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14.09.20 – Updated 17.09.20
“If you don’t like wearing a mask, you’re going to hate using a ventilator”
Kay Burley, Sky Breakfast
“If shop customers wear a mask, that cuts the possibility of transmission to about 20%. If staff wear one as well, that cuts transmission to about 5%”.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, Chair, BMA
Face masks are “the most important, powerful public health tool we have” to combat coronavirus.
Robert Redfield, director of the US Centre for disease Control
“In a community, you look out for each other. Right now, that means wearing a mask, to reduce the risk of transmission.”
Darrell Priestley, nma Principal
“When I turned five, I wanted Malibu Barbie. My sons just want face masks at their party”
Hadley Freeman, the Guardian
13.09.20 – Darrell Priestley, Academy Co-Founder and Principal
Very soon, the first students will again be able to attend lessons live and in person at nma. If you want to take this up, it is important that you be prepared, and know what to expect.
As part of our raft of protections, we are adopting a Covid Zero policy, which everyone planning to attend needs to understand, because compliance will be a condition of entry. Shortly, guidance will start to appear and be published on this page. Please check back often, and let all your friends and family who hope to attend know too. We want you to be ready.
Recently I have heard stories of people arriving back at their place of work only to find to their dismay that, essentially, nothing is different from before. That simply cannot be allowed to happen here. We are throwing our arms around this community, and building a virtual fence to offer the greatest possible protection. Any serious Covid Zero policy would require this. Along with physical changes, and changes to use, new rules will be introduced, and by adopting these rules the whole community will become safer. You could think of it as a medieval fort, in which the rules form a strong palisade, and by sticking to them we are all the defenders.
When the new rules appear, take time to study and get to know them. Some may think we are over reacting; I am quite comfortable with that, and on this basis it may become necessary to restrict who can attend live lessons at any time.
The new rules may be subject to change, or be added to as necessary. To ensure you you are aware of any updates as they appear, check here often. Generally, any new posts will show a publication date, but if not there is a latest publication date showing at the top left of this news page.
Finally, don’t let these rules put you off. They should not spoil your enjoyment one bit, they will simply make you safer when you are here. We are genuinely excited to be seeing our wonderful students in person again. This has been a long time coming.
08.09.20 – Darrell Priestley, Academy Co-Founder and Principal
This very morning, in the space of seven seconds in the Priestley kitchen, (the de facto Academy HQ), an important decision was reached: we will not be reopening the shop to the public at this time.
The intention had been to reopen the shop this September, with strict limits on entry, but only until 3.30pm in the week and not at all on Saturday. By opening when few if any students pass through, we had sought to protect students and their rides (attending parent) from risk through social contact. It now seems quite clear this is not enough. If we are to do our bit for Covid Zero, the strict rules required could not be adequately explained to passing trade, nor their compliance guaranteed. So, call and collect only for now, with shop customers met at the door with their goods after telephoning their order.
Effectively, this means Academy only to pass the inner entrance door. And, for those that do, strict rules must be adhered to. It will not be onerous, but it will be enforced. This is about keeping you, your mum, and your granny safe, and for us that means pursuit of Covid Zero, because only zero will do. Covid Zero means a safer, more optimistic future ahead, and while we will all have to get this sooner or later, taking leadership means getting it sooner, as in now.
Watching professor Jonathan Van Tam interviewed on Sky Breakfast shortly afterwards simply confirmed that our decision had been the right one. Risky times lie ahead, but we believe we can navigate them safely, as a community. When you are on board with us in this, and we are in total lock step, we will immediately be in a far better place than lock down. The good things in life, like learning and music, can continue, and we will enjoy our social interaction again, but without risk to others.
We can do this. Guidance will be produced, and your presence at the Academy requires that each of us follow it to the letter. This is the only way to go. For those unable to comply, remote lessons at home will be the only option we can offer at this time. Meanwhile, while the shop will remain closed to the public, at some expense to us, Academy attendees can shop with exclusive access on their regular visits only.
I hope and trust our students and their families will grasp why it is so very important that we take these steps. I cannot in honesty say it was a difficult decision, since it was logical and necessary. We hope you will embrace the new guidance, knowing that these measures exist simply to ensure your safe enjoyment, and the safety and well being of those you love and care about. I totally believe in what we are doing, and I have every intention that you will have fun learning with us through these extraordinary times.
Surely, going Covid Zero must be worth it?
06.09.20 – Darrell Priestley
NMA is hurtling straight like an arrow toward opening later this very month! It’s so exiting. But what have we been up to, I hear you ask? If only you knew!
It’s been quite some time since Eileen and I had a day off of any decription. How long, I don’t recall, (though it was four weeks on Saturday since I last had time for a bike ride), but since my last teaching day, nine days ago now, we have been working for many hours every day making intense preparations. The biggest single job, and the one you would be hard pressed indeed not to notice, was redecorating the cavernous nma hall, stairs and landings that you pass though every week when you attend. In twenty six years at the current location, it is the first time we have tackled this daunting task ourselves, but thankfully all the really big challenges (recall the ceiling heights around the stair wells?) are behind us now.
A number of safety screens have been sourced and ordered, which together with other safety measures should be in place before students set foot back inside the building later this month.
From Monday 7th Septemeber, lessons will be moving into a transition phase, and the timetable is being rebuilt in a flexible way that will allow students to take their lessons either at the Academy, or remotely if preferred or on occasions when needing to isolate.
Throughout the last nine days we have been variously tired, hungry, and at times even quite exhausted. Some evenings when we got home, we briefly zombied through the kitchen and then shuffled straight to bed, but the results speak for themselves, and now we are eagerly charging toward the finishing line.
Next task, to write the guidance for returning students. Covid zero won’t achieve itself, and as a community we will do our bit to bring it about by diligently working together. I raise a virtual glass to all our fine students and their wonderful families. I am also keen to see our fellow teachers again in person; Teams, Zoom, Skype and the telephone are ok, but never quite the same.
Keep watching this space for updates – something a lot like normal business (only better) will resume shortly.