University 2020 :10: Empty nests warm vests and covid tests: uni parents 2020

[sammyjoanne]

Carry on from MilicentMartha's University 9 thead
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/a4025020-University-2020-9-And-theyre-off-making-hay-while-the-sun-shines?msgid=101075411#101075411

7 out of 8 have returned to DS’s flat now. He’s got exams next week so I hope they’re revising!

@Nettleskeins I'm not sure that this will be much help, but DD has ASD, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia - the DSA application was made by her between school and uni last summer, and an Ed psych report was not requested - they used her psychiatrists report and school assessments of SLD for exams etc. She was awarded - amongst other things - weekly sessions with a)an ASD mentor and b) a ADHD coach who helps her with time management and prioritising stuff. We have been very impressed and relieved at the process, the DSA support and Lancaster's provision. She is studying Law so without that support she would not be able to achieve. I do hope your son gets it sorted soon - and Lancaster is very switched on - if there is anything specific I can help with please let me know.

Anyone know if it would be ok for DH to take DS back to uni on Saturday? Recent internet issues mean the wifi at home is not up to online learning. 4G is worse. Rural county. Plus he's due to donate plasma in uni city next week (requested by track and trace as he's had covid). Personally I feel it's justified but don't want them to have an encounter with the police.

@Mrsbrownsgargoyle the WiFi issue would be classed as an exception under the guidance I think.

The Stay at Home document says, inter alia:

Medical reasons

You can leave home for a medical reason, including to get a COVID-19 test, for medical appointments and for emergencies.

• so that's the plasma donation covered.

(Further reasonable excuses include - seriously - leaving home for the purpose of picketing. I must admit I hadn't noticed that one before. So walking with a drink in your hand 2 metres away from a friend in a quiet area closer to your doorstep than Stratford is from Downing St, = illegal, standing on a picket line, no maximum distance specified, on you go, then, lads. So perhaps the SU could plan a protest against something going on on campus? Everyone could go back then, with government blessing. But I digress).

The same document refers to the previous guidance to HE re students returning, which indeed says:

However, HE providers should consider supporting the return of students in exceptional circumstances, for example, where students do not have access to appropriate alternative accommodation, facilities or study space, or who need to return for health or safety reasons.

Thank you both. That's what I was thinking.

Sounds reasonable to me. Anything your DH could take to prove he was returning from dropping a student off? Some letter with your DS’s term time address or something just in case he’s asked on his return with no car load of student plus stuff?

Good plan, thanks.

Good idea @MillicentMartha

Sounds fine to me too. If the state wants to pass laws stopping things then they need to amend the statutory instrument, not issue non binding "guidance".

Hello all, this thread had dropped off my list. I am surprised that so many students are going back, I thought that after the covid explosion in universities in the autumn, they would be trying to keep students away. St Andrews are only asking medics to go back and are allowing internationals who had booked travel before restrictions were announced and people who do not have facilities to study from home. DS is a medic, so is assuming that there will be nobody else in his bubble, but maybe more people fall into the exempt categories than we realised. It will be better if there are more than 20 students staying in the hall meant for 230.

DD has had email from Lancaster about a goodwill accommodation fee credit if unable to return at the start of term. It's a gesture at least.
I think many universities are finding themselves in a financial pickle unsurprisingly

@Monkey2001, I think many students are choosing to go back for social reasons, preferring to be locked down with friends rather than their families. I took DS back before lockdown was announced, but the rest of his flat came back afterwards, only one was a medic. I’m not sure I blame them. There won’t be any clubbing, pubbing or Freshers’ this term. DS has exams next week as do all first years at Manchester.

Also most students are not in halls and are paying £6000 for 52 weeks private accommodation. Quite a few of the older one live at university in a sense and pop home occasionally particularly if home has no broadband or there are no friends there.

Unless the state is going to refund £6k x number of students paying to landlords students will be going back or staying at university come what may. Also lots of students just had covid anyway so are very likely to be immune for a few months according to today's reports.

Good news about that nasal spray Lancaster developed

www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/scientists-developing-covid-19-vaccine-nasal-spray-1
Its going to go to trials but result show it does have antibody and T cell responses. This will be so good for people who dont like needles, and blood clotting issues.

Wow that sounds good @sammyjoanne Thanks for that.
@monkey2000 My two DDs are back - aged 22 and 20 - they are independent adults not babies, so need to lead their own lives. I have paid far more than £6k for their one person studios, they both have tested negative this week and having spent 8 months locked up here seeing no one need to get back into the world. Anyway, one is a medic and the other has a keyworker job supporting students so I fully support their return

Baytreemum my DD was back at uni because of lack of study space. we dont have room for a desk and she shares a bedroom with her youngest sister whos on teams calls with teachers thats got GCSE. Kitchen table is my desk as I work from home.

Shes had the odd down day, and thats just down to the fact she cant just go out anywhere like the rest of us. with the figures seeming to drop it seems to be working, so hopefully lockdown shouldnt be for too long :)

Ds2 has gone back to Lancaster clutching a negative Covid test (they are testing symptomless in our Council with a 24 hour turnaround) and he will have another test when gets there (having already tested positive last Oct).
We had a moderately good week with him doing online lectures from home but tbh he was desperate to go back. My last words to him were not what I wanted to say which was Read Read Read but "remember, wool is warmer than cotton". He has form for shivering in denim jackets and cotton hoodies. He has complained throughout his visit to London how freezing our house is, so I don't fancy his chances loitering outside in Lancaster. Good thing was how he relaxed he seemed setting off, compared to late Sept ball of tension.
I reminded him he can do click and collect from The North Face in Lancaster but he seemed doubtful, maybe I'm wrong.

@Nettleskeins :) Thats nice hes gone back. Hope he had a great time there, despite the lockdown for us all.

Ah heating issues.... one of my twins (his course is in London so he is living at home this year) has had the heating up more than I usually would which is fine as he is working very hard at his studies. However his twin in Bristol last term had the heating so low (it is a cash one you have to top up) his hands often became too cold to type (bit silly as I am paying for the heating what it might be in his Bristol flat) so he has been used to Siberia and here the temperature is Dubai on Thames. Even today he opened the window and has the heating completely off now - it is getting colder but I just stuck on my fan heater. I think he may be going back next week, possibly Monday. He is a post grad adult paying 52 weeks a year rent (well I am...) and there seem to be lots of lawful grounds for returning to a private place you rent where you have no lectures - his course is 100% online this academic year. Hopefully the vaccine means we will come out of all lockdown and tier measures soon anyway (not least because the nation cannot afford them)

DS has rung to say that not only did he find he had left his door to his room in Lancaster unlocked, but the window open...But, he added, this ventilation was probably a good thing, as it was a veritable Marie Celeste of untouched squalor (having failed to tidy it when he departed in Dec).

Five others in his flat of 12. He is playing chess. Queens Gambit seems to have taken everyone's fancy. Sultans beckons too.

Train empty. Two policeman guarding station entrance at Euston but they didn't even ask where he was going, although they were questioning others.

@Nettleskeins glad hes got there safe. And nice to know train was empty too which is much safer.

when we dropped off DD the cleaners had been in the kitchen and wiped their white board down which had their half birthdays on / cleaning rota.

They had a 70's night last night celebrating a flatmates half birthday (anyone who has a birthday outside term time), and next week is just a party but theme is 'anything but clothes'. They are watching shawshank redemption tonight. We have added netflix to our sky package today so now DD can watch Bridgerton, or any of the other shows if she gets bored. I have suggested an online escape room, or murder mystery night, which shes going to put to the others.

Pmk

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