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.

DS2 is moving into his house mid-September - I’ve told him he needs to go then so that he’s got a good 2 weeks before lectures start and he can isolate if necessary

Sounds similar to DD's plan @NotSorry she picked up the keys to her new house on Friday and plans to move in move In Mid September. According the the landlord the house was 'cleaned' on the way out by the previous tenants and there are no plans to get a professional cleaner in so I went with DD to check it out. It's clean in the sense that there is nothing left in it and each bedroom looks okay, but the kitchen isn't clean so I think I'll help her sort that out before they move in. We are local so I don't mind helping get it straight before the others arrive.

@juicy0 sounds like a good plan - I keep asking DS if house will be cleaned beforehand but he is very laissez-faire about it all - one of the housemates seems to be doing all the organising and keeping on top of everything. Not sure I’m going to be able to help him move as I might be working but DH will go with him - I’m sure all will be fine. I’ve had another look at UEA website this morning and they are still saying mix of face to face and online learning. Hopefully they’ll be able to get a kind of normal

@NotSorry listening to the news over the past few days I can't help but feel that their experience this year will be a long way from normal and I feel so upset for them. I think all unis are sticking to the same message about mixed face to face and virtual learning but I do wonder if it's to get 'bums on seats'?

Probably right, I think they do need to go back to be with their peers and try and find their own normal - it’s really not good for them to be at home trying to study here - such a shame isn’t it

Ds's gf is moving in to her place in Norwich tomorrow. Ds wants to go and stay with her Friday after work for the weekend, then stay here Monday to Thursday night so he's near his work place. He wants to do that for 5 weeks until he gets his keys on 5th sept. Then he wants to stay at his new place weekends and back here again midweek for work. I'm really not keen on him staying somewhere else weekends, then back here midweek, especially as the younger 2 boys don't have school, my work has finished until sept and dh is retired. So we are keeping away from people really. I'm sure the people he is staying with will be out and about. They may be strict about social distancing but I very much doubt it.
I hadn't even thought about the houses being clean. Isn't there usually a gap of 2 weeks anyway? So as far as the virus is concerned it should have died off wouldn't it?

We have now sold our house and have move to a friends house in Somerset. It was pretty full on and exhausting, but I’m glad it’s all done.
DS is trying to do a piece of work that needs to be submitted by 7th not easy due to no internet, but hopefully he will get it done. He then has anothe 3 pieces of work that need to be submitted by 26th August, we will have internet next week so hopefully he will be ok.
He gets his house 25th September, I don’t really know much about his house, I think one of his flatmates is sorting it out.
Not liking all the current Covid talk and local lockdowns, just hope they do get some face to face teaching when they go back.

I mean 15th September (not 25th).

@Itscoldouthere phew...you've finally moved. That's great. I hope ds can get his work done too.

@icanbewhatiwant yes that’s one stress out of the way! Must say it was exhausting and emotionally draining for us all.
UEA DS didn’t cope very well with the whole move, he kind of shut down a bit, not great seeing as he has work to do, but he seems to be better now we are in my friends house, it’s very homely here and we are treating this first week as a holiday so keeping things slow paced.
DS is going to have to take his Uni work one step at a time, it feels a bit like a mountain at the moment, but broken down it’s perfectly doo-able.
Hopefully he will get through it!

Great when you finally move, the stress is in the preparation I found, boxes everywhere.

I keep asking DS to log into his uni. account to see if there are any changes to things. Absolutely nothing from them he said. I know we make first payment for flat later this month. No idea what is happening with tuition fees, uni. have not said. Has anyone been asked for tuition fees yet??

Ds found out recently that a module has been cancelled. He's meant to choose something else, he was told from a certain list as it needs to be compatible with his other modules, the email was marked urgent, but his tutor (who ds doesn't really like) is saying there's no rush he doesn't need to choose yet. Ds doesn't know how to find out what modules he chooses from.

The cancelled module was an environmental science module rather than biology so he was disappointed, it would be good to do something different.

@icanbewhatiwant that's a shame for your DS, might it be an option for the 3rd year though ? - trying to think of possible positives.

DS2 has confirmed his modules for year 2 (history) - surprised me knowing his interests previously, but shows that Uni really can expand horizons and thinking.

@boys3 yes I hadn't thought of 3rd year. I assumed they carry on with the same modules for the 2 years. I didn't go to university and clearly know nothing!

@icanbewhatiwant I asked DS if he’d heard anything about his options and told him about some options being cancelled, he said no he’d not heard anything.
Several hours later he came down and said mum you’ve jinxed me, he’d just had an email saying they won’t be able to offer his option choice of Beginners Japanese 🤣

@justasking111 may have missed this from earlier in this or the other thread(s) not sure what number we are now up to but are you paying the tuition fees up front or is your DS taking the student loan to cover them?

If the former at some point the Uni Finance Office should be in contact to request payment, and if the latter, and assuming your DS has completed his second year student finance application, then that should be a simple automated process once the new term starts.

@Itscoldouthere beginners Japanese? That's certainly something different to learn 😂

I suppose I should ask DS to check his email for module changes. The trouble is its beginning to look like I am being that helicopter mum, prompted by Mumsnet
Boy, its hot today

It feels like ds has moved out already as he went to Norwich from work yesterday to stay with his gf as she's in her new house. He will go to work from there Monday, then back here after work, I did say this weekend only as there is only one other girl there at the moment. The other 4 arrive later this week. I don't really want him staying there and here as I don't think they'll all be social distancing when out. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I'm just not happy about it.
I can see him moving in with her until he gets his keys 5th sept. He's been asked to work as much as September as he can. It's a good 50 mins commute from Norwich back here for work in the traffic, he has to be at work 8am. So an early start.
Dh is going to visit his daughter on the south coast for a few days, taking ds2 with him. So it'll just be me and ds3 home for a few days. That'll be strange after we've all been home together so long. I couldn't go because we have the pup.

How is your pup doing now @icanbewhatiwant? Hopefully no more really early starts? How has she bonded with your other dog?

Nothing SFE will happen until the official start of the new academic year.

Glad you're now settled in your temporary accommodation @Itscoldouthere.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 she's fine thanks for asking, but still starts barking anywhere between 5am and 6am. She's done it every morn since beginning of March when we got her 😓 She's in charge of the older dog. They do get on well, they play together a lot, but we still have to keep an eye on them as the pups playing is relentless, it's not fair on the 7 year old dog. She's almost full grown now, they don't stay pups for long.

We heard from SFE a month or so ago, this time last year we had to give an estimate of earnings for 2019/20 then ds was given his loan (about half way between minimum and maximum loan) I actually guesstimated wrong and we earned less. But hadn't told them, then ds randomly got a letter saying he'd get the minimum loan this coming year and they were going on the amount I'd estimated, assuming it's staying the same. I didn't get that at all as they didn't give him the minimum loan on the amount I had guessed. So why this time? So I printed off the forms and sent them back with income details for 2018/19 which is what they should be going on for this coming year. I messaged SFE on Facebook chat to ask what to do about my estimate that was wrong. They want proof of income, so now our accountant will have to write letters, print off copies of tax return etc. so that will cost us. It's all so complicated when we aren't on a set wage as such. At least we know in future years to get copies of tax returns, for the next 6 years...assuming ds 2 will go to university.

That's a PITA about your income @icanbewhatiwant. Just extra admin you don't necessarily need to be having to do.

Poor you with your pup still waking you up at the crack of dawn. Mind you, our cats plonk themselves on top of me at 6ish as an "it's breakfast time" reminder, so not dissimilar (although I am usually awake by then anyway).

We are just back from a weekend camping, usual camping experience some of it lovely some of it hellish, we were under some trees and had quite a bit of Cornish fog which made droplets fall from the trees onto our tent so it felt like it rained every night! We certainly didn’t experience the really hot weather that the SE had but it did feel lovely going somewhere and being outside (although it was just a field in Cornwall).
I think my dog had the best time playing with all the other dogs, he’s exhausted has spent all day in bed so far!
We had a rather stressful Friday, DS was due to submit two pieces of work to UEA, first piece an essay went fine, second piece was a 4 page question/answer multiple choice type thing. It is apparently set and marked by an external company for UEA and they hadn’t informed them that DS had a time extension so it wouldn’t let him submit it 🤯
We have a very stressful few hours trying to get it sorted out (also delaying our departure for camping).
It still hasn’t really been sorted and he’s waiting for an another email from UEA, must say it wasn’t a great start to his retakes/resubmissions, feel like the next few weeks might be a bit stressful !

@Itscoldouthere glad you managed to get away and enjoy the great outdoors. Sorry that your DS has had such a hassle submitting one of his pieces of work. Technology is supposed to simplify life but sometimes it does anything but. Hope it's all sorted very soon and your DS can focus on the next assignment.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 yes technology can make things more stressful, we only got broadband installed on Friday morning that’s what he was waiting for so he could submit!
The biggest lesson he is learning is to try and do things at the right time, putting off and getting extensions just makes life more difficult.
That’s probably a good life lesson to learn.