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.

I think my younger 2 dc's at school are more likely to bring it home.

Yes, same here with DS3 in Y13. There have been a small number of cases in his sixth form (joint across three secondaries where we are), and he has classes on three different sites. Thankfully he has not got caught up in any of it, and no self-isolation required so far. Touch wood with just a few weeks of term left!!!!

Look like DS2 being picked up from Norwich this Friday, or possibly next Monday, or maybe this Saturday. Three separate texts with different days received over a ten minute. So can't say much more than he'll be back home by this time next week. Hopefully I will get actual clarification on which day he really means.

I think you're right @icanbewhatiwant and agree about the younger DC being more likely to bring COVID-19 home with them.

At DD's school there's been a steady stream of notifications about pupils testing positive. It suddenly struck me how awful it would be to have to SI just as we're emerging from this lockdown and with Christmas just around the corner...

We've done well avoiding covid at the secondary. Only one positive case so far in year 9. My boys are years 7 and 12 so not them. To start with just the closest contacts of the positive case were told to isolate...but it caused so much uproar on the Facebook page that the whole of year 9 had to isolate.

The cause wasn't helped at DD's school by an irresponsible sixth-former deciding to carry on regardless despite testing positive!

Not sure why there's uproar at only expecting close contacts to SI, rather than a whole year group? That's what they're doing at DD's school and it seems to be working effectively, so far at least. Some of DD's friendship group had to SI recently but she and other friends were fine even though they'd had close contact.

Ds and his housemates all went for their first test yesterday and had results back within 45 mins (all negative). He was very impressed with how efficient it was. They were all able to book similar time slots so went together and returned home where they are now staying until they go back on Friday for their second tests. DH is hopefully picking ds up on Saturday. I have to say I am very glad they are being tested as we have dd (23) at home who has a long-term illness and so need to minimise the risk to her as much as possible.

Not sure why there's uproar at only expecting close contacts to SI, rather than a whole year group? That's what they're doing at DD's school and it seems to be working effectively, so far at least.

Same, and same, so to speak. Are the people wanting their DC sent home, almost certainly unnecessarily - how many 'knock on' infection notifications were there? - the same people moaning that schools must be the main source of infection in the entire country, just look at all the pupils being sent home?

DS2's HT sent out a rather pithy message a couple of weeks ago, basically saying Back off. The way we are doing things is working, so I wonder whether that was partly in response to parents of other than the close contacts of cases sent home complaining that their DC (not necessarily with anything other tha brief, outdoor contact, the way things are organised) should have been as well.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 @MarchingFrogs back in sept we were told of there were any covid cases then the whole year group would be sent home. They are keeping year groups in certain corridors...so my year 7 is in the maths corridor for most lessons (apart from PE, art, music and a few others) I'm sure other schools are similar. Then 2 weeks ago we had a letter saying there was a covid case and that contacts had been informed and were isolating. Then on the school Facebook page everyone was asking what year it was. The girl who tested positive wasn't named but several knew who it was, they were saying their child had sat with this girl the week before. Someone else had sat next to her best friend on the bus etc. etc. parents were saying they were going to contact school and that the whole year should be isolating. The next day I heard the whole year were off. I suppose it was the first (known) case. So people were worried. If we keep getting cases it just won't be practical to isolate the whole year group each time.
I hope the vaccines will be available early on to teachers, lecturers etc. So that schools and universities can get back to normal teaching. We have teachers at school that are staying home and teaching via a live feed from their homes. My year 7 has to photograph his maths work from home in the evening and email it for marking. It's not an ideal way to teach, but at least it's teaching in some form and thank goodness for the internet.

That's good to hear @MrsBartlet.

@MarchingFrogs I just don't see the point of sending home entire year groups unless there are reports of a significant number of pupils testing positive simultaneously.

I guess you can see why it happened at your DS' school @icanbewhatiwant if it was the first case. I just think that most secondary schools are taking a 'the fewer pupils' learning that's disrupted by having to self-isolate, the better' type of approach.

Yes, the internet certainly facilitates studying from home in theory but an awful lot of secondary schools didn't embrace it in any shape or form in the first lockdown, did they?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 I am very thankful cases are low here. We were originally told that if a year group were isolating then siblings would need to stay home as well...they have dropped that idea at least.

DS2's school has changed the school day to two sessions a day, 2 and a half hours' teaching time each (with staggered breaks within the session), on a 10 week timetable rotation. Each year group has a designated, separate outdoor area The only real contact between year groups indoors is where some year 12s and year 13s are taught together (no idea for what, but possibly for some AS level classes). Within the sixth form, isolating the whole year group really makes no sense in the context of a 'case' with no relevant outside school contact - there are year 13s taking different A levels that DS2 wouldn't even recognise and certainly never spends any time indoors with.

The longer teaching periods are okay for sixth formers, but I do rather feel for both staff and pupils lower down the school...

In the meantime, PS eventually completed, UCAS form finally paid and sent, so hopefully, this time next year, DS2 will be a first year History of Art student at UEA.

@MarchingFrogs great for your DS2 to have UCAS form in, fingers crossed for UEA, if that is his first choice of course .

@MrsBartlet good to hear how straightforward testing was for your DS, plus the right result, hopefully same again for the second one.

More generally and though not strictly relevant to this thread great news of the P-B vaccine today. At least the third year at UEA for our DCs should be more in line with normality. I think the start of next semester for this academic year will remain a bit of a grind still, but perhaps by April and May things will be much improved.

DD is already having some triple lessons which I think is too much at GCSE level, particularly if you're doing a subject you're not very keen on. It just means you may switch off and then that's most of your learning in that subject lost for the week/fortnight/month (however frequently the timetable is rotated)

@boys3, yes, UEA is his favourite. Along with the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich in general and all the charity / 'vintage' shops he has discovered there so far.

@MarchingFrogs My DD1 almost chose UEA for History of Art but went for another that she’d really set her heart on. We loved everything about it - the staff we met & that wonderful area in the Sainsbury Centre where the students work & the staff are in glass panelled offices surrounding them. It gave the impression the staff would be quite accessible. When we looked around the Sainsbury Centre itself I actually felt quite emotional thinking how amazing it would be to be studying History of Art & have access to such a fabulous facility. I wish your DS2 good luck with his application😊

I have 2 at UEA years 2 and 5 and I have to say parent-wise, it has been ultra convenient. Easy to visit both and go to lunch and easy to do end of terms pick ups, drop offs.
They don't tend to see each other much except by accident on campus or if they need to do something practical. For instance, last week I saw DS2 and sent him back with an advent calendar for his big brother. It was useful for me when DS2 "lost" his wallet early on in the first term and DS1 helped him sort it out and gave him cash.
We didn't encourage DS2 to choose UEA at all but he had already been there quite a few times with DS1 and didn't see any others he liked as much.

Good luck to your DS with his application @MarchingFrogs.

Another one of DS's cousins is in Year 12 and considering putting UEA on his UCAS list too.

Thank you, @Finallyjoinedmnet and @NewModelArmyMayhem18.

The Sainsbury Centre is a great place to while away an hour or two (and the trendy little cafe next to the shop does do a lovely cup of coffee, always a priority)..

Ds2 has considered UEA. He's now year 12. But ds1 regrets choosing the university in our nearest city. He already knew Norwich quite well. He's realised it would have been great to get to know a new city. Of course he is still enjoying it at UEA and being so close has been helpful especially with covid. Ds2 always said he wanted to go to a university as far away as possible. So I don't know why he's started thinking of UEA. Sussex is probably going to be his first choice. He's got near enough a year to think about it.

a university as far away as possible

DS3's current fave is Aberystw............I can't even spell it ! West Wales, coast, Hinterland set there. That one. A long way from anywhere.

Although I really enjoyed Hinterland I’m not convinced if it did Aberystwyth, as a location not the Uni, many if any favours.

@boys3 Wales is a long way from here in Suffolk. I'm glad ds1 stayed close...but I understand why he wishes he went further away. I hope Ds2 doesn't go a long way. A friends son is at exeter, took them 6 hours to drop him off and the same home, they did it in a day. I couldn't drive for that long.

I have had two really close friends who were Aberystwyth students. One was a real action man (into climbing and diving) so it served him well but the other was not at all into that type of stuff. It looks to be a beautiful location though!

Glad DS didn't go a six-hour drive away from home though. Norwich defo wasn't a known quantity for him though.

Picking up DS2 today Snow this morning where we are. Should be fun, although the forecast I’ve just watched suggests rain in Norfolk, although has also shown pics of a snow covered bit of Suffolk.

Snow - how exciting @boys3. Hope you have a safe journey.

@boys3 It's snowing here in Suffolk too. But not on Norwich. I hope you don't have a long journey, have a safe one.