlands.ac.uk where a member of the team will do their best to get back to you within 48 hours.

The Student Life team are also there to support your well-being and offer emotional and practical support in times of need.

Please contact them, in confidence, using this email address:

Student.Life@highlands.ac.uk or Telephone 01534 608564.

There are Frequently Asked Questions posted on the College website which we will update daily. Please refer to those and also encourage your parents, or employers to do the same.

Please take care of your wellbeing. We will post ideas about this on our social media sites.

With very best wishes

Jo Terry-Marchant and all the staff at Highlands College.