Some of our young people are half way through their degrees (2019/20 intake): lockdowns on repeat, light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations (?) and the legacy of COVID-19

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is all I can say!

@icanbewhatiwant in my case I'm pretty sure that it won't be, but I'm not really bothered. I will be just post-vaccination so I think I may swing the lead a bit and claim some sofa time.

@simbobs I don't think ds will acknowledge either. Hope your vaccine is ok. Dh was fine after his. Just a sore arm.

DD is coming home at some point for Easter. She hasn’t mentioned tests . But DH, DD2 and I are being tested twice a week through work and school so she may as well bring a few home if she can from uni.

DS is still at home (and is now saying he may stay till after exams ) He had come home a week before Mother’s Day (which was also his bday) last year and had Covid symptoms that evening.

DD is saying she might get census work and so may not come home at Easter

I am expecting both of mine home for Easter but no idea when. I will be sad if DD decides to stay there. I would prefer both to have had a negative test beforehand but DH and I will have some immunity from 1st vaccine by then. Mine was fine yesterday. No ill effects.

If Dd is the only one left in the house at Easter, can we stay at her house before we bring her back? It’s a journey I don’t fancy doing in a day and it would be a change of scenery for us. She’s got so much stuff. We’ll be 6 weeks into our first vaccine. She isn’t vaccinated yet but has some latent tests she’ll do.

I'm sure it will be OK @Zandathepanda. I have my covid jab booked for the 25th, and have told DD that I probably won't be able to pick her up until Sunday at the earliest.

How is DD2 doing?

I am not sure about the legalities of it although it seems daft as we’ll all be together at non Uni home the night after. I suppose it might come into the category of single person bubble??
Dd2 still the same . It’s very tough. We are all (first) vaccinated except Uni Dd though so that’s good.

Staying away from home not permitted until /not before April 12 and then only with members of your household/bubble

Thanks VanCleef so if we picked up on April 12 and she was the only one in her flat I am presuming we can stay at hers because she will be part of our bubble at home from then onwards ? I think I have lost the plot as far as rules go. We just pick up a click and collect once a week, go to hospital appointments, pick up meds and stay out of everyone’s way! Now Dd is mixing with hundreds at school, rules do seem a bit daft.

Although you are allowed to move house and you can stay away etc for mental health reasons, personal safety etc so there are a host of lawful reasons applicable to students.

DS called to say happy mothers day - so we have a happy mother in the house. also has paid a holding deposit on a house. Surprisingly seems to be individual guarantors which is good.

Landlord wanted all renters (5) and all guarantors on the same contract which would have been a faff of organising the word doc to be emailed around, but the head tenant set up a docusign so everyone could digitally sign centrally which made it super easy. Impressed.

Xenia thanks, I have seen you on a few threads giving legal guidance on students comings and goings. I think their situations have been ignored by the government as they don’t fit neatly in to the rules. And as for the amount of loan Dd will be paying for accommodation she’s hardly been at and online lectures......
She will be going in to a responsible job so she doesn’t want to break any rules and have a mark against her in any records. Seemingly unlike many students around her!

April 12th is a week after Easter Monday, though, so no good for coming home actually for Easter?

DD is coming back on the train on the 31st, with a one month ticket, intending to go back around the 14th. I suppose she might be lucky with a lift back instead, if I'm feeling kind. DH had to do both 'back' trips in January, so it's definitely my turn. Fortunately - only from the driving point of view, I hasten to add - DS1 is too busy to come back from Bristol over Easter.

On a related note, it occurred to me the other day that one of the things I feel most 'cheated of' over the past year is the series of little trips away to visit universities that DS2 and I had planned. I think that he had been looking forward to.them as well.

DD’s end of term isn’t until after Easter Weekend anyway!!

Not worried about ‘Easter’ weekend but she wants to come home for the week after as she doesn’t want to be on her own in the house for a whole month. My thoughts were we could actually use it to a bit of our advantage by staying there for a night - I haven’t even seen this second year private accommodation yet!

DD’s end of term isn’t until after Easter Weekend anyway!!

Is that end of term or end of semester, as they can be different dates?

DD's term is definitely ending next Friday.

@RampantIvy not sure of the nomenclature at DD’s place, just that teaching is continuing until after Easter weekend 🤷🏻‍♀️

What a shame she can't be home for Easter.

Birmingham (where DD is) teaches in semesters but punctuated by normal Christmas and Easter holidays.

Newcastle University terms and semesters

I thought all unis broke up for Easter. Both mine have an end of term on 26th March, though semester end will be different. One of mine has a month off, the other only 2 weeks, but they then end the academic year a month apart, too.

DH and I have been going nowhere and seeing nobody apart from food shopping, essential trips to pharmacy, Post Office and dog walking. If my DC want to be picked up we will do it, including entering the flat to help carry stuff (mask on, sanitise before and after), regardless of what the rules say. I think a modicum of common sense is called for here. We are not throwing parties or having big gatherings, and have condensed our lives into such a small space, following the rules as much as possible. I haven't seen my family for well over a year as they live in a different part of the country. No blatant disregard of rules, but we will do what makes sense to us in this respect.

Durham does on 19/3 for a month. DD coming back around 26th.

Is your DD in Jesmind @Zandathepanda? It is a really nice residential part of Newcastle.

DD commented that she will barely be able to see her home friends as their holiday is so out of kilter with most other universities. Missing Easter weekend itself is no biggie, it has no religious significance to us (and nothing to do anyway this year at least!).