Remote Education Offer

Where the college is put into national lockdown measures or where students are obliged to stay away from college following a positive test for Covid-19 or when self-isolating as a result of being a close contact, the following offer applies to all of our 16-19 and adult learners.

AVAILABILITY OF REMOTE LEARNING

All learners have access to remote learning and the capacity to work from home.

LCBT has a live and real learning environment, so learners will have live teaching sessions with their teaching groups on each of their standard college days. These live sessions will be conducted with the lecturer on Microsoft Teams, and students will have an induction and receive information on how to access this. LCBT also has an online learning portal called Learn Upon, which provides lots of interactive theory lessons and practical videos to help support students’ learning. Lecturers may set tasks to do on Learn upon or in Teams in between live sessions.

DELIVERY ARRANGEMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS OF LEARNERS

Continued attendance to college lessons is mandatory for all learners. They will be required to login (attend) on their existing timetabled college days on to Microsoft Teams for a live teaching session with their tutor for the times specified to them. Learners will have short breaks and 1 hour for lunch.

Timetables will not change for learners. Our expectations of attendance and punctuality are the same as they would be if learners were attending college as normal. However, lecturers may change or adapt lesson topics to accommodate teaching and learning through the remote medium.

Learners will be required to complete any work set for them, such as assignments, within the deadlines specified to them by their lecturer. These can be hand-written; there is no requirement for them to be typed.
All learners have individual learning plans, to support learning. Learners will work on these plans with their lecturer so learners will have feedback and a clear plan of how to work towards areas of development and stretch the areas which they are strong on.

During remote learning, learners will continue to have regular enrichment sessions. These are online sessions with brands where learners can learn specific techniques or hear about the brand and what it is like to work with them. When learners are able to return to the college these will be live events where learners can practise their skills at college or on location in stores, but until then LCBT continues to deliver enrichment online so that learners can still meet future employers and learn about their work.

Some assessments, such as tests and practical competency assessments, may either be postponed until the learners return to college or have adaptations to their tests/assessments, such as the ability to undertake the test/assessment at home under remote video invigilation. This will be dependent on the feasibility of doing so by the learner, college and equipment/facilities required to do so, as well as approval and guidance required by the awarding body of the qualification. Further details would be provided to the learners if this were to be the case.

COURSE SESSIONS THAT REQUIRE SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT

All learners are provided with their own kit and materials to be used for their course. For any practical sessions, learners will need to either self-demo or work on a member of their household bubble and show evidence of this to their lecturer,either live through Teams or uploading videos / images to their lecturer. The lecturer will let their learners know how to set this up, and what they will need. If the learner has any issues or problems in being able to do this, they will communicate this to their lecturer, who can then communicate with the student support team to support in resolving this. For practical sessions or assessments that require equipment not available at home, arrangements would be made to either postpone those sessions to a later date once learners have returned to the college or create special arrangements to attend the college specifically for this purpose. This will be dependent on a number of factors, such as learner and staff safety, practical availability and feasibility of doing so.

SUPPORT FOR LEARNERS WITHOUT DEVICES, CONNECTIVITY OR A SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

LCBT assess the individual needs of learners, and includes those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged, to explore all avenues to provide support to meet the individuals’ needs. Support may include providing a data package or a laptop with a data package. For 16-18 learners we have access to a discretionary bursary to support with equipment and data. Adult learners’ needs are prioritised with a limited set of equipment / data that is available. All equipment / data is provided on a loan basis for the duration of the course. LCBT will liaise with social workers to provide support for learners who are in care or under the leaving care team.

LCBT will make regular contact with learners to ensure that the equipment provided meets their individual needs.

SUPPORT FOR LEARNERS WITH SEND

LCBT use a range of communication methods to support learners with SEND, LLDD, EHCP or those who are vulnerable. This includes regular contact with their lecturer and the Welfare Support team. Forms of communication include phone calls, emails, Teams meetings, surveys and specific support groups/ coffee breaks, where learners are encouraged to reflect upon their own individual needs and share their experiences to support others. These sessions also include mindfulness. Support is designed and tailored to the individual’s needs and a range of resources is available to all learners;for example, to support mental health concerns.