ENGLISH LANGUAGE HOUSE
COVID NEWS AND UPDATES
Keeping students, staff and visitors to ELH updated throughout the year.
UPDATES
November 2020
FACE2FACE STUDENTS
On 31st October 2020 the UK Government announced a second national lockdown for England to minimise the risk of further spread of Covid. ELH language lessons take place in a public building in Central Milton Keynes where access is not limited to our students only. Because of this and because we need to ensure that our students and staff are as safe as possible, all lessons will be held virtually during November 2020. This means that from Monday 2nd November 2020 ELH will continue all lessons via Zoom. Lessons will mostly be held on the same days and times and students will be sent a Zoom invitation so they can join their class and attend their lessons virtually.
- If you are living in a household where someone is at risk or has a possible or confirmed coronavirus infection please complete our location and health declaration form here and make sure you follow the following guidelines.
Symptoms
The most important symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of any of the following:
The most important symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of any of the following:
- a new continuous cough
- a high temperature
- a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
Stay at home if you live with someone with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result
Your 14-day isolation period starts from the day when the first person in your household developed symptoms. If you are isolating because someone in your house has had a positive test result but does not have symptoms, your 14-day period starts from the day their test was taken.
If for any reason you have a negative test result during your 14-day isolation period, this does not mean you can stop isolating. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you could still pass the infection on to others. Stay at home for the full 14 days to avoid putting others at risk.
If you are identified as a contact and told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, you have a legal duty to self-isolate. Failure to comply may result in a fine, starting from £1,000. Parents or guardians are legally responsible for ensuring that anyone under 18 self-isolates if they test positive for COVID-19 and are contacted by NHS Test and Trace and told to self-isolate.
Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable should be supported to minimise their contact with other people in the household during this period, regardless of whether others have symptoms or not.
- Please email us to let us know that someone you live with someone who has symptoms or a positive test result.
- Stay at home for 14 days.
Your 14-day isolation period starts from the day when the first person in your household developed symptoms. If you are isolating because someone in your house has had a positive test result but does not have symptoms, your 14-day period starts from the day their test was taken.
If for any reason you have a negative test result during your 14-day isolation period, this does not mean you can stop isolating. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you could still pass the infection on to others. Stay at home for the full 14 days to avoid putting others at risk.
If you are identified as a contact and told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, you have a legal duty to self-isolate. Failure to comply may result in a fine, starting from £1,000. Parents or guardians are legally responsible for ensuring that anyone under 18 self-isolates if they test positive for COVID-19 and are contacted by NHS Test and Trace and told to self-isolate.
Those who are clinically extremely vulnerable should be supported to minimise their contact with other people in the household during this period, regardless of whether others have symptoms or not.
Get a free NHS test to check if you have coronavirus
Who can get a free test
You can only get a free NHS test if at least one of the following applies:
Who can get a free test
You can only get a free NHS test if at least one of the following applies:
- you have a high temperature
- you have a new, continuous cough
- you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed
- you’ve been asked to by a local council
- you’re taking part in a government pilot project
October 2020
STUDENTS
In October 2020 English Language House re-opened the school for face2face lessons in our physical classrooms in Milton Keynes. Students who prefer not to attend physical classrooms can continue to attend our live online lessons.
CANDIDATES FOR EXAMS
October 2020
We plan to run the paper based Cambridge English exams in November and December 2020 subject to Covid Gov. restrictions. Please telephone or email us if you wish to sit an exam in Milton Keynes in 2020.
VISITORS TO ELH
August 2020
The Elh Office will now work Virtually and we can speak to students and visitors to ELH via telephone, WhatsApp, WeChat and Zoom. WhatsApp, telephone or email us with your contact details and we can arrange a suitable day and time to speak to you.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
20/03/2020
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Coronavirus speads through droplets so people who carry the virus can pass it on very easily to other people. It is a new virus and people do not have immunity to this. The best way to stop the virus from spreading is to take precautions so that you are safe. If you catch the virus it is very important that you are looked after well and you do not pass it on to your family and friends. Please make sure you follow recommendations by Public Health England.
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DOs and DON'Ts
We want all our students and staff to be safe. You can see all coronavirus information from EnglishUK here.
The advice from Public Health England is that people who arrive into the UK from certain counties should self-isolate; this means they should stay at home for 14 days and not come into contact with other people until they have been tested negative for the virus.
You can see the list of countries and who should self-isolate here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas-with-implications-for-returning-travellers-or-visitors-arriving-in-the-uk
The advice from Public Health England is that people who arrive into the UK from certain counties should self-isolate; this means they should stay at home for 14 days and not come into contact with other people until they have been tested negative for the virus.
You can see the list of countries and who should self-isolate here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas-with-implications-for-returning-travellers-or-visitors-arriving-in-the-uk
- Everyone who travels into the UK from a category 1 areas should self-isolate and call NHS 111 to inform them of their recent travel.
- Everyone who travels into the UK from a category 2 areas must self-isolate and call NHS 111 if they feel unwell.
COVID LOCKDOWN IN MARCH 2020
Updated 20/06/2020
On Friday 20th March 2020 the UK Government closed all schools and English Language House stopped its Face2Face lessons in our physical classrooms in Central Milton Keynes.
We moved all our lessons onto an online platform and encouraged our students to continue their learning virtually. We have previous experience of offering online courses so it did not take very long for the school to make this change and invite students to join our live online lessons. Many of our students decided to join and continued to learn. Some stayed in Milton Keynes and others travelled back to their countries. It was lovely to see them all and speak to them during the live online lessons and the students enjoyed meeting their teachers, the friends they made at ELH and continuing to learn throughout the lock down period.
We will now continue to offer our live online lessons to any students who would prefer these but we will also start offering face2face lessons in our physical classrooms in Milton Keynes from September 2020.
We moved all our lessons onto an online platform and encouraged our students to continue their learning virtually. We have previous experience of offering online courses so it did not take very long for the school to make this change and invite students to join our live online lessons. Many of our students decided to join and continued to learn. Some stayed in Milton Keynes and others travelled back to their countries. It was lovely to see them all and speak to them during the live online lessons and the students enjoyed meeting their teachers, the friends they made at ELH and continuing to learn throughout the lock down period.
We will now continue to offer our live online lessons to any students who would prefer these but we will also start offering face2face lessons in our physical classrooms in Milton Keynes from September 2020.
The Latest UK government advice is as follows:
The World Health Organisation has declared the Covid-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and as a result UK Chief Medical Officers state the risk to the UK public is moderate.
For the latest information on number of cases, risk level, and advice for arriving travellers, see the government advice webpage, which is updated daily at 14:00 GMT.
British people travelling overseas should check the Foreign & Commonwealth Office latest travel advice.
Visitors arriving the UK should check the guidance from Public Health England detailing which countries and areas have implications for visitors arriving in the UK.
The World Health Organisation has declared the Covid-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and as a result UK Chief Medical Officers state the risk to the UK public is moderate.
For the latest information on number of cases, risk level, and advice for arriving travellers, see the government advice webpage, which is updated daily at 14:00 GMT.
British people travelling overseas should check the Foreign & Commonwealth Office latest travel advice.
Visitors arriving the UK should check the guidance from Public Health England detailing which countries and areas have implications for visitors arriving in the UK.
You can see the recommendations by Public Health England here and some of the guidance which is as follows:
- UK Government Guidance for health professionals, businesses, schools and other organisations
- UK Government guidance for schools and other educational settings.
- UK Government guidance for pupils, students, staff, parents, carers in an educational setting.
- UK Government Travel guidance for the education sector
- Travel insurance information.
- Self isolate, when to stay at home, what to do and when to call 111 for help.
