Corona Cohort Y12 into Y13, braving the storm of the third wave

Thanks for the info on apprenticeships, all very helpful and I want DS to look at all his options seeing as he doesn’t really know what he wants to do yet.

So on day 8 of his self isolation, DS2 (yr10) has had a positive lateral flow test tonight, and then a 2nd just to be sure! He’s been sniffing all day but I wasn’t expecting that!
Have booked him for a PCR first thing tomorrow. It’s so annoying, we had a lunch planned with friends tomorrow and DS1 was going to the cinema. I can’t work from home so I need to call my boss tomorrow and let him know, I don’t think I’ll get paid whilst I’m off either. DH is worried as he’s only had his first vaccine (I had both as I work for nhs)

DS has decided to stick within a 100 mile radius of home too.

Having spent a lot of my earlier years having driven over the Severn Bridge and back I was a little guilty of seeing Wales as an extension of England I think if I am totally honest, DD locked down at University amd we didn’t see her for 8 months. Not keen on a repeat of that.

I have to say I never thought much about proximity to home as a factor having gone almost as far away as possible myself (Worcestershire to Edinburgh). But this year I have seen huge value in DS1 being just 1 hour 20 mins drive away.

I think DD has seen it to and will probably stick to 'easy to get home' locations. Sometimes you just need to get home for a family occasion and sometimes you want Mum to come and get you at short notice.

@lovemusic that is very much on my mind too, DS doesn't have physical disabilities other than a bit of hypermobility associated with dyspraxia but he does have autism and a language impairment so will need support. Do you know about the DSA system - disabled students allowance. A tip I saw somewhere was to email the disability support departments of any unis you are interested in with a standard set of questions/queries and take note of the responses you get, generic, personal, speedy, slow, do they invite you to come and meet them. That gives you an idea. Also there is a FB group called WIWIKAU What I Wish I Knew about University, this subject comes up quite often.

Crazy - we do the two hours from our part of Hampshire to Birmingham fairly regularly at weekends, it's not a bad run at all. But we do always keep one eye on the travel app for accidents/incidents on the A34. The M3 can be bad on holiday weekends.

Heifer DD good luck tomorrow! Assuming made progress in the cup.

Thanks for info @Seeline I thought it might be a difficult process. Ds is interested in a business type degree apprenticeship. But I'm sure there won't be anything local to us. So I don't know how that would work accommodation wise. He probably wouldn't earn enough to rent somewhere, I'm sure he wouldn't be counted as a student if working. I've never really thought about it.

[quote EwwSprouts]@Heifer I think your Dc was interested in biology + hockey? We did the York Uni virtual session today and DS thought it was quite useful. They said all the right things about placements, study abroad and options to upgrade to a masters after year 2. It's repeated tomorrow.[/quote]
Thanks @EwwSprouts. Yes Biology and Hockey and York is on her top 5 list at the moment. Unfortunately she is actually playing hockey somewher near York tomorrow (Driffield) so she can't watch the virtual session but I have just signed up as her so I can take a look and report back. She will be gone all day as it's about 3 hrs away from here.

Thanks for the heads up.

Mine hasn't arranged any visits yet either. I'm going to force her to visit some over the summer break, and then hopefully do some proper open days of the ones she likes in September/October.

Dd hasn’t arranged any visits 😬😬, she has a few unis on her lists of possibilities

Oxford
Exeter (first choice)
Bath spa
Southampton

The only one she has visited is Oxford but I think her getting a place is unlikely.

If anyone has any info on the best unis for someone with disabilities and autism i would be grateful, I’m petrified of dd going and not being able to cope physically rather than emotionally.

Aw, it’s so hard isn’t it, knowing what’s best for them. We’re planning to move next summer - still within the midlands - and from the new place it will be a fairly straightforward two hour drive (or direct train) to Southampton. Dd had been not too worried about distance, and is still keen to check out Plymouth, but I think when we drove back from Southampton the other day it hit her how far even that is (we did hit bad traffic). I also reminded her that she’s very sociable but she gets anxious and she might find it tough being around friends 24/7. She admitted that yes, she might appreciate the odd weekend at home, to decompress.

I'm going to have to stop worrying about her worrying, about her worrying aren't I

It was a lovely peaceful day on the Southampton campus though and the rain held off.

They are doing tours if anyone else is interested. They even offered to fit us in today if we wanted. I only went to get a campus map off them. There were also plenty of local people walking dogs on campus which is generally delightful.

The freedom to come home when you want or need shouldn't be underestimated . Covid threw this into relief for me. If DS1 had gone to Aberystwyth he would have been so far away in emergency need and , before covid, I couldn't really visualise him needing /wanting his mummy (he still doesn't). Where is he is an annoying two train changes but an easy journey really and that makes a big difference I think.

DS2 being interested in Edinburgh makes me jittery but GPs are in Melrose at least.

We looked through some uni modules today . I think it is sinking in how big the decisions are.

Thanks @crazycrofter and @Piggywaspushed.
I'd be all for her having a year out ...not sure she'd ever leave then though...

I'd heard York was so good but part of the problem is distance ...she does not want to be too far.

We hopped on the train to Southampton this morning just to have a look round campus , she liked how pretty it was. The city itself is well known to her as our nearest 'big' shopping centre so no surprises there. She did say it didn't thrill her like Cardiff did. By the time we left campus, got bus to train station then arrived home it was nearly two hours in all. Yes she can be picked up and that's half an hours drive ish but she is talking about the freedom to come home when she feels sad.

I just think she is worrying unnecessarily so far in advance. Boyfriend deciding he not so obsessed with her that he will follow her anymore doesn't help.

I just keep saying that final decisions don't have to be made for a while yet..and trying not to force opinions

Ah thanks EversoDelighted and BlahBlahBlah321 it sounds great. DD should be starting 2022 but is seriously thinking of deferring as would love a gap year to give her brain a rest. She's wanting to do teacher training too and heard from so many people that Winchester is the place to go. DD not sporty either but does love to dance, sing and is into drama too and they have dance studios and a chance to get involved in theatre shows etc.
Has your niece been assigned either Burma or Queens for her room allocation BlahBlah? Think they said those were the two closest to the teacher training lecture halls on campus.

@Heifer I think your Dc was interested in biology + hockey? We did the York Uni virtual session today and DS thought it was quite useful. They said all the right things about placements, study abroad and options to upgrade to a masters after year 2. It's repeated tomorrow.

I think PwC’s flying start degree apprenticeship is worth a look - you can do finance/IT and you actually go to Uni as normal, fees paid and then paid holiday work with PwC. That’s from memory but when I looked I thought it sounded amazing. No doubt very competitive though!

HSBC does degree apprenticeships, as does Dyson. Massively competitive.

Sorry - gov.uk, not giv 😁

Thanks everyone for your comments 🙂

@icanbewhatiwant we looked into degree apprenticeships for my DS. The school recommends twin tracking with a uni application, as the apprenticeship route finishes much later in the year.

There is no one place to look for position s which complicates things but the giv.uk site is a good starting point. Make sure they are actual degree apprenticeships rather than degree level - those you don't actually get a degree at the end which rather ties you to staying within that sector in the future.

They are usually highly competitive, sometimes require higher grades than the equivalent straight degree. They involve the usual job interviews etc.

You need to be highly organised because they will all have different closing dates etc

You don't get to choose which uni provides the teaching element, or how it is provided. It could be all online, you could attend uni a day a week, it could be done in blocks.

From the limited experience we had before giving up on the process, you just had standard work terms - so no accommodation provided, standard annual leave entitlement but of course a salary and fees paid.

From memory, jobs should be beginning to be advertised for next September round about now.

Ah possibly, my Niece is about as unsporty as they come

DS on the other hand - sports facilities are top priority!