As of Monday 19th April, Jump Studios has opened the door again to young people to enjoy the after-school sessions!
We’re back!
This week was special as it marked the first time of 2021 that we opened our doors for young people.
Since March 2020, we’ve had to change something we did almost every day at Jump Studios; we’ve stopped being able to deliver after-school sessions in person.
We recently talked about what that experience has been like and how we dealt with the changes, if you want to check out that blog post. But for now, the recent changes in the COVID guidelines meant that we can have young people back in the media centre.
How does it work in-line with the COVID guidelines?
To put it simply, caution!
The current government guidelines allowed us to open our doors from the 8th of March, but with the Easter break looming, we decided it was best to begin the next stage when we had found our feet a little more.
Firstly, we are all regularly tested.
Every member of staff on the Jump Studios team are tested regularly, whether before or during work. This is not just including those working directly with the young people.
In the Jump Studios team, we prefer to use the tests from home before we come into the office each morning.
Secondly, we distance out activities and keep strict guidance on how many young people and staff can be in a room at one time.
Whilst it does make you wonder whether you’re in an episode of Black Mirror at times, the enforced distancing between us is a necessary hurdle in reopening our doors.
Even in our large studio, where we would once have 30+ young people running wild – we now have brought that right back to a maximum of 6 young people and 2 facilitators.
Thirdly, we wear masks.
It’ll come as no surprise to find that, when you’re not completely in your own space, you are wearing a mask.
That applies for the young people, staff and parents.
How has it gone?
This week saw us run Control Alt Delete on Monday afternoon, Maker City on Tuesday afternoon and Creative Hub on Wednesday afternoon.
It has been amazing to let young people back in through the doors and, whilst it is only the beginning, we can already feel a slight buzz around the place.
Knowle West Media Centre is a place that was designed to be a hub for creativity and technology, so it has felt very close to our values.
We’re aware that it must be difficult for the young people, who have to uphold these strange measures throughout their whole day at school before coming to the after-school sessions, but we genuinely get the feeling that the space that we create for them is a return they welcome.
Youth programmer for Maker City, Clara, says: I feels so refreshing to be back in the space with the young people! Especially seeing them create stickers and take them home!
Youth programmer for Control Alt Delete and Creative Hub, Mike, says: It has been so great being back at KWMC. We’ve missed all of the young people and can’t wait to deliver exciting (and safe!) activities with them.
Here’s to next week and many, many more to come!
