Dear Colleagues,
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday about London’s move into Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions, I am sorry that many of you have seen your plans for the break change.
Under Tier 4, the University is continuing to operate as it has done throughout the autumn and we are not expecting the position to change in January. Control measures following government guidelines have been put in place to ensure that our site is Covid-secure (see further information here). You can continue to do work onsite which cannot be done at home. You are able to travel between Tiers if required to do so for work. The University remains open until Tuesday 22 December, when the Library will close at 11pm, and after the break will re-open on Monday 4 January.
We last night received clarification that the introduction of Tier 4 restrictions do not result in any change for students travelling home for Christmas. Any student travelling to a different address for the break can do so once during the period between 3 December 2020 and 7 February 2021. Students will form part of the household they return to and will not count as a separate household. This remains the case for those who may be preparing to travel from or to a Tier 4 area. We will be sharing this clarification with students today.
The Tiers will next be reviewed on Wednesday 30 December and we will be back in touch soon afterwards if there are any changes impacting on the University.
Each of us will be impacted in different ways by the requirements under Tier 4, but our thoughts are especially with anyone who will now be spending the festive period alone. If you would be interested in connecting with other members of our community during this time, please contact Jane Saffell, Deputy Principal (Education), via jsaffell@sgul.ac.uk by the end of today and join the Random Chat MS Teams site. If there is demand, Jane will be arranging ‘Random Chat’ sessions on MS Teams for any students who will be apart from friends or family over the break, and any staff would be very welcome to join them. These sessions have been running throughout the term and are an informal online space for conversation, allowing staff and student participants to get to know each other.
The introduction of Tier 4 restrictions is a further knock at the end of a very challenging year. Thank you again for your remarkable efforts in adapting how our University runs in the face of so many twists and turns. I hope that you can enjoy some time to rest and recharge over the coming weeks and that a brighter phase lies ahead for us all in 2021.
Best wishes,
Paul Ratcliffe
Chief Operating Officer