UEA (2019) dealing with the unexpected and on to 2nd Year

[juicy0]

New thread for the parents of 2019 freshers. Thank you all for sticking around!
At the start of the year we never would have guessed the topics that are currently being discussed in this page but I'm grateful we still have each other to help navigate our way through this with our DC.
With the emptying of 1st year rooms seemingly on hold for many until the end of lockdown our thoughts will soon turn to 2nd year accommodation and whether term is likely to start as normal in September.

@Itscoldouthere that all sounds positive, although I agree that it seems as if they let him slip through the net instead of keeping a closer eye. It sounds as if your DS is getting there in his own time though. Good that he is in contact with course friends and his new flatmates. I am sure, if his passion for military history is still there, that he could potentially pursue post-grad if he is still inspired? I would hope that the biology course would get more interesting this year with chosen modules enabling a more of-personal-interest focus?

Good to hear that all is going to plan (ish) with your house sale. It will be the end of an era for you all. In a way nice that the whole family has been able to enjoy final months in it. I'm impressed by how quickly things seem to have moved for you after the initial sale fell-through.

We're doing okay. DS still hasn't got a job despite applying for a fair few but I don't think his heart is in it TBQH. I may have to resort to not topping up his student loan to force him to find something. I am not impressed by his slack attitude.

@Itscoldouthere thats all sounding positive and with a way forward. Very good news .

All is fine here, elder son went back to Norwich some weeks ago, finished his exams and shows no sign of wanting to return. I think he is outgrowing "home " which is probably as it should be at the age of 22.
Younger son is very much at home and enjoying drinks on the common with home-based friends. He can't wait for Wetherspoons to open

@Itscoldouthere yes that all sounds great. It's annoying they didn't follow up to his lack of attendance. But hopefully he's on the right track now.

I hope the house move gets going too.

Things are sort of returning to normal in our house. With me back to work and Ds3 back to school. Ds1 starts his summer job 6th July. He's done just about nothing since coming home from university. So a full time job starting at 7.30am will be a shock to the system. But he will be glad to be earning again. Shame ds2 hasn't a job. He'd like to work.

It's very hot here 🥵 I'm sure most of the country is the same.

Thank you all for your kind words, I am so hoping that things work out and DS stays at UEA.
DS1 hasn’t looked for any work but we will be staying in a friends house when the house is sold for 6/8 weeks and it’s in Somerset so a long way from where we currently live.
Thankfully they have still got money from this term and their rent is cheaper than what we were paying for halls so I’m hoping they will be ok next year.
They seem to be managing ok with the lockdown, but do spend a lot of time on-line.
I had one of those special moments tonight where I helped DS2 cook a meal for the family from a Wagamama cookbook, it was so lovey, very chilled, reasonably easy to make and tasted great, I was very proud of him and he felt good about himself too, very uplifting, we need those moments sometimes, don’t we!

@Itscoldouthere yes that sounds a great cooking moment. If ds1 cooks it usually involves him shouting at me to get out the kitchen while he gets on with it 😩

How is everyone - we've gone a bit radio silent as lockdown is lifted?

This is a bit worrying re UEA

How is the house move going @Itscoldouthere?

DS keeps telling me he hasn't officially got his 'end of year results' (know they normally come through in July). Can anyone else confirm this?

And most importantly how are all our student children doing?

DS's cousin and second cousin are joining him at UEA in the new academic year, although doing different subjects.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes it’s been very quiet here on this thread, hope everyone is doing well. That article is rather alarming, 30m losses seem massive, I really hope it doesn’t mean that module options are suddenly reduced, it just feels like everything is so unknown, I know we are all trying to get back to normal but part of me worries that this Covid situation might be with us for longer than we all hope.

We are finally moving, we’ve exchanged and leave here at the end of July, so I’m now really busy, but it is all slowly falling in to place.

Myself and DH went and stayed overnight in Somerset at the house we are temporarily moving too, it’s going to be interesting being somewhere different for a few months. Still can’t get back to Canada, borders are still closed.

DS is making progress, he’s had some good support from UEA, now just has to do a load of work and pass and keep working at improving his MH but I do feel it’s all moving in the right direction.

Both DS have gone away overnight to stay with a friend, they are having a Covid lockdown beard shaving off gathering. DS2 had managed to grown a really quite impressive beard considering he’d never grown one before. It’s the first time they’ve been anywhere in the whole of lockdown so I’m sure they will have fun.

Good luck with your move @Itscoldouthere and sure that Somerset will be a great place to temporarily set up home, although I am sure you are probably 'itching' to get back to settle in Canada.

Good to hear that DS2 is making progress with his mental health and studies.

I'm impressed about the beards. DS has so little facial hair that he wouldn't grow a beard if he didn't shave for a year! A beard shaving off party sounds fun, almost a rite of passage in our new normal?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes the beard thing was a surprise, DS2 has had a beard for about 3 years, when we first went into lockdown he shaved it off and he hated seeing his face without it, it grew back really quickly.
DS2 had never had a beard before and I was amazed how well it grew, it really was quite long, we were trying to get him to leave the middle chin bit and moustache as he could almost curl the ends of the moustache, it would have looked rather Elizabethan, we though it would be funny to do for a short while but DS was not amused.

Interestingly both boys beards are rather gingery in colour although their hair is not, a throwback from my family, as my eldest brother (who sadly died at 21) had full on long bright orange hair.

We are obviously really bored seeing as DS beards now seem really interesting

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 thanks - I think :) - for the link. I presume a lot of Unis face similar financial challenges, I've not had the sense before that UEA is in a particularly worse position to the majority, but the sector does seem to be keeping its cards close to its chest on this one.

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/covid-19-crisis-could-bankrupt-dozen-uk-universities-ifs-warns for example did not identify the Unis most at risk. I'd be genuinely surprised if UEA was one of them.

One thing UEA maybe should be promoting especially for overseas students is that Norwich has had, and continues to have one of the lowest rates of C19, and one of the lowest rates of C19 deaths. if there were to be a second wave it would be reasonable to conclude that this would probably be the same again. So if you want to study in the UK UEA is both an excellent university AND in a really safe, low prevalence part of the country.

@Itscoldouthere yes clearly very bored!!!!

@boys3, I was shocked to come across the article as I would not have expected UEA to be any more at risk than other universities (and lower than many). I am sure I recall reading it was quite low down the pecking order for overseas students, particularly compared to some of the London ones (think LSE and Imperial). Maybe they are just naturally a cautious university? Perhaps, given that it is cheaper part of the country to live in than others, staff members could more easily take a % pay cut without it impacting on their family finances? Or maybe it's pay cut rather than redundancies (which I know to be already happening at some others).

I think you are right about the lower risk in Norwich (and East Anglia) generally. The benefit of it being quite rural without any very large cities and not being an international transport hub.

Hello everyone.

@Itscoldouthere glad to hear your move is going ahead at last. That's great DS is getting on well with his work too.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes I don't think mine would get much of a beard.

We are slowly getting back to normal. As I said up thread, I went back to work when DS3 went back to school 1st June. So that makes life start to return to normal. DS3 finishes primary school next week. A very sad ending without any of the usual leavers events. The end of an era as I've been going up to the school for a very long time as DS1 and DS3 are 8 years apart in age.
I also finish work for the summer next week. I feel like we've already had the school summer hols.

DS1 started his summer job 2 weeks ago. He's moaning that it's boring as he did last year to start with....the crops aren't coming in for testing yet. Once they start combining and they crops arriving he doesn't get time to get bored!

DS2 is still spending his days sleeping. We had a letter with a time slot for collecting his gcse results on 20th August. It'll be interesting to see how he's been graded.

I still wonder what will happen come winter. I can see this virus returning and everything being shut down (I know it's not gone away...but you know what I mean)

You are correct that it hasn't been too bad in Norfolk and Suffolk. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I think a lot of the big cities will have built up immunities, I have not heard of many people that have had the virus in Suffolk where we live.

@icanbewhatiwant good to hear your news. Your DS1 is standing himself in good stead by having a summer job (more than can be said for mine...), so that should motivate him.

Yes, it sounds as if you were doing the school run for even longer than me - I did 14years of it. The end of an era. Is your DS3 excited about going to secondary school or not?

I too feel as if the last 15 weeks have been a holiday in a way, even though I've been working throughout. DD finally breaks up from school today.

What a wasted opportunity the past six months have been for all our children, whether in school or at college or university.

So have any of your DC officially had their pass into year two of study? When I was a student we always got a letter posted with end of year results but suspect it's all done by email now. I'm just a bit worried because I'm sure UEA said by the 22nd and we're fast approaching that date now (and still DS has said nothing...).

I don't know what to believe about COVID-19 now, I really don't. One minute we're told only 6% have got immunity then I read an article today that implies that 'herd immunity' could already have been achieved. There's a massive difference!

Maybe in East Anglia there is just more space and less being on top of each other than you get in large towns and cities? If social distancing is one of the biggest factors in preventing it from spreading, that would make a big difference.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 sounds like you did the school run a similar time to me. Ds1 started primary school in the Easter term as back then in Suffolk you started reception the term of the 5th birthday. So that means we've been there 14 years plus the reception term. No...ds3 isn't really ready for secondary school, neither are his peers. I work at the school and they just seem younger than the previous year 6's were. I think finishing mid March didn't help. I know they are back now, but just feel they aren't as grown up. They'll catch up...all those in year 7 will be in the same boat. He's definitely got some growing up to do.

I don't know what to say about Covid or whether we have herd immunity. I'm sure they may have in the big cities...not sure they will have in quieter places. All we can do is wait. I hope the schools and universities don't end up closing again. The same for businesses too. People say ds2's school year will be the famous year that had GCSEs cancelled. But I fear this could be a regular occurrence. I don't mean very regular, but it makes me think anyway.

Universities facing wipe-out if China bans its students from coming to the UK to study Luckily doesn't include UEA but some 'big names' there.

Has anyones DC had their first year results? Do all courses get them and does anyone know when?

@juicy0 I always thought they would get them by the 22nd but I think that's only final year students, so maybe the others get theirs later? I asked DS yesterday and he confirmed that he'd still not received his.

I hope the schools and universities don't end up closing again. Well BoJo has implied that we wouldn't doing lockdown again so goodness knows what happens if the numbers all start rising again, once they go back to school (which I'm sure they will as children/young adults are the super-spreaders). I give them a month. I just hope that the school contingency plans for next year include better virtually optimised learning than most received over the past six months.

What a lacklustre end to the school year they've all had this year. You particularly have to feel for those who have missed out on their rites of passage transitional stages (Yrs 6s, 11s and 13s). Awful.

Hi everyone, glad you are all OK.
No results for year 1 geography for DS2 yet and he is actually still to submit his final essay !
DS1 has an email to say he is clear to progress yo his final year in medicine but I think its a bit more of a regulated process.
It won't be long before they are all back again !

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes that's us with a year 6 and a year 11. I think for my year 6 it'll be a quick lesson in growing up when he goes to secondary. But I think they are young enough to catch up.

My year 11 will take A levels without ever taking GCSEs. Not sure how that will effect them all. They do mock exams in the school hall so I suppose that helps. I wonder how it will effect years 10 and 12 who will be taking exams next year.

I hope our first years at university won't be effected too much. At least it was the shortest term. But ds says he's missed so much hands on lab time, what with the strikes too. He will never get to do what he's missed. But it must be worse for final year students.

Hello everyone, nice to see the checking in and keeping us updated.
@icanbewhatiwant hope your DS job has become more interesting, they seem to be cutting the crops around us so hopefully he’s got more busy.
It’s so sad for all the younger ones leaving primary with no recognition, I remember that being such a big thing for my DC. Secondary school was so different to primary for them.
We have been very busy, we only have a week and a half left in our house, things are coming together, thank goodness for the local village FB giving sites, I’ve been giving so much away!
Sent lots of furniture to the auction house and have even managed to sell a few things on eBay.
My DH has booked his return fligh to Canada mid August, so it does feel like things are properly moving on.
In theory DS gets set his work by UEA this Friday, although I’m slightly worried, he sent an email to get everything confirmed but the reply was not confirming anything really, he’s been trying to phone but nobody has answered so far.
We did have some very good sessions with student support, so if things don’t happen as expected on Friday I’ll get back in touch with them.
DS does seem a bit happier and he seems committed to going back, just needs to pass his units.
It seems like they may get results this week?
I’ll feel much happier once he knows exactly what he needs to do, he’ll have 4 weeks to do it and we will have moved into a friends house in Somerset, so he will have a quiet place to work, just have to hope it all comes together 🤞🏻

@Itscoldouthere that all sounds positive for your son so far. Well...apart from no reply. But he sounds positive anyway. I hope the move goes well.

And yes...it is quite a big thing moving up to secondary. There will be about 170 children per school year. We only have 105 in the whole primary school (years reception to 6) so they always find it difficult to start with. Usually there are lots of induction days when they go to the secondary and spend a day there. But then in our day we didn't do that and we were all fine. We probably mollycoddle our children more these days 😊

DD got her results today for first year geography and it was good news 👏🏻