Students returning to CU London (Barking and Dagenham)

Our students will soon be arriving to study and live in the Barking and Dagenham area, and across London. This year is going to look very different for all of us, and we understand that you may have concerns around the safe integration of students in our community. With that in mind, we want to reassure you that the safety of our students, staff and our surrounding communities is our absolute priority.

Like all organisations, we have been working hard to make our site as ‘COVID-secure’ as possible. All of our actions align with or go beyond Government advice and we are ready to respond swiftly to public health issues whenever we need to.   

The Coventry University Group and Coventry University Student's Union (CUSU) have been working to maintain regular contact with public health officials, local authorities and the police to ensure a ‘joined up’ approach. We have worked together to develop consistent messages so that all members of our academic community know what they need to do to keep themselves and others safe.    

 We would also like to share with you some of the measures we’re putting in place on our campuses and in the community to safely manage the return of students to the area:   

‘COVID-secure’ campus – safety measures include social distancing at 2m wherever possible (aided by one-way systems and signage); reduced and reconfigured building and room capacity; increased ventilation, regular deep cleaning and disinfection; frequent access to hand sanitiser; face coverings where appropriate.   

Managing people – with social distancing in place, our campus will not operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future. Numbers of staff and students attending each day will be much lower than usual, and kept to a minimum, through adjustments to the teaching timetable and staff continuing to work from home where possible.   

Managing travel – by moving to a blend of online and small group teaching, and extending the teaching/working day we’ve been able to reduce the demand for public transport and spread it across the day. We're asking staff and students to only come to campus where necessary, and are also encouraging walking and cycling safely wherever possible.   

Test and trace – we are working closely with the NHS to help identify those who may have been in ‘close contact’ with a positive case in our communities and react as quickly as possible.

Public health and social care are core subjects for CU London, and our students will no doubt go on to inform and implement policy in these areas as the UK continues to navigate this pandemic. Students from our campus and across the Coventry University Group have already stepped up to help the NHS during the peak of the pandemic.

We’re experienced in delivering public health messages to our students so we have excellent support infrastructures already in place, with dedicated health and safety and student support staff as well as existing relationships with public health officials.   

We know everyone is keen to get back to something approaching ‘normal’ as soon as possible. Just as schools need to reopen next week to ensure a generation of children do not suffer, students need to get on with building their futures in our region, where so many people rely on them for their livelihoods.  

That said, we take our responsibility for the welfare of our students, staff and local community incredibly seriously. We are committed to doing everything we can to minimise risks and make the return of students as safe as possible for everyone.  

John Dishman
Pro-Vice-Chancellor and CEO

Andy Ginn
Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor at CU London

CU London is a part of the Coventry University Group