Covid-19 Updates!

AClass Academy is now open !

We are following all the safety guidelines and measures, and students will be provided with terms and conditions upon booking.

We have new protocols which are in place to mitigate the risk of transmission of COVID-19, based on the National Protocol on Reopening of English Language Schools issued by the Superintendent of Health in 2021. This Protocol is in addition to the current policies in place at AClass Academy will be implemented indefinitely until further notice.

We aim to ensure effective infection protection and control using the following measures to substantially reduce the risk of transmission. This being said, it is to be noted that the risk of COVID-19 transmission at School can never be totally annulled and while the School will be doing its best to mitigate the risks, parents, students and staff members are to be aware that it is expected that there will be COVID-19 cases at School and the School will thus be obliged to close Bubbles, levels, Cohorts, sectors or possibly the whole school if the Superintendent so warrants.

Conditions of enrolment for English Language Students arriving in Malta.

• Only students who have travelled from the countries in accordance with LN 244/20 and any of its amendments will be accepted at the school.
• Students will fill in a registration form with all the details of their accommodation and contact details so the school may get in touch with them easily.
• All students will be sent a welcome email before their arrival in Malta which outlines the conditions of enrolment (listed below) for all English Language students arriving in Malta. Students will also be advised about the current and updated information available on the government websites, especially in terms of covid-19 testing requirements which are currently required.
• Following are the conditions of enrolment which will be sent via email (these are based on the ELT Standards version 2.0 26^th May 2021)

1) All visitors to and residents of Malta are subject to the laws of Malta.

2) Currently, the duration of mandatory quarantine in Malta is 14 days, irrespective of

vaccination status or previous infection.

3) A student may be placed in quarantine for 14 days because:

1. S/he results positive for Covid-19
2. S/he is deemed to be a close contact of a positive case of COVID-19 following a risk assessment carried out by the Contact Tracing team.
3. S/he is a secondary contact (e.g., the student lives in the same residence as someone who is found to be a close contact of a positive case). Therefore, for the avoidance of doubt, direct exposure to the positive case is not a pre-requisite for quarantine.

4) Therefore, students should understand that they may be required to spend unplanned additional days in Malta if they are issued with a notice of mandatory quarantine.

5) If a positive case of COVID-19 is identified in a school and contact tracing procedures commence, students and staff are obliged to cooperate with Public Health authorities and answer their phone from Monday to Sunday, including public holidays, during contact tracing hours.

6) Whilst the full cooperation of the students is expected and required, it must be made clear that if students do not cooperate and abide by these standards or do not provide all the information requested to the Public Health Authorities, their status as an English Language student may be terminated

7) Environmental Health Officers are empowered to inspect the address of quarantine of people placed in mandatory quarantine by Public Health to ensure adherence to legislation. In the case of shared accommodation, letters of quarantine will be issued with the room number and the names of the individual(s) expected to be in that particular room for the duration of quarantine.

8) Quarantined students will be fined in accordance with the laws of Malta if they are not found in their stated address of quarantine. If additional people are unexpectedly found in a room where someone is in quarantine, they will also be placed in quarantine for 14  days starting from the date that Environmental Health Officers identified the additional people.

9) Students are expected to install and continually use the COVID Alert Malta application throughout their stay in Malta.

Physical Distancing, Health Checks & Temperature Screening while Physically at School

The ongoing assessment and temperature screening of students and staff members on site is critical to minimising the ongoing risk at the school. One signifier of COVID-19 is a raised temperature but that is not a symptom that is unique to this virus and may indicate a wide range of possible infections or illness. Other signifier symptoms may be persistent cough and/or sore throat and/or gastrointestinal problems (diarrhoea and/or vomiting) and/or loss of smell and/or change in behaviour. If there are signs of illness, the student must not attend school. Before entering the school, all students will have their temperature screened at designated check-in points.

Such an operation will be conducted by a designated School representative every morning and documented accordingly.

Any student displaying a temperature of 37.2°C or above or appearing sick, will not be allowed to enter the school.

The School reserves the right to carry out random temperature screenings.  Any student displaying a temperature of 37.2°C or above or appearing sick while at school, will have to leave the school, if the student is a child the student will be kept in the Isolation Room (ROOM 7).

The School reserves the right to consult other medical professionals in the assessment of symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 or otherwise.

Once the negative result is received, then this, together with a medical clearance certificate for the student, is to be sent via email ONLY (and not via other means of communication) to the following School email;

• info@aclassenglish.com

A major tactic in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 is to minimise the physical interaction between individuals. This is known as Physical Distancing and describes the way in which we occupy spaces with other people, moving and adapting to allow adequate space in between, minimising the risk of transmission of the virus by touch or coughs and sneezes.

Essential & Non-Essential Touch Students and members of staff must avoid unnecessary touching, hugging or shaking hands which is termed as non-essential touching. As much as possible and depending on the case, members of staff are to avoid any unnecessary physical contact with the children. However, there are situation where physical contact is necessitated and it will be essential, particularly as the school offers tuition to very young students, so in such as in the case of a child falling, a child throwing a tantrum, a child with special needs, a child requiring care routines the teacher may touch the student.

Bubbles – Younger students will placed in one class and care is being taken to ensure that the students only mix in consistent groups – called Bubbles – each consisting of a limited number of students. In the case of younger learners contact between the different Bubbles is sealed off completely. Each Bubble will have its own Teacher and students must always stay in their Bubble, for the duration of the day at the school. However, because of this movement of educators or students, there is a degree of contact between the Bubbles.

All desks and chairs will be staged to respect the 1.5metre student to-student physical distancing requirement.

Such staging determines the capacity of each room and the limit of occupancy (how many persons can occupy the particular room). All desks/chairs will face the same direction. Furniture in the rooms will be kept to a minimum to accommodate added space between the desks.

Air Circulation Proper indoor ventilation is essential. In order to ensure adequate circulation of air, windows (and doors) must be kept open throughout the duration of the school day to allow for cross ventilation.

On arrival at school students will enter the building in a one-way corridor accompanied by their teacher (for younger students) . Adult students will start at different times to young learners. Breaks will be staggered. Students and teachers are to strictly adhere to this system at all times, according to their schedule.

Safety/Hygiene rules and physical distance requirements will be displayed in the bathrooms for students to see and respect.

Food & Drinks Students will be allowed to bring their lunch in plastic lunch boxes/containers and their drink in plastic bottles/beakers. No warming of food will be possible. No sharing of food will be allowed. Therefore, no birthday cakes, cupcakes or other food items to celebrate a birthday or special event will be allowed

All students and staff levels must wear a protective mask before they go through the morning check-in procedure until they exit the premises at dismissal time.

Isolation Room In the case of the Main Building the School has identified a spacious and well-ventilated room to serve as the Isolation Room. It is situated in the first floor, adjacent to the Nurse Station. Students in the Isolation Room will be kept separated and a 2-metre physical distancing will be applied. In the case of the Annex, the Isolation Room is in the lower level.

The use of the staff room is to be discouraged. No water dispensers may be used by staff. Staff are advised to wipe down the kettle every time it is used and must not share spoons/cups/food in the staffroom.

The use of shared social spaces is to be avoided.

There are to be no gatherings or assemblies at the school.

Break times are to be taken outside and students will not be allowed to eat or take off their masks inside the building.

Students must keep a student card with them at all times, unless they are young learners (in this case the parents will be given all the details of the school prior to arrival and registration).

The school will keep a list and contact details of all people accessing the premises for 28 days (students, staff, maintenance, cleaners etc)

Daily attendance of students will be taken and teachers will draw a classroom plan on the back of each weekly sheet.

The school will provide cleaning and disinfection operations which will be documented. The school will clean using approved products and additional wipes will be provided in the office area should staff require them for additional measures.

Particular care will be taken with light switches, other grip areas, door handles etc.

Protocol regarding suspicion of ill students;

If a student is suspected of being unwell or if a student shows signs of illness such as high temperature the student will be immediately isolated in Room 9 which is located close to the exit.

The parents of the student will be contacted if the child is under age.

If the student is an adult they should leave the premises as quickly as possible without exposing other individuals.

As the school does not have a residence the students will need to self-isolate at home until a test can be arranged.  The students will not be allowed to take public transport but as most of our accommodation is walking distance the student will walk home. If the student is staying within a hotel we will ask the advice of 111.

If 111 advises the student to return to their accommodation we will follow their advice, depending on the particular situation.

Once the student leaves we will disinfect any rooms where the sick individual spent time while symptomatic. We will close off areas used by the person who was sick and open all windows and doors to ventilate. If necessary we will move the students from the classroom to another area of the building.

If the student is confirmed as positive the school will be contacted by public health. The covid liason officer will assist Public Health in contact tracing and follow all health regulations and instructions including closing of the bubble (moving online) and if necessary closing of the cohort.

In addition all Covid-19 standards for English Language teaching will be followed as per version 2.0 26^th May.