End of Year 13: Results, Summer and plans for September and onwards

[Rollergirl11]

Noticed the current thread is almost full so thought I better start a new one for discussing results day and our DC’s plans for uni/gap years or anything else!

@lifeturnsonadime
Thanks - she does have 1-1 support, or at least is supposed to, but it hasn't started yet.

In the meantime we looked into what might help in the way of alarms and she now uses an app called Alarmy which is working really well, you have to do a task before the alarm can be switched off. I think she does some maths problems but there are others. Her big problem was falling straight back to sleep and this helps a lot with that as she wakes up more fully before she gets the chance.

I agree, very frustrating to watch them procrastinate instead of getting help with procrastination! DD is doing much better than I worried she might, but still needs a bit of scaffolding from home. Hopefully when her mentor sessions begin she will be fine. She is home for a few days at the moment and had an online exam yesterday, it was painful watching her struggle to start revising for it, brought back all those A level memories!

It has been great to have her home though, full of stories about all the people and places she has discovered. And lovely to spoil her a bit, she's much more appreciative of a bit of tlc than she was when she lived here!

Hello all! Lovely to hear all the updates.

DD was back this week for a few days for reading week. Brought enough washing to sink a ship! And I’m cooking again which feels weird having had a nice break from it.

went to London - Selfridges and a mooch about which was fun. So lovely to spend time with her - it had been 6 weeks since we had seen her.

@MrsAvocet thought of you when we watched Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children for the zillionth time this week! And I hear you on the melancholy feeling of time marching on - DD is my youngest and it’s sad when the fun stuff of visiting unis etc is over.

DD has made some lovely friends - and I’m really pleased that it’s a real mixture of backgrounds and locations - I think she may be one of the only ones from down South. They are house hunting for Y2, which is being slightly irritated by one of the friends parents getting overly involved. They seem a wee bit obsessive but of course there may be more to it that she doesn’t know about.

She is really looking forward to Christmas. She needs some time to decompress as it’s all been a lot. I remember the first Christmas DS came home from uni as a really joyous time so hoping it’s even more wonderful this year with them both back.

Meanwhile, I’ve booked 4 trips away so have lots to do and look forward to.

Ah, I'm so happy for you all, getting to see your DC this week! No visits here and another month to go, and we haven't even had a facetime for a couple of weeks as DD's been too busy. Time is flying but this week has been a tough one and we've really missed her. I sent a care package this week that went down well, and she seems to be looking forward to our scheduled call tomorrow. It's brilliant to know she's busy and happy, but I can't wait till December.

Seems to be the weekend for visits as my DS is home too as he had the opportunity to take part in the Lord Mayor’s Show. He is having a great time - saw him on the BBC coverage and then nipped out to see him go past irl!

He got back late last night as he had a seminar until 6pm and it takes about 3.5 hours to get home from Durham. He won’t go back until Monday as he doesn’t start until 3pm. I think he has settled really well. He is happy with the friends he has made and they are viewing possible houses to share next week. I am so relieved he seems happy and relaxed about how things have gone so far.

@lifeturnsonadime my son has got his support sorted but only because the autism support people started the process as part of their early arrival scheme. He even arranged and had a couple of sessions with the mentors provided by DSA, but that took an awful lot of remote nagging by me. That the students are expected to take the lead in sorting their own support, whilst a great goal, does somewhat miss the point for those with executive functioning difficulties.

No exams for him though until next May, but he does have formative essays and tasks to complete before Christmas which he may find challenging.

I've got my older son home this weekend which is nice. He's very different personality wise to DS2 and there's a bit of a tendency for him to get overshadowed by his extrovert little brother. Thinking about it, apart from the occasional school trip I think this is the first time DS1 has been the only one of my children at home, and whilst I love it when everyone is here it's been really nice to just have him here on his own.
Not heard much from DS1 this week, he seems to be settled into a routine with his course and hobbies though so all's well overall.

So lovely to hear everyone’s updates! Sounds like most of us have had a visit from our DC’s for reading week. DD came home too for a week before heading back to Exeter to celebrate Halloween. It was great having her back and I was really sad to see her go again. She is coping really well with the break-up of her and her BF; much better than I dreamed of and I was happy to see and hear that she has been eating well at uni. So looks like we have managed to avoid a relapse!

DD is off to Durham next weekend to visit 3 of her friends that are at uni there. Randomly, there is a direct train from Exeter to Durham and given that she has no lectures on a Friday she is going up early morning. Still takes just under 6 hours though so she’s planning on getting some work done on the way. It will give her a little snippet of what life at Durham would have been like if she’d chosen to go there instead of Exeter.

2nd year accommodation has been sorted and contract signed. They have decided to all share again so there is 8 of them in a house together. They have actually managed to secure a pretty decent deal as the tenancy is for 46 weeks rather than the full 52 weeks that lots of student housing seems to be for. One of the girls that DD shares with has an older sister at Exeter and she has lived in this house and knows the landlord and he is decent so fingers crossed they won’t have any issues with the house or him.

Can’t believe that Christmas is sneaking up on us. Will be so strange to put the tree up and decorate the house without DD here. She meant to take her Xmas decs back to uni with her but forgot. Maybe I’ll send them if I’m feeling generous! 😂

@Rollergirl11 We tend to decorate quite late for Christmas, and I think I'd be in trouble if I did it without DD so am looking forward to it as a shared tradition when she comes home 😊

When do everyone's DC finish for Christmas? DS2's last day isn't until 20th Dec. DS1 will be home a few days earlier. Both go back in the first week of Jan. It's all very different to my student days in the 80s when the Christmas events started in the first week of December, term finished no later than about 12th Dec and then we had a month or so at home!

Ds stayed the night this week and it was good to cuddle up on the sofa watching tv with him. Work is ramping up now so I think he's getting a bit stressed but he finishes around the 13th so not long to go. We were hoping to have a holiday together but he has exams on returning and is also due back early around the 4th.

Dh and I planning a big trip for end of Feb but can't decide where. It'll be weird going without Ds not least because he's so good with the tech when we travel, maps, timetables etc

@MrsAvocet I think the late finishes are due to the switch to semesters rather than terms. DD has end of semester exams which finish on 17th December and is getting a train home on the 18th. She doesn't go back until 13th January, but has booked flights for a quick trip back to Edinburgh for Hogmanay. Her plan is to go up on the morning of 31st December, fly back home early on 1st January and sleep when she gets home! Her flat is right in the centre of the city and the opportunity for a free grandstand view is just too good to miss. She will miss being home to put up Christmas decorations and so on, but I'm sure the Christmas markets and seasonal stuff up in Edinburgh will more than make up for it.

@MrsAvocet - I remember the Xmas break well and then five weeks at Easter. Dd finishes on 13th December and starts again on 6th with research week then two weeks of assessments. We are visiting her on Wednesday. We haven’t seen her for eight weeks so dh is very excited!

Lovely to see the updates and so many home this weekend and enjoying university. So good to hear your DD is coping OK with the breakup Rollergirl and happy there.

DDs term I think goes to 7th December then back quite late around mid January, only 8 or 9 week terms. DD was saying it's going too fast already and 3 years there will be over too soon. We have already decorated for Christmas and having a first Christmas weekend this weekend with Christmas meal, cakes from bakers, prosecco, crackers and 2 Christmas trees, cat cracker and cat stocking which has been good fun. DD has met up with her boyfriend this morning who is home from Bristol for the weekend and we are all going to the cinema to watch Paddington in Peru tonight, going late so it will be quieter hopefully. Then she is back on the train tomorrow morning to Oxford and I have another hospital check, which will be fine and we have our trees being cut by tree surgeon. I have a new job in overseas economic development starting early December based overseas so will be away myself for Christmas but will be hot there which will be a nice change. DD has got a student ambassador role at Oxford which is paid £12.50 an hour, she said about a third got the position and all state and almost all girls. She also keeps telling me they are looking for people to run the ball and then saying she isn't going to do it but going through it in great detail though do share her concern may be too time consuming. She's rowing which already is quite the time commitment.

Scotland is def later. DSs dept ball is on 23 Dec! So he’s not going to that. He’s flying home on 16th; DD finishes on 13th.

DS due back about two weeks before her as well in Jan, has less time at Easter but then is finished v early April/May where DD going til about 20 June.

DS finishes on the 13 December but thinks he might stay in London for a bit. I've reminded him the latest he can be home is the 23 for his Dad's birthday. I suspect he might come back after the weekend anyway.

It looks like I might be down in London twice before then so I'll see him both times.

He seems to finally have got past the not wanting to see us part. We were under strict instructions not to interfere to start with!

DS also finishes on 13th December then about 4 weeks off - Lancaster still does the old fashioned three terms.
He's sorted his flat for next year. There will be seven of them. Deposit is paid.
He's coming home for a family event at the end of this month which will be lovely.

DH and I are currently on the train from Bristol back to York. I suspect this is the same train your DD will go on up to Durham @Rollergirl11 as it starts in Plymouth I think but definitely through Exeter and this one goes to Edinburgh. They get pretty full and people are in and out of seats a lot as many people travel just part of the journey.

DD is getting along all right - has been having some issues with work but has been speaking to student services (has other name but can’t remember what) and she is having some counselling next week I think. She has also recently got a boyfriend who sounds a good thing and we even got to meet him (we took them out for lunch which was good both in terms of the food and the company 😃). Don’t think we scared him off which is good 😊

DD is organising things for next years house - think the people it will be are being worked out and then there will be looking for a house.

She breaks up 13th December but is planning a trip to London with a friend who’s at St Andrews so will come back on the 16th I think. I can’t decide whether we should get the tree before or after she gets back as it is a thing she and I generally do. She has exams before Christmas which is good as no revising over Christmas. Think she goes back around 6th January but then doesn’t have any lectures until around the 13th.

Glad all DC seem to be getting on well.
My DS came home for a few days in reading week and said it was very strange to be home.
He gets train home 14th December but is then off to Vienna Christmas Markets with his best friend until the 22nd. No idea if he will have much work to do or exams to revise for but hopefully not, as he’s also off to The Lakes with friends.

Good to hear everyone's news, and that the young people are finding their feet.

@Penguinsa wishing you all the best with your new job. Hoping 2025 is a very positive year for you. Loving the idea ofn you and your family already starting Christmas traditions. How was Paddington 3?

DD is finding working in retail four/five days a week tough-going. But eyes on the prize for her trip to SE in spring '25.

She has four unconditional offers under her belt now (likely will be accepting the main Exeter campus one). Still waiting to hear from St Andrews. She may be waiting some time though, I'd have thought.

She has a trip to Sweden planned for early December with her bestie which she's very much looking forward to. Let's just hope there's snow on the ground, as that was very much one of the reasons for heading to Scandinavia. Nothing can be guaranteed nowadays so who knows?

It's interesting about the later (December) break-ups for Christmas. I definitely remember getting a full month off over the festive period. DD has to go in to school to collect her A Level certificates in the second week of December. No issue for her, but thinking that many of her friends who are already at university, won't necessarily be home by then to do so.

Thanks Louis Hope your DD has a wonderful time travelling and hope she gets snow. We all loved Paddington in Peru, the kids in the family are similar age to ours so like they grew up together. One of DSs friends when Paddington2 came out told me that our family was exactly like Paddington's and I was just like Paddington's Mum. It was amusing to see the kids grown up with the DD doing everything and off to university like my DD and the DS doing as little as possible like my DS. Congrats to your DD on 4 offers, that's great and hope St Andrews also come through with an offer.

Not really heard much from DD since her visit but will be back in a few weeks time. She seems to be super busy there but very much enjoying it and she's always been a very full on activity person (for her we used to say the song I'll sleep when I'm dead was written) whereas DS growing up his favourite phrase was lt's a lovely day for doing nothing.

Signed off from surgery checks now and went to RHS Wisley with DH at the weekend, Christmas lights were already on but not officially.

@@MrsAvocet definitely that its just a year ago and UCAS, personal statements and awaiting uni replies. It does go so very quick.

DD2 has gone and seen some places for next year with her boyfriend for year 2. They have been enjoying the time living together for year one, but the studio they are in in student halls has had issues and it took two months to fix a blocked sink which is just madness. So they are going elsewhere and saw 4 placed this thursday just gone and putting a deposit down tomorrow. She has also had sucess with the camera traps, capturing foxes, a mouse and a badger.
DD1 is currently in Florence enjoying her autumn residential with the post grads, phd, post docs and shes done 1 week and has one more to go before shes back on the Saturday.

Florence sounds lovely Sammy

Heard from DD, got pictures of the snow in Oxford and her rowing at 6am in it. Only 2 weeks of term to go.

Hello all 😊

DD has signed for a Y2 house - 5 of them, the one who’s parents were over involved having dropped out. DD seems very happy with the choice and it’s only a short walk to uni so all good. Lots of snow where she is and she’s sent me some stunning photos inc wildlife playing in it.

She has booked for ice skating in London w her school friends when she’s back which she’s looking forward to. They will have a lot to catch up on. I sent her a real little Christmas tree complete with decorations and lights which she was delighted with. She’s a big fan of all the traditions at Christmas. Am hoping it’s quite special this year with both of them back. Going to be a shock to the system for me - I have hardly done any cooking since she’s been gone, so going from zero to cooking for 4, then massive Christmas party and then the main event with relatives staying for 3 nights is going to be a bit of a shock to the system….

First of my trips away next week, hoping to do a bit of Christmas shopping. 🌲

We had excited texts and photos from snowy Edinburgh yesterday. DD was home last weekend, which was lovely, and we are going up to visit next week. Only one week of teaching left in this semester, then she has exams in mid-December. I don't think she can quite believe how quickly it is going!

Glad to here you are signed off @Penguinsa and that your DD's hand is recovered enough for her to back to rowing. Good luck to your DD on finding a new studio for next year @sammyjoanne and well done to your DD @SooperOuting on getting a house sorted.

Snowy Edinburgh must be gorgeous Pumpkin They seem to have a fair bit of snow in Oxford and beautiful pics but we just have wind and rain this weekend here.

Have a lovely trip Sooper I am flying myself next weekend and will be 29C there so quite the different weather.

I’m off to Bristol tomorrow just for a night to see DD in a choir Christmas concert 😊 she and a group of friends seem to have found a house for next year which is good