From the Principal #105

Welcome back to the start of the second half of the spring term. I hope you enjoyed the half-term holiday and had some time to recharge your batteries after what has been a busy start to 2021. It’s been great to see the students, albeit online, and I have been impressed at how they have conducted themselves during their Mock Exams this week. Their resolve and resilience to succeed are evident, and I am sure, will pay dividends in the future. My sincere thanks to our outstanding staff, who have continued to be flexible and resilient and have adapted to new teaching and assessment methods. We will undoubtedly learn more about the Government’s plans for assessing this summer’s exam session, and we will communicate our plans to you in a timely manner.

We look forward to welcoming back the DLD family to College on Monday, 8 March (its been nearly three months!), and we will continue with our robust COVID-19 processes and procedures to keep everyone healthy and safe. There is a growing sense of optimism now that the UK Government has announced its roadmap out of lockdown. The number of cases in the UK is now falling and excellent progress has been made with the vaccination rollout – over 20 million people have now received a vaccination, which is over a third of the UK adult population. This is likely to result in a continued fall in cases, especially as the most vulnerable people in the UK have been vaccinated first. There are reduced hospital admissions due to Covid-19 and a sharp decrease in transmission rates across the UK. However, we still need to remain cautious and adhere to the measures in place to keep everybody safe as we continue to return to some semblance of normality.

I hope this is the final time we go into a national lockdown. I know it hasn’t been easy for many, but I hope, like the virus, we have mutated into something stronger and that we will all come back a little more tolerant, a little more respectful and a whole lot kinder.

Best wishes

Irfan
Irfan Latif, Principal