Thread 35 - Covid Cohort from GCSE 2020 'What They Did on Their Summer Holidays'

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades. It's all relative!
Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.
Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will find a thread within the Further Ed board.
Possibly a move to Parent of Adult Children Board in future? Post Results?

Previous Thread

Hope your DD is ok @diian

I think older adults have a skewed idea of what 18 year olds should look like after watching Grease and Back to the future where older actors played the teenagers.

I have the same @BlueMarigold and @NCTDN Dd is 5ft3 and tiny framed (I'm massive lol). If she wears leggings and a blue polo , no makeup she could easily be mistaken for a year 8/9. She has loved telling people how old she is and showing them her ID since July....

Results day next week! I've calmed down a bit since my chat with DH (Captain Doom /Hindsight).

DS has finally realised results are next week - it seemed to surprise him when I said they are on the 18th....

As he's deferred his entry to 2023 then I feel both he and I are not thinking about it so much although I did discuss with him what he wants to do if he doesn't get the results he needs. He said if they were a bit worse he'd withdraw his application and apply again next year. Or he might resit something and again apply again next year. Am hoping neither of those will be needed but not long until we find out I suppose.

Not to alarm people, but the universities will get the results this Friday (if sticking to normal timetable)!

@Benjispruce4 at St Andrews rent is based on £4k-£5k for a room with shared bathroom plus £2,648 pa catering, there are very few self catered rooms with shared bathroom. En suite is an extra £2.2k - so almost as much as full catering!

So rounding, the average is
£5k for room with shared bathroom, no catering
£7.2k for en suite, no catering
£7.5k for room with shared bathroom, catered
£9.7k en suite, catered (!)
I think most universities are pretty similar, and there is no shortage of demand for the most expensive places - en suites usually in most demand but I don't think other universities charge quite as much extra for en suite.

It took me a while to see it as normal, but we found the catered, shared bathroom good value within the context of the ridiculous rents generally paid by students, particularly as the bathrooms were cleaned every day, which I expect is the same at Durham.

DS has just asked what our move timetable is and when results day is, looked worried and dutifully wrote it all down.

Made me laugh @Volterra ! Sometimes they can be so oblivious. DH has just asked me about moving in day etc. He offered that one of us might like to get the train so more space in car

We have an estate
The drive is about 35/40 mins max ...no need whatsoever to do it all in one trip !

So we should know this time next week if AQA results have been delayed @Monkey2001 !

@Benjispruce4 DD was exhausted for a while after the first 2 jabs. She caught covid in Feb - the day she was summoned for her booster. As she was under 18 she had to wait 12 weeks to rebook, which was in the middle of exams, so we decided to delay. She was absolutely fine this time, just a sore arm. Pfizer for all 3.

Need to get DD to check on UCAS that Kent have done whatever they have to do to release her from their non-existent insurance offer so that we can try clearing if necessary. I think UCAS is embargoed at the moment because of Scottish results, and then will close again on Friday if that's when unis get the results 😱

Thanks for the messages about DD. It's going to be 9 months to a year. It's a big deal and getting her knee working again isn't going to be easy. We're coping okay but I'm not really talking much about it as I end up in tears. It was horrible to watch, the water rescue and then 5 hour drive home with her in a lot of pain.

After getting Covid during A levels and missing her Chemistry exam, now this, and her gap year now in tatters it all seems very hard. She's not looking forward to exam results, she's sure Chemistry is poor but we are pleased that she has an UC to Portsmouth so that's one last thing not to worry about.

Sorry I'm only popping in here and there. Best wishes for everyone for next week.

💐hang in there Wheresthebeach. All the best to her on her recovery.

Aww beach your poor dd. Hope recovery goes well x

I really wish there was a like button! Then I could thank everyone for their kind wishes without having to think about it all. Nationals next week, and Euro's are end of Aug, it's going to be a hard month.

@Wheresthebeach can she do any sport whilst the knee is recovering? Does she have other interests, eg art to occupy her in a quiet gap year? She could probably bring her university start forward if she is unable to put together a good gap year plan.

Ahhh Beach what a shitter. That her year off is so messed up. Let's hope something else interesting eventually arises to appease the disappointment and frustration.

@Wheresthebeach im so so sorry to hear about your DD. I can’t imagine the blood sweat and tears it takes to get to an elite level in sport, for this then to happen. A big hug to you both. I hope she is managing her pain well at least. Look after yourself too - it sounds like it was traumatic for you to watch 💐

So sorry @Wheresthebeach lots of positive vibes to her for a better than expected recovery.

@Wheresthebeach I am so sorry what an awful time for you all. That must have been such a difficult drive for you that day. Really hope they can help her keep on top of her pain relief and she makes good progress with her recovery.
I hope she gets a really good physio which I am learning are worth their weight in gold.

@Wheresthebeach so sorry for all of you. Just really rubbish.

For the ACL rupture its all going to be about taking the time to heal and not to rush back. By 4 months she'll feel she can do sport, but healing isn't finished til 6 months, and then she needs to work on strength. Surgeon was very clear - you wait. She's two physio's - one the Team Physio and one local. Both saying the same thing - play the long game. No going back before 9 months earliest.

They've said she can scuba dive, so we've moved her trip to mid March which they say should be fine. The company agreed to waive change charges in the circumstances which was really nice of them. So we're doing one day at a time, she'll get her trip in. She won't get her Spring in Florida training and getting ready for Worlds. So we are having to scale back massively our expectations of next season which is hard.

The drive back was horrendous. At night, which I hate, I had to pack up the cottage we were staying in, her tent, so it all took time with her in pain and really emotional (she was suppose to be going to Paris with her best friend the next day).

I hope everyone gets the grades they need for their first choices and all accommodation is sorted.

AQA is causing all sorts this year. You really have to wonder about them.

What sport does she do?

Oh @Wheresthebeach much love to you and your daughter ❤ she'll have such a great time when she gets to Portsmouth, all the fun beach side events are back after covid, lots of great new yummy cocktail places etc. Though I shouldn't say this because global warming etc a great place to be when it's warm and sunny. Dolphins were swimming alongside paddleboarders the other day! Keep looking forward as much as poss!

I loved living in Portsmouth as a student, and still love going back there, it is a great place to be in the summer.

Can I ask something of others with DCs with catered accommodation? How much kitchen stuff are yours planning to take? I want to do a quick Ikea trip with DS later in the week but not sure how much stuff he’ll need. His is half board including weekends so he’ll mainly be doing lunches, I was thinking chopping board and knife, couple of plates, bowls, glasses, knives, forks, spoons. Some bag clips and plastic boxes. Tin and bottle openers. Maybe a couple of pans. There won’t be much storage I guess.

I’m so sorry to hear about your dd @Wheresthebeach , that must be devastating for all of you. I hope she can still enjoy her gap year, and maybe some new options will present themselves, that she hasn’t thought of. And I hope she’ll be back competing and on top form next year.

Thank you for your comments yesterday @zebracat, I’m not sure we know what we’re doing but we had a more productive conversation with ds today, after he’d had a good 17 hours sleep!

@EquallyDivided I'm in the 'not doing anything till after results day' camp but hopefully dd will be in catered. My plan is to wait and see what accommodation she gets then use wiwikau to find out what is already there. I don't think I'll buy much kitchen stuff at all.

That's what I was thinking, but DS really isn't going to miss his offer (it's about 50 UCAS points below his predicted) and I don't fancy Ikea after results day. I'm also pretty sure he will get catered as he specified it for disability reasons. There are next to no posts on WIWIKAU about his uni as its so small.