20 March 2020 – ESL Briefing

Dear Colleagues

This briefing is coming out later than planned due to the pressures of urgent Covid-19 related actions that have been juggled this week.

I wanted to say how impressed I have been with the way everyone across ESL has dealt with unprecedented and historic events this week. You have all shown real courage and kept going with doing what is right for your service users and colleagues.

I know how tough it is trying to process changing government updates and coping with lots of sudden changes at work too. At the same time, all of us are working out the best ways to protect our family, friends and community.

There have certainly been some very tricky things to handle this week – like the temporary postponement of all face-to-face adult and community learning courses, as well as handling the impact of college and the threat of business closures on the apprentices we support.

What I know is that, despite all the pressure, everyone in the ESL team is working together to find positive solutions and make the right decisions. How great in ESL that everyone shares the same values of doing the right thing for service users and for each other.

I’ve also been so inspired to see creativity shining through – colleagues have been coming up with new ways to do old things (like meetings) which might end up changing the ways we do things in the future.

Personally, I am actively embracing working from home. I don’t think this can be called social isolation because I’m taking part in so many conference calls through this wonderful new Zoom app – if you haven’t tried it yet – do have a go.

So I do hope you have a good rest this weekend. We will get through this and ESL will be stronger for it. Take care and do keep me posted of any issues, worries and positives that you are encountering.

Best wishes

Jane Taylor