Students to come home from Uni in an orderly fashion

[FlibbertyGiblets]

BBC link

Very short window, we can go get them (different parts of the country of course) as work very flexible, luckily, rather than depend on trains and buses.

Hope it works out okay.

I saw this too. I hope it works out well too, but whatever happens my DD3 will be coming home for Christmas.

My daughter is doing a PGCE and is in a school placement until end of the day on the 9th which gives her hours to get packed and come home if she has to stay within the window. Surely the next day will be ok?

Have a smashing time topseyt.

Allywill the schools and uni will apply pragmatism I reckon; either the placement will stop the day before or travel on the 10th will be fine.

Good idea, I think.

@Allywill maybe she could pack on 6/7/8th evenings, and leave on 9th, there is almost a month’s notice for her to get arranged, which should be ok unless all her stuff needs to be moved out of halls at non-term times as I know some halls required this in the past

What about students that have jobs? If my DS comes home early December I'm not sure his job will be kept open until January, or whenever it is decided that he can go back. Also, all along people have said that a negative test today doesn't mean you will still be negative tomorrow.

What is they are positive, wait the 7 days and are positive again?
Do they seriously think students will stay in halls at Christmas.

Its a badly organised idea. Giving unuversities no time to plan. What happens on their return?

I can't understand how they can ban students from travelling home if we are out of lockdown. Possibly if somewhere is in Tier 3 I guess, but the rest?

There can't be one rule for students and one for the rest of the population.

There can't be one rule for students and one for the rest of the population

This. Unless they legislate for it I suppose. But why the paranoia about grandparents? How many students actually live with grandparents? And if you want to see them on Christmas Day they and their younger relatives will have to take a view about the risk.

She could possibly pack before but it’s pretty full on. She doesn’t finish in school until after 4 it takes 45 mins on a bus to get back to halls. With waiting and walking time she doesn’t get back until almost 6. She will have to eat/ cook and in the days before finish she will have lesson prep and essays. Can’t see why it would make a massive difference if I go and pick her up on 10th. She already gets COVID tested every week by uni anyway. In her flat are 3 international students - there is no guarantee they will be able to get flights within the window either.

@Cookerhood

What about students that have jobs? If my DS comes home early December I'm not sure his job will be kept open until January, or whenever it is decided that he can go back. Also, all along people have said that a negative test today doesn't mean you will still be negative tomorrow.

DS lives in a private rental and has a weekend job which he will be expected to be at as it's retail. He somehow thinks these rules apply to him but I can't see how that's going to work. Plus he's only 25 minutes away.

I’m a uni lecturer and don’t understand how this is going to work for all students. My students have an exam the week before Xmas day. They have placement which we can’t finish early up to the Sunday before Xmas. They can’t go home before then.

And now I’m worried for them that if they’re meant to have a test before going home some may get a positive test in those last few days and then have to spend Xmas in a halls of residence on their own at Xmas.

All this seems ridiculous and extremely hurtful to families like us who have school children potentially bringing the virus home to us vulnerable families EVERY DAY! Why does only students taking it home at Christmas matter.

I'm a bit concerned about the allocated days

My DD's accommodation rules are that she has to completely move out during holidays

I can't take time off on a week day so can only get her Saturday or Sunday (it's a 4.5 hour drive so really not safe to do after work)

What if she's not allocated a weekend day?

Although first year DD isn't in university halls, but private ones, so I am assuming she might not have the allocated day issue.

Surely there will be leeway?!

Many will be picked up by parents and it will need to be weekends for most I would have thought. We will collect DD - she will want to bring her computer home if its going to be online for the fine week or so, and no guarantee about January.

My DS will, likely continue working in his part time job until a couple of days before Christmas. He has tested positive last week so presumably will be ok to travel when he wants, he won't be using public transport.

These are guidelines. It will be impossible to legislate so as long as the university does implement something sensible it will be fine. My student DS also has a job, and I expect he will be home when he wants to come, just like anyone else who is working.

DD is already home, but had work lined up in the timeframe. Her original idea was to come home end November and isolate. Guess if the dates can't be worked around students can come home earlier or within a couple of days, that way if you've got an elderly or vulnerable person in your bubble, at least it can't be caught from students.

For those that need to clear out accommodation, if you can't get them, it's a very easy process to get items into store. DD booked, packed and got her stuff into store in 24 hours before lockdown.

@elastamum

These are guidelines. It will be impossible to legislate so as long as the university does implement something sensible it will be fine. My student DS also has a job, and I expect he will be home when he wants to come, just like anyone else who is working.

I feel the same but am having a hard time getting DS to understand this. He seems worried about it all and thinks he needs to speak to his boss. He says he's had an email and he thinks he has to comply.

If they say they are testing them from the 3-9th Dec and anyone positive must isolate, won’t a lot of students just go home on 2nd or before, rather than risk 2 weeks imprisonment in halls?

Testing isn’t compulsory. They’ll only be testing the students who decide to go to the testing site and get tested.

They can’t force any adult to travel on a particular day or stop them from staying in accommodation that they are paying rent for.

The government really just needed to say “We’re giving unis lots of tests so you can get tested before you travel. Don’t forget if you test positive after 10th Dec your housemates will still be isolating at uni on Christmas Day”.

I wonder what university will be the first to try and enforce tests or imprison students (again).

DD3 had already decided to take a test through her uni on the 4th dec, self isolate for 14 days and then come home on the 18th december.
She’s already booked her train ticket home as she was supposed to be coming home the weekend just gone but couldn’t due to lockdown. The train company wouldn’t refund but would let her change the date of travel which she did to the 18th december.

My daughter will be coming hone on 11th Dec, as planned and she will drive herself. Her grandparents work in the construction industry and worked through both lockdowns. Her dad teaches at the institution where she is a student and commutes every day on the train.

She has been travelling home every few weeks to attend hospital appointments anyway.