Westministenders: The Beginning of Negotiations

[RedToothBrush]

Transition has a few hours left.

Then negotiations start and trade stops.

Far from being over, there are huge numbers of issues that lay unresolved.

And businesses both now in the UK and EU will cease to trade with each other just because the red tape is such a pain.

So whilst people will celebrate and think things are 'done' that just shows how much people are paying attention.

It will be interesting to see people gradually realising what has been lost...

'National Effort'
'As I speak to you tonight'
'my thoughts are with all those who've lost loved ones'
'do more together'
'Schools are safe'
'fair wind in our sails'
'restrictions we've endured for so long'
'critically if everyone plays their part by following the rules'
'I want to say to everyone that I know how tough this is'
'now more than ever we must pull together'
'pivotal moment'
'entering the last days of the struggle'
'tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people'
'thanks to the miracle of science the end is in sight'

Bingo?

Its such a pain for them sabrina

I wondered that Sabrina it did say "Live" but I wasn't sure either, I think you could well be right.

Netherlands and Germany refuse entry to UK nationals for non-essential travel

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/04/netherlands-refuses-entry-uk-nationals-non-essential-travel-brexit-coronavirus

These are the things they knew they voted for right?

@SabrinaThwaite

Same here *@RufustheSniggeringReindeer* - DS wanted to sit his GCSEs, but at least he’s had a first set of mocks.

My ds has had no mocks. NO formal assessment since Nov 2019. How the heck will they assess him then?

It is Rufus, although my eldest is doing uni finals and is happy with online exams - suspect it might just nudge him up a grade.

@52andblue bummer

I'm worried about DD2 as well, CAGs wise. Last year she was struggling to rebuild her life following a fibromyalgia diagnosis. It was hard. This year she has good coping skills, has had therapy to come to terms with her father's abuse of all of us and is doing much better - her grades are coming up and instead of the BCC she was working at, she's now sitting at ABB, with potentially one of the Bs coming up to an A because her History coursework is looking to be A/A* level. Her biology is coming on leaps as well - sitting at around B now, was Ds last year. She isn't going to get the chance to prove herself. I just hope it doesn't cost her the Uni place she wants.

My Uni age kid would rather be there than here
but its the paying for halls we cannot use that bugs
and the £9250 fees for , what exactly ?
certainly not getting the stuff on the course details on the Uni website

I agree Sabrina - there's no way that the congenitally disorganised and disrespectful of other people's time BJ would have been so punctual

@pointythings

I'm worried about DD2 as well, CAGs wise. Last year she was struggling to rebuild her life following a fibromyalgia diagnosis. It was hard. This year she has good coping skills, has had therapy to come to terms with her father's abuse of all of us and is doing much better - her grades are coming up and instead of the BCC she was working at, she's now sitting at ABB, with potentially one of the Bs coming up to an A because her History coursework is looking to be A/A* level. Her biology is coming on leaps as well - sitting at around B now, was Ds last year. She isn't going to get the chance to prove herself. I just hope it doesn't cost her the Uni place she wants.

I was the same with dd when she did her gcse in 2017 as she had been diagnosed with ME/CFS which triggered massive mental health issues

And i didnt have to deal with covid and cancelled exams!!!

Hope you are both ok pointy 💐🧁

🍰 and 💐 and 🍷 for everyone

Who thinks schools back mid feb? and 8m vaccinated?

I don't, Easter at the earliest.

Pretty bloody rich for Johnson to say he'd sent kids back today as he 'values every day of education'. No, not for the masses he doesn't.

I'm pretty sure Eton hasn't gone back yet...

www.etoncollege.com/news-and-diary/term-dates/

We don't have the staff for that level of vaccination. Nowhere near it.

@52andblue

Pretty bloody rich for Johnson to say he'd sent kids back today as he 'values every day of education'. No, not for the masses he doesn't.

That’s not what his reports say in the Tom Bower book.

My mum asked for it in her Xmas stocking and she keeps reading me bits over the phone.

“Boris almost but did not completely ruin the school play” (he failed to learn his lines for Richard II)

“Boris almost but did not completely ruin the school play” (he failed to learn his lines for Richard II)

But whichever Master was organising the school play should have had an understudy ready and at the first sign of nonsense from Johnson, chucked him out and given whatever punishment that Eton used. Preferably expulsion.

Johnson has dropped the bluster and buffoonery.I think he's finally realising that he can't chortle and "Pshaww" his way out of this.

He's not up to the job and he knows it.

My Uni age kid would rather be there than here but its the paying for halls we cannot use that bugs and the £9250 fees for , what exactly?

LQ don't know about your DS's uni, but I can attest that our students are absolutely getting a full education despite the lack of f2f lectures. In fact, my workload has doubled this past term. We have been pre-recording 3-4 short asynchronous lecture recordings per week to make up for the loss of one hour's lecture. The other hour's lecture is given as a synchronous online lecture each week per module.

But we are also managing and monitoring daily online forum discussions, as well as designing weekly quizzes, debates, and setting and assessing video group assignments on top of prepping students for the final assignment. We have used Blackboard, Teams, Padlet etc etc and Vevox and endless training on how to make online teaching more engaging. Our students have actually never been worked so hard and I think many of them are feeling quite stressed by it all...

I hope that those young people he's shafted big time, remember this when they come to vote. This was not unforeseen - this has been a problem which has now been known about for months.

I know that dealing with Covid is difficult with no easy solutions, but I noted the other day that the countries which had made a mess were led by right wing Governments, Trump, Johnson, Bolsonario, Modi.

DrB
Lectures etc are happening, and last term they had weekly practicals
but
no fieldwork / research trips - which are a stated part of the course

I do not blame the Uni, but its a shit situation

...

Ds1 is distraught.
He's worked so fucking hard.

@ListeningQuietly

DrB Lectures etc are happening, and last term they had weekly practicals but no fieldwork / research trips - which are a stated part of the course

I do not blame the Uni, but its a shit situation

My DS should have been on a paid placement this year. Instead, it’s been extended home-based project work.