ÃÛÌÒapp

Platform One is a music college situated on the Isle of Wight, and likeÌýother colleges across the UK,Ìýhad to shut its doorsÌýfor several monthsÌýbecause ofÌýthe Coronavirus pandemic.ÌýDuring the lockdown period,ÌýBTECÌýstudentsÌýnot only adapted to a new way of studying and learning, they alsoÌýdecided they wanted to give back to theÌýdedicatedÌýkey workers of the NHS, thanking them for all their efforts during the pandemic.

BTEC students from the college teamed up with other local musicians to record a charity single based onÌýRobbie Williams’ hit songÌýAngels, with proceeds from the single going towards the Island’s NHS charity to benefit St Mary’s Hospital staff and patients.

We spoke to David Pontin, Director atÌýthe college,Ìýto find out more aboutÌýhow the college and students have adapted to a ‘new normal’ and how the fantasticÌýinitiative came about.ÌýÌý

How have you adapted to teaching from home?

We have a bespoke studentÌýwebsite,Ìýso it was aÌýfairly straightforwardÌýtransition.ÌýWe are creating a lot of content for blended learning in the new academic year. Platform One students were brilliant in lockdown and adapted quickly to a new way of working.Ìý

What things have you been doing to ensure that you’re still facilitating learning from home?Ìý

WeÌýusedÌýLearning platforms such as Auralia, Fender Play, collaborative projects, screen captures automated PowerPoints and virtualÌýlearningÌýlinks to make sure that students couldÌýcontinue their learning from home.

Aside from your working life, whatÌýdidÌýyouÌýdoÌýpersonally to support you and yourÌýstudent'sÌýhealth and wellbeing?ÌýÌý

WeÌýsent weekly video updates to all students and parents and made all students aware of external support agencies through our bulletin. Virtual learning resource packsÌýwereÌýcreated and issued to all students and we had frequent phone calls with students throughout lockdown.Ìý

Can you tell us a bit more about the charity single, how it came about and the involvement from your BTECÌýstudents?ÌýÌý

Platform One were approached by a sponsor –ÌýWightlinkÌýFerries. They run aÌý‘WightlinkÌýin the community’Ìýinitiative and wanted to collaborate on a project. We obviously run a music college so we felt it would be great to do a coverÌýandÌýwe decided on RobbieÌýWilliams’ÌýAngels.ÌýUniversityÌýMusic kindly gave usÌýlicenceÌýclearance. All Platform One students were invited to contribute acrossÌýall ofÌýourÌýprogrammes. We also worked with Fusion Arts Academy and Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra.Ìý

How important do you feel the creatives sector is in the current climate?Ìý

Extremely important – creativity is also about problem solving and this is an essential skillÌýat this time. CreativesÌýhave the ability toÌýadapt. The music industry is very much online and the capacity to collaborate online has never been better. The live sector has certainly been impacted however there are amazing things happening acrossÌýthe music industry to counteract the situations we all find ourselves in.Ìý

What lessons, if any, have you learned from this experience?Ìý

Is it essential that we teach our students to be independent, resilient andÌýcreative.Ìý

Ìý

If you would like to donate to theÌýcharityÌýyou can do so via thisÌýÌýor .