Oxford and Cambridge current students - discussion thread for anyone with daughters, sons etc there for Michaelmas 2020 (and not just freshers!)

[DadDadDad]

A continuation thread for those attending Oxbridge for the first time this term, but it makes sense to throw it open to anyone with a DC there (or other family member, or maybe you're a student yourself or teach / work there - all welcome!) Share your thoughts and questions on college life, courses, etc. A certain virus has made it a bit different for everyone this year...

I have a DS who is a fresher at a small Oxford college in a small subject. We will be taking him there in just over a week.

I'd say you are good to go kitten from what I can see (although I have to admit that I lost the will to live after a few paragraphs..)

@OhYouBadBadKitten - interesting. I was told no unnecessary travel if in a high alert area but that looks a bit more relaxed than I'd been told. It's weird that we'd be asked not to sit at a table inside with DS1 for lunch. Bit of a risk to travel to oxford and rely on good weather.

I know -what you mean Dragon Thankfully I'm tier 1 at present, but who knows for how long and indeed how long the tier system lasts until they decide to lock us all up again!

@Coleoptera, DD's C college are delivering breakfast and she says they will do laundry too. It sounds like there are differences across the university.

@ofteninaspin, is your DC on Grange Road in a very friendly college? If so, I have been so impressed with the pastoral care there. I can't believe my DD is in her final year.

So reading the official link that @OhYouBadBadKitten posted, it doesn't ban you from travelling out of a Tier 2 area (and specifically says you can go on holiday to another area) and just talks about aiming to reduce the number of journeys that you make. Personally I feel it's discouraging travelling to see someone in another part of the country but it's not strictly banning it.

We've just had advice from our council in London (so tier 2 from Saturday) encouraging us not to travel. They say;

'you can continue to travel to venues or amenities that are open, for work or to access education, but should look to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible.'

I take that to mean 'don't take day trips to see your children at university'. I guess it's open to interpretation though.

That’s very frustrating Coleo.

DS sent us these stats from the university. Last week, the numbers were very low:
www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/stay-safe-cambridge-uni/data-from-covid-19-testing-service

Oh @Coleoptera, that's so frustrating. I bet it's a box ticking exercise in part so unfortunately logic doesn't play a part. Certainly there's an absence of scientific logic behind many (most?) of the Covid rules.
Maybe it won't be long until the rest of the corridor needs to isolate after which DT1 will be released ahead of them.

Such a bummer but, big picture, he's in Cambridge which is what he has wanted for so long!

And well done you for doing the emergency food drop and firing a warning shot across the bows (of the Plodge at least)

Coleoptera, sympathies. There is obviously much disparity; the granular detail of your entries is in sharp contrast to DDs college which seems to be at the lenient end of the spectrum from what DD tells me. A “ dont do that again son” approach seems to prevail compared to other colleges demanding £50 fines, essays on covid responsibility etc. Whatever; rates seem very low across the University as a whole.
Your care and concern shine out; try not to fret, a very many DSs will get through Michaelmas term with no breakfast ( unrelated to isolation demands) and pants that could walk home come December.

Coleoptera surely your DS will be fine with a bowl of cereal and UHT milk? It's not as though he's using as much energy as usual, if he's having to isolate.

Well we had just booked AirBNB accommodation for several days to visit DD in Cambridge. This is the one time that we can do the long trip (she travelled to Cambridge by train). And then she's put into 14 days of self-isolation because she sat next to a boy in the dining hall who has now tested positive for Covid. I had some lockdown food and Vitamin D pills ready to give her. We've now had to cancel the visit.

Apparently her supervisions are online anyway, so it shouldn't make a lot of difference educationally.

I think that in this weather you can use the windowsill outside your room instead of a fridge? No need to use the kitchen really.

How very disappointing @Greektome. I suppose it's better that this happened now rather than when you were on the motorway driving there, for example. But it is very unlucky given the low number of cases in Cambridge. Or maybe numbers are climbing quickly? I think there are at least two DC on this board who are self isolating now and one lucky escape. I would love to visit DS (O) at some point, but even if he wanted the visit (I suspect he emphatically would not) it seems a bit too risky, what with changing rules and the threat of isolation at any time.

DD says that those isolating are allowed out for 1 hour a day for exercise. I don't yet know what that means exactly.
I think she'll be fine. When at home on holiday she spends a lot of time lying on her bed chatting to friends or listening to music online. And she's got a lot of work to get on with. She's been a bit shocked by the amount of work she's expected to do now!

Your DT1 has a brilliant attitude @Coleoptera. I too would be frustrated on DS’s behalf.
I had completely forgotten about putting milk on a window silk @Greektome! And sorry to hear about your DD’s self isolation - and your scuppered plans.
I haven’t quite abandoned all thoughts of visiting DC but it is looking increasingly unwise.

Windowsill!

Greektome I'm sorry about your plans too. It's all so crap.

I'm not totally giving up on next months trip. Even if it's to put dds present on a bench or something then step back a few meters like they used to for plague. As long as she's not confined to quarters and we aren't told to limit travel. I might send her some cheap bits to open on her birthday though soon, just in case.

D1's (Oxford) college forbids the use of windowsills as impromptu fridge space. Actually, she's not supposed to open the windows at all (squirrels) and she can't anyway as her window seems to be broken. Also not allowed to lure or entice the college cat into rooms. So quite a bit of entertainment ruled out there.

She has only had a couple of things f2f, but is going out every day for walks. The libraries have to be booked which is a bit of a pain. She thinks that her timetable clashes have been resolved. Matriculation tomorrow, via zoom, I don't know if they're having any celebration or dinner for them afterwards. As far as she knows, there is only one person who has tested positive for covid - there is no routine testing, just if you or someone in your household has symptoms.

We could not fit our mini fridge into the car when we took D1 down to Oxford, but said if she needed to isolate in her room, we would order one to be delivered to her. The one we have is 45L, she could probably manage with a smaller one. There are 17L, 24L and 30L sized 'quiet, suitable for bedrooms' mini fridges on Amazon which I have bookmarked just in case. Annoyingly, they are all more expensive than our larger one was.

Jules you may have got this covered but probably good to check whether fridges are allowed -- some colleges are fussy about having things tested first because of a notional fire risk.