To all students

You will be aware that the government is seeking to relax some of the restrictions that are in place to prevent the spread of the pandemic. We have also been paying careful attention to guidance from our churches, Higher Education bodies and public health bodies. 

We are not changing our basic approach to provide all learning and formation for the rest of this term in virtual form.  

Our campus remains closed to visitors and non-resident students and staff for the time being, and we will not begin to ease restrictions on this until we have done a full risk assessment on all our buildings and carried out all safety checks.  The only exception we are making applies to leavers who need to clear their rooms or return library books.  If you need to clear your room then contact Facilities (bewleyg@queens.ac.uk) to make appropriate arrangements, and we understand that for some it will be necessary to bring others to assist you, so it is important that we know about this and can manage this safely.  If you are a leaver and wish to return your library books you can do so by leaving them in a book box in the entrance lobby to the Admin Building.  Please do not go to the Old Building, library or any other buildings on the campus.  You may also post your books back in due course if you prefer.  If you are not a leaver there is no requirement for you to return books until the next academic year.

I realise it will be disappointing news that the library is not yet open to borrow books.  We will continue to review the situation carefully and will inform you as soon as we can change this.

While easing of restrictions may help we know that for many anxiety and uncertainty still predominate.  You may find these (Anglican) resources helpful, for yourself or others.

St. Luke's has created a 'Virtual Wellbeing Programme' with weekly resources for individual or group reflection; for example, week 4's focus is 'Covid-19, crisis fatigue - and you', and the most recent, week 7, is on 'Rhythms and Wellbeing'. This programme is updated every Monday. https://www.stlukesforclergy.org.uk/st-lukes-virtual-wellbeing-programme/ 

The Supporting Good Mental Health booklet from the Church of England contains some daily reflections 'to provide hope, reassurance and comfort'. This is the link: https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-action/mental-health-resources/supporting-good-mental-health 

(Edited by Georgina Bewley - original submission Thursday, 11 June 2020, 1:58 PM)

(Edited by Georgina Bewley - original submission Thursday, 11 June 2020, 1:58 PM)