Ingla Reopening: How we’re keeping our student safe from Covid-19

These are exciting times at Ingla! After months of being closed, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, and starting an online English school at ingla.online in our spare time, we’re finally opening our doors again in Turnpike Lane for all of our students in North London and across the city. On Monday, 10th August, we’re going to start having in-person classes again. This means we’ll have to dust off our whiteboard rubbers, flip through paper books again, and make sure to always have a pen or pencil ready to write with.

As thrilling  as it is to be back in the classroom, and to see our students face-to-face, we know that many people will be concerned about how we plan to keep our students safe. At Ingla we’re following all of the British government’s, and English UK’s, guidelines on how to make our school as safe as possible for our students and staff. Here are a few ways that we’re going to make your learning experience as safe and enjoyable as possible:

• Cleaning

Before lessons begin, we’re going to give our school a deep and thorough cleaning. Every surface, every desk and table, and every floor will be cleaned with disinfectant. This will continue when classes start again. After every class our teachers will disinfect every table used by a student, as well as the teacher’s desk and computers. This will also include common, public areas like the reception desk and toilets, which will be regularly cleaned throughout the day

• Social Distancing

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is to socially distance. At Ingla we’re taking a few steps to to make sure students have a safe amount of space to prevent infection. We are going to reduce the number of students by half. So, instead of having 12 students in a room, our maximum class size will be 8 (10 for our big room). This means Inglans will get more attention from teachers, but also they’ll stay safe from contracting Covid-19. Also, we are going to schedule classes with 15 minute gaps. This means that we will never have too many students entering or exiting the building at the same time. Finally, all of our stairwells will only be used in one direction at a time (up or down) so that people don’t have to pass each other on the stairs.

• New Ingla Admin Office!

One of the areas that normally has the most congestion is reception. This is where people used to gather in big groups to pay, ask questions about classes, enrol, and take our level test. To reduce the number of people in reception, we’ve opened a new office space just a 5 minute walk from school, just off Wood Green High Road. Inglans, and prospective students, can visit this office by appointment to do everything they normally would do at reception. Instead of having a dozen people crowded around a reception desk in Turnpike Lane, we’re going to have an orderly system in a completely different building to ensure that we never have too big a group in any one place at a time. Also, we are going to encourage people who would like to join Ingla to do our level test online, from the safety and comfort of their home.

• Inglans who have symptoms of Covid-19 will not be allowed in class

Any student who has symptoms of Covid-19 (fever, persistent cough, difficulty breathing) will be encouraged to stay at home, self-isolate for two weeks, and seek medical attention if necessary. Prevention is the best medicine. If an Inglan is asked to stay home, though, he/she will not lose the lessons they paid for. A student’s booking will be paused and they can start classes again when it’s safe to do so.

• Continuing Online Classes

Ingla has always been very flexible with students. Combining different types of classes is one of our strengths. This means that in the past an Inglan could study grammar in a General English class and then practise using it in a Speaking class, or prepare for an IELTS exam in one classroom and then move across the hall to study grammar in a separate class. We want to encourage students to continue doing this, but we don’t want to expose Inglans to too many different people in a day and increase their risk of getting Covid-19. This is why we’re going to continue offering online classes. So now you can study grammar in school and then, after work, join a speaking class from the safety of your home in front of your computer. Or you can have an IELTS preparation course in the classroom in North London and then, later, top this up online with a specialised course that focuses on just one section of the exam (or the other way around). Any combination of in class and online English lessons is possible. In this way, Inglans can get a variety of English practice without being close to a lot of people in one day.

We know that our Inglans put their trust in our school, and we value that. So when we re-open on 10th August we’ll be ready to make your learning experience as safe as possible!