Classroom training returns

Classroom training has resumed at Door and Hardware Federation (DHF).

The Tamworth-based trade association has, since the onset of the Covid pandemic, been providing a mix of online training and examinations via its distance learning programme (DLP), with delegates able to meet their training obligations, albeit from the safety of their own locations.

Learners can once again return to DHF’s training academy, a self-contained building on its own premises, with just eight delegates permitted on each course, and social distancing rules strictly adhered to. Ordinarily, the organisation’s spacious academy can accommodate up to 25 people per course, but safety remains a top priority for learners, the organisation said.

“As our courses are fully accredited by Ofqual, we were given the ‘all clear’ for classroom training to resume from March 8 from the Department of Education (DfE),” head of commercial operations Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens said.

“However, we have taken this additional time to ensure that a full risk assessment has been undertaken and a deep clean completed in preparation for opening day. When our classroom learning returned last June, we ensured delegates remained at a safe 2m distance from one another, provided hand sanitiser, gloves, face coverings and disposable cups for all attendees, and learners were reassured by the spacious environment, both inside and out. We will once again be implementing these initiatives.”

She continued: “Feedback on our online provision has been outstanding, but we do understand that, for some, there is no substitute for face-to-face engagement.”