The welfare, health and safety of our students, alongside that of our School community is our highest priority.
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has been exceptional. We have learnt to adapt quickly and with agility to a fast-changing situation and continue to do so. We were delighted to reopen the School on Monday 8 March following the latest lockdown in England.
Our priority has always been ensuring that the training of our students was uninterrupted and that they were provided with every opportunity to continue with their studies. There are of course limitations to how a practical course can be delivered online.
We have adapted our timetable to ensure all students receive one ballet class and one contemporary dance class every day in studio with reduced student numbers and in masks, a teacher present and live music streamed in. Other areas of the degree programmes (improvisation, fitness and critical studies) remain online and the School continues to engage guest teachers for its Fresh Friday workshop programme.
We are working with a Health & Safety consultant to scrutinise the government guidelines. A one-way system in the building is in place and there is limited access to communal areas. Each day, all students are required to complete a health questionnaire and are screened on arrival at the School to check their physical and mental health. Our student support team are on hand throughout the week to take care of all our students individually and help them through this very difficult time. To enable smaller class sizes, we continue to hire additional studio space and guest teachers have been engaged to allow this in the timetable. PPE has also been purchased to ensure the protection of staff and students and cleaning has been enhanced between classes and a deep clean once a day.
In December 2020, the School invested in a programme of COVID-19 twice-weekly testing for staff and students to allow for contact work, improvisation, partnering and the creation of work with external choreographers.
This has already started to have a positive impact on training. Students are enjoying returning to these aspects of the course which have not been possible in recent months. We are excited by the term ahead and the benefits we will see from this.
Our community classes are currently paused and our pre-vocational programme continues to be delivered online at this time.
Page updated on 10 March 2021.
Students and their families have struggled to pay fees and living costs due to the financial impact of the pandemic on them and their families. We have had to set aside hardship funds to support our students with bursaries and fee waivers. It has been vital to us to support the young artists of the future to ensure they are able to complete their training. If you would like to help support our dancers then please consider making a donation to our COVID-19 Hardship Fund.
Once students are able to return to school the following measures will be implemented:
- Health questionnaires completed in advance to track student and staff symptoms
- Temperature screening on arrival
- Face masks are worn by staff and students in all areas of the school including in class
- Students in small class bubbles for face-to-face teaching
- Organising the timetable to limit the numbers of students and staff needing to be at school at any one time
- Staff are supported to work from home where possible
- Controlling the way that facilities are physically accessed
- Appropriate social distancing
- Enhanced cleaning measures
We are taking a range of steps to provide care and support to any of our students who test positive or who need to self-isolate to ensure that:
- They are contacted with advice and support with reference to self-isolation
- They understand government guidance and are able to seek medical advice from a local GP if required
- They are encouraged to contact a member of the dedicated Student Support team if they need help or are unsure about any of the advice they have been given
- They have access to food, medicines, laundry and other essentials
- They are able to access a range of student support and well-being services
- They are reassured that an absence due to self-isolating will not affect overall attendance
- Those who are able, can to continue to engage with their studies via remote learning
Since March 2020, we have followed all UK government guidance.
From January 2021, our classes have been delivered online as the UK is in lockdown. We will reopen for face-to-face teaching as soon as we are permitted to do so.
Prior to the current lockdown , for the whole of the autumn term 2020 , the School was open with strict guidelines in place, ( wearing of masks in studios and common spaces, one way system in School, daily health questionnaire and temperature checks on arrival , studios and common spaces are cleaned after each group class) and reverted to a mixed mode delivery. We were delighted this enabled us to deliver a face-to-face daily ballet & contemporary class to students in smaller groups, improvisation, gaga, cardio/fitness, critical studies, creative projects were taught online.
The School continued to engage guest teachers for its ‘Fresh Friday’ workshop programme, with some of the delivery live in School and some online depending on the location of the dance artist.
To accommodate the smaller class sizes, we hired additional off site studio space (link to news story).
All students completed a remote access questionnaire so we could ascertain space and technology available to our students. Classes were adapted so to enable all students to engage in the delivery whatever the space they have available to them. Students who did not have access to a laptop were provided with a notebook computer for use at home.
We understand the financial impact COVID-19 has had on our student body , of which many had part time jobs to support their living expenses, and have been offering financial support to our students from our COVID-19 Hardship Fund.
Students who were required to self-isolate were offered a weekly care packages
(containing food and personal care items), delivered to their door and funded from the COVID-19 Hardship Fund, students also could request books/dvds from the School library.
If you have any specific questions about how we have adapted our training since the start of the global pandemic, please get in touch. We would love to tell you more about the positive changes we have made.
Rambert School | Our studios are empty, but our training is full
Latest UK Government advice:
UK restrictions from 5 November 2020
Public Health England stay at home guidance
Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice
In addition to support available at school, some useful resources for students:
Togetherall
Students can login using their school email address
ADVICE FOR RAMBERT SCHOOL STUDENTS
Check your symptoms by visiting NHS Coronavirus Symptoms
Call the NHS coronavirus service 119 if you cannot get help online.
Do not come to school or go to places like a GP surgery, hospital or pharmacy.
If you need to arrange a test go to NHS Coronavirus Test
For information follow this link NHS website for isolation questions
- If you have been contacted by Track and Trace
- You have tested positive for COVID-19 or someone in your household has tested positive
- You have returned from a country not in the UK travel corridor
- You have returned from a Tier 3/ very high risk area (school rules)
Please complete the self isolation form on Teams: Self-isolation form
Do let school know and complete the Self-isolation form on Teams: Self-isolation Form
Please follow the government guidelines below:
Stay at home guidance for households with possible Covid-19 infection
Do let school know and complete the self-isolation form on Teams: Self-isolation Form
Please follow the government guidelines below:
Guidance for contacts of people with possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection