Strode College in Street is appealing for volunteers to come forward to help it with Covid testing in the new term, as it sets out its plans for a staggered return of students.

Strode will be implementing rapid Covid-19 lateral flow testing for staff and students when students return to college this month.

From January 11, the college will need support between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday for at least two weeks so volunteers are asked if they can do a morning (8.30am to 1pm) or an afternoon (1pm to 5pm).

The volunteers will be working at the college site with students to support the testing process alongside staff.

The roles available are test assistant - providing guidance and supervision to students as they carry out the test and collecting completed swabs - and processor, which is preparing test samples for analysis, processing and interpreting results.

Test assistants will need to successfully complete about 75 minutes of online training as well as a 30-minute run through on site.

Processors will need to successfully complete about 90 minutes of online training as well as a 30-minute run through of on-site training.

All volunteers must be aged 18 or over. Current students over the age of 18 would be welcome to volunteer.

Everyone will be provided with PPE including face visors, gloves and aprons, but the volunteers roles would not be suitable for those who are clinically vulnerable or extremely vulnerable.

To volunteer at Strode College, click on this link.

Staggered return

The staggered return of students to schools and colleges has been planned to give more time for the rollout of testing.

This will aim to find asymptomatic cases and break chains of transmission, making it as safe as possible to return to face-to-face education.

From January 6, Strode College will be open for vulnerable students and the children of key workers, and for all others remote education will be provided.

This will follow, as much as is possible, the normal timetable and tutors will contact students with further information about lessons and remote learning.

This is likely to include a mixture of live Zoom classes, directed study and online learning through Moodle.

From January 8, the college aims to start the programme of testing, initially prioritising staff, students in exam cohorts and the final year of study and vulnerable students.

The college is preparing a schedule of testing, so students should expect to be allocated a date and time to attend for their test. Everyone will need to be tested twice, with three to five days between each test.

As groups of students are tested, Strode will be able to bring them back into college for face-to-face learning.

Remote learning will continue to be provided to all other students until the college has managed to test everyone.

The goal is to be able to safely return for face-to-face education by the week commencing January 18, but vocational exams scheduled for the first week of January will go ahead as planned.

A spokesperson for the college said: "The asymptomatic testing does not replace all of the other measures that the college has put in place.

"In fact, with cases rising rapidly across the country we need to be extremely careful and follow the three main safety measures of covering your face, washing your hands frequently and keeping your distance from others as much as possible.

"We will be having a big push at the start of the new term to ensure everyone is following these guidelines.

"The end is in sight, but we must remain vigilant throughout the spring term and until a high proportion of the population has been vaccinated."