Dear pottery folk, supporters and followers of Clay College Stoke social media,

It is with the greatest regret, that the Trustees have taken the difficult decision to close the College for the latest lockdown.   The students arrived back, after the Christmas break, on Monday the 4th, but by just after 8 pm that night, Government regulation on schools and colleges  had changed and the Trust took the difficult decision to  close  the College.

Unlike many colleges because Clay College is a small unit.  We were able to be open and operate almost normally from July until the Christmas holidays; working safely within COVID-19 rules.  Everyone remained COVID free during that time.  We thank our students and staff whose conscientious approach made that possible.

The students who are able to accommodate a Potters’ wheel and take clay home did so.  Those who were unable to do so, collected tools and clay to work on their hand-building projects, as they had done during the previous lockdown in March. This time, the students will continue with their business module remotely, so as not to take away from their practical time when the College re-opens.

We had already decided to extend the course until Christmas 2021 after the last lockdown.  The Trustees and the Course Director are now working on revising the curriculum so that all aspects of the course are covered once we can re-open.  This will ensure our students leave Clay College with the necessary skills we envisioned when setting up the College almost 4 years ago.  All students should finish their Diploma with the skills needed to be self-sufficient makers. We will be back as soon as we are allowed and will work harder than ever to deliver the course as best we can, and that our hard-working students deserve.

In order to protect the College’s future, we have furloughed our staff for the current lockdown.

We will continue to post what our students are doing from their isolation so do please keep watching out for the posts and support our students at what is a difficult time for all students everywhere .

Thank you for reading  and keep safe everyone

Lisa Hammond and the Adopt a Potter Trustees