Study in the time of COVID-19 (2019/20 intake): lockdown restrictions, relaxation of rules and repeat... And will the Grinch government cancel Christmas?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Carrying on from our previous thread.

I believe these threads have probably been running since the summer/autumn of when our DC were about to start/in Year 13 (so 2018)?

Cases in Lincoln have gone down loads recently, presumably due to absence of drinkers , Christmas fairs and shopping, and students.

In the gov guidance it says uni students should stay where they are wherever possible.

@icanbewhatiwant yes - there are exceptions in the English rules for travel to access education so that’s enough for us. She travels in her own car so no issues with public transport etc. It will be far better for everyone for them to lockdown together rather than at home

Thanks @Benjispruce2 can you share the gov website link - DS now desperate to get back to Durham. Question is, do we put him on a train tomorrow or leave it a few days?

Here

If a possibility I’d do it tomorrow if in your boots - nothing law till Wednesday

Or here

www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

Sigh. I have just paid DD's rent for the next 3 months.

@Ginfordinner I think your DD’s subject is covered.

Thank you @Benjispruce2 and @VanCleefArpels. I also have a DD in Y13 who is now wondering how her A Level grades will be determined.....

wherever possible is a bit vague, though.

@Piggywaspushed yes it is but I guess there are always students that have to stay at uni for whatever reason so they can’t put out a blanket ban. Our WiFi might suddenly fail.....

DD has just said that she doesn't know what to do. She said that she has been working much better at home since she came back for Christmas. As she is an only child and no local friends she has no distractions here.

She misses her university friends, but I think she will stay put for the time being.

There is an exemption for mental health issues, so I figured we were covered by that. Not sure I can cope with DS staying home until mid February - he eats too much! And won't stay in!

DD is also covered by the mental health issues exemption. She's going to double check that her remaining flat mates (only 3 out of 6 moved in) are still coming back, and I daresay we'll get another email from Uni tomorrow with guidance, but right now we still think she'll go back on Sunday.

DD seems quite happy to stay here longer. We swapped bedrooms when she left (after having the largest room for 18 years it didn't seem fair for dd2 to still be stuck in the smallest room) and she's fine with that, but I still feel guilty every time she's home in a small room. Parental guilt.

We are Wales so they declared a lockdown within hours and we had decided to collect her after the travel window, which meant we had to go in a rush to pick her up while we could legally travel without worry of being pulled over to ask where we were going and why (has happened to several of my friends).

She does miss her large, ensuite room in York, and her huge kitchen and her super fast wifi. She stayed on campus this year, so is living in a flat of 12, many of whom have travelled from overseas to study here.

They have told them that there will be a rent reduction if they declare how much later they returned to uni after Christmas, which is an added incentive to be happy with being home.

When she decides she wants to go back, we will take her, but it is nice to have her home a bit longer.

DD went back a few days ago and was v happy to get into the library yesterday as she can’t work at home - first and last time. She ft last night with her housemates and they are making a plan on how to study - fingers crossed.

DS is still here and thinks he will stay as his mood got lower and lower by the end of last term as all the stuff he loved about Durham (sport and socials) hadn’t happened for so long, and he finds the online learning/lack of support from most tutors very difficult. At least here we can try to get him back on track with his study, and his gf is here too.

It’s awful for our young people

Still unsure what to do. Will wait to see what DS finds out about his housemates but he was planning to go back this weekend for exams. He finds it difficult to be motivated at home where everything is there for him, plus being in a peer group he can relax better being around more people his age, and there are a couple doing similar courses which can help.

If he really wants to go back I think I’ll take him. Driving and private rental which reduces some of the risks.

I know not ideal but ‘wherever possible’ is the same language they use for working from home and you know full well plenty of offices where people can wfh will insist on people coming in, using that language as justification. Taking my son to a controlled environment for remote learning is lower risk than that in my mind.

@DrMadelineMaxwell that's exactly what's happened in our house. DS ended up in the 'baby room' (which is really too small for anything other than just sleeping and chilling) which is why he decided to go back up to Norwich.

@bigTillyMint yes I can imagine that the Durham/Oxbridge (and any other collegiate universities I've forgotten about) experience would be even more diluted because of the lack of all the fancy social side of things (what no formals or May Balls?). When I think of all the fantastic social opportunities DSibling had as a Cambridge student, it would be hard to square that (which was as much part of the allure as the academic side of things) with what they're not experiencing now.

Given DD’s house isolated for a fortnight prior to coming home (in her own car), hasn’t seen anyone or been anywhere while here and is returning in her own car I know she’s not a risk to a soul. She says it’s better for her mental health to be with friends and salvages a little bit of the “proper” student experience

@VanCleefArpels Same here - although the pedantic part of me realises that needs to also apply to everyone else in their house otherwise there is a risk someone will spread it to the household which increases cases.. But the mental health part is important too. They've had so little 'university life' that any tiny thing like simply being with their friends feels like it should be embraced as much as possible

Newcastle have said only certain courses should be using the library (she uses it a lot) and it doesn’t include hers. Unless it gets desperate she staying here. What a waste of rent and utilities (especially as she’ll be paying for her flatmates, who are up there, using the utilities)

DS had covid test 8th December negative, came home, saw family on xmas day gone back today for his mental health quite honestly he was in bits last night. Told him to pack I would phone uni. in the morning. Phoned uni. who said wait to hear. Phoned private accommodation who said he could return they would not block him. So he is gone until May now. He has to covid test, isolate, but we live in a very low area unlike the area he is going to. We shall worry now but better he is with his girlfriend.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 Not just my dd then! :)
She's got the box room but it is room enough for a bed, bedside locker, cupboard and a small desk and bookcase. So she's got all of her stuff in there (or on a bookcase on the landing outside her room), but not much floorspace at all and she used to pace her room when bored or studying.

Wales Online is reporting that any students from Wales who study in England are being told they are not allowed to travel back and need to stay home until mid Feb. Oh dear.