University 2020-2021 Part 11: Final Furlong For First year Freshers..........Then Freedom Follows

[sammyjoanne]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4058013-University-2020-10-Empty-nests-warm-vests-and-covid-tests-uni-parents-2020?pg=20

This is a follow on from the previous part 10 thread.
Named because its heading into the summer term.
''Freedom follows'' as in end of year for summer break, (hopefully end of covid restrictions too)

Hi All. We dropped DS1 back at County Main at Lancaster yesterday after a nice lunch at the Water Witch in town. Lots of students around, and many moving back in whi!e we were there. DS will get some face to face this term, and labwork and one field trip (probably local). I think he is lucky, I know many won't get much if any face to face and think it's really poor - if schools can manage it why can't universities?

Agree with others here who feel university students have been an after thought for the govt. I fear many will not do well in their time in HE, and many are suffering from depression and other mental health issues

On a personal note w ehad a wonderful four days in the Ribble Valley which none of us had visited before. Did some outstanding walks, sat in pub gardens, and admired the beautiful villages. It was very quiet, we often saw almost no one onwalHCks except when we did Pendle Hil which is very popular. It helped that our rental cottage was very comfortable and had amazing views. It was amazing for us to be in country side after being stuck in the middle of London for so long. We loved being able to watch birds and lambs from us from our windows and see the night sky clearly.

Wishing you all a good start to this term and the exams. Special hello to @sammyjoanne, hope DH is feeling ok, his diagnosis must be a lot to take in. Thinking of you, and all uni mums!

Haven’t been on here for a while. DD going back to uni tomorrow for her final term which is just 2.5 weeks. £1200 rent for two and a half weeks! She’s loved this year though and the quieter pace of life has suited her. She’s been a bit annoyed she couldn’t get a job at uni but it’s easier to get employment at home so hopefully she will get something here over the summer and she’s happily slipped off to dance school this morning thrilled to be back to real life classes.
Hope everyone’s DC are doing well. Will catch up on the thread now.

@WellWoman thanks we are doing good. DH had a scan this week and will discuss treatment options in May with consultants. We just got back from Lancaster now after dropping DD at lunch time (followed by food shop). She was the last one back, and they plan to have a party tonight. We walked to Greggs on campus whilst we was there. So good to see students about. Fylde area where the picnic tables were under the canopy was packed. Alex square was also busy too. Was very nice to see some sort of normality again. Plus the daffodils round campus and the ducks was also nice to see. We sat at Furness picnic tables this time. If you enter the foyet of Furness and just walk straight forward out the other side it leads to a lovely spot with a fountain.
M6 north was bad. Around junction 23 I think it was the M6 was closed and everyone had to get into 2 lanes in order to go off at a roundabout, then get back straight onto the M6. So on the way back we did M6 south, M61, M60, M62 and M1. No traffic at all and took 2 hours 25 mins, so will have that as a back up route, should m6 still be bad when we visit in June with FIL.

Just got back from dropping DS off at Lancaster. Was a good run through as the traffic was really quiet. Did have to do a quick tidy of his room with him just for my peace of mind really. He was soon off to the pub with his housemates when I left 🤣

DD is going back to London tomorrow although she was less than enthusiastic about it.

We are taking ds back to Lancaster tomorrow. He's slightly less enthusiastic too as he's not done any of his essays . And he's having a lovely time at home being looked after and going out drinking an awful lot of beer with his home friends. I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets there. He's joined the gym and signed up for social tennis. And I've suggested the free boot camp Lancaster are offering just to get him out in daylight.

Hope he gets on OK @specialted.

Hi!

@specialted, we saw lots of students out doing sports yesterday, am sure your DS will get enthused and join in with exercise (not sure it will help with the essays). All the socs seem to be back in action. DS is excited that mountaineering/climbing club is setting up sessions...and also gin appreciation. At least there is some balance there...

Campus was nice and busy, we also enjoyed the ducks and ducklings @sammyjoanne!

DS told us he and his girlfriend (was a friend, has recently been referred to with this new status which is amusing DH and me), who is in Grizedale, and some of his flat have places booked in the Fylde tent tonight. He'll be there now!

Sorry to hear the M6 has been tricky. I saw online there are lots of planned works. The narrow lanes where there is work going on are a bit unpleasant to drive. At least DH and I were sharing driving this trip. We had a very quick run, just over 4 hours 20 which is highly unusual.

London is very jolly today, tables outside everywhere, all full of smiley faces. I nipped down to Oxford St but couldn't get enthused about buying clothes. Shops very busy and I found myself a bit stressed by the sheer numbers of people and went home fairly quickly after a very quick look round 4 or 5 stores.

Thanks @aibutohavethisusername and to your dd

@WellWoman that's great to hear! I'm sure he'll get back into it once he's back

@allaibutohavethisusername hopefully your DD will be ok. Things seem to be a little bit more normal what with the shops being open, and sports being played and able to have a drink(alcohol or not) and socialise on the sunny days.

@wellwoman I could have stayed there a little bit longer. It was just a nice pleasant day, but sadly got work on monday so got bits and bobs to do at home.

@specialted there was plenty of students out and about doing football, and running round campus :) hope you have a safe trip tomorrow.

Lancaster sounds so normal compared to other universities. You would not think that the govt had just confirmed that students are still not allowed back until May unless their courses have been allowed to teach F2F. The law is clearly just ridiculous and needs to catch up with reality. The lack of thought given to students is shocking, so many still at home, unable to access any part of the life changing experience of being at university and making life long friends. It is good to hear good experiences here.

I think most DC are returning to their uni accommodation this term (unless of course they don't want to return).

I drove past the onsite pub at Dds university on Wednesday and the outside gardens were full of students. Certainly been a lot of large parties too.

Yes, more than 75% are back, but most are still officially not allowed. Michelle Donalon has said they don't want a mass migration of students again, not acknowleding that it has already happened! The govt has given ministry of education to idiots!

My son is a medic at St Andrews, so has been allowed back, but they are still telling other students they can't come back, which means his social experience is not nearly as good as the Lancaster students discussed here - spends most of his time alone in his room in a catered hall, which has closed all its social spaces. In Scotland the pubs are still closed, which does not help.

That's very sad @monkey2001. I think the Scottish Universities have been a lot less sympathetic to students.

I get the impression that because the government has given poor guidance
DC have drifted back over the Easter period and not necessarily taken covid tests (I'm not entirely convinced Dd has had covid - although im not sure how she hasn't caught it given that nearly everyone she associates with has!)

@Monkey2001 that is sad Monkey. I have a friend whose daughter goes to Durham and they cant return back, plus some whose DC go to Oxbridge and they too cannot return.

With Lancaster in Jan lockdown, they said if students did not have an adequate study space they could return back, and that has been the case for a number of students, including DD. It was still quiet last term compared to the first one though, and I hear catered is a case of collecting your meal to take away? Now summer term has approached, even with the 17th of May ruling, many students who have been at home are just going to go regardless now. After the measly 400 off accommodation from last term when they withheld their rent, they feel they want their moneys worth this term and just going to go anyway. Doubt Lancaster will kick up a fuss, as long as they pay their accommodation fee.

Just back from dropping ds at Lancaster. Campus looked alive for the first time and they looked like they had made great provision for outside hospitality. Ds was happy to be back after his earlier wobble. Think he's at fylde Bar tonight. Essays still not done but tbh feel student experience overrides that right now. Full house in the flat, all 12 of them , which is great.

Something that I have been wondering - students who have had to return to campus citing no suitable place to study at home - how did they get through year 13 from home? What has changed so drastically at home?

@specialted when I dropped Ds off yesterday the weather was lovely and was nice to see the campus in the sunshine the times I had been previously it had thrown it down and it was a mad dash to the accommodation. Second time I went I sussed where to park to be closest to the flat so now its a piece of cake. Have heard from DS today and he's working on some coursework I'm glad he's back on campus and in the accommodation being with his flatmates I think you are right about the student experience.

@chopc...schools effectively closed just before Easter in 2020. No exams.. No school work was required, most (if not all) of year 13 students effectively left school when schools closed and did not do any work after Easter.

@chopc

Something that I have been wondering - students who have had to return to campus citing no suitable place to study at home - how did they get through year 13 from home? What has changed so drastically at home?

Completely different. When at school, they spent all day AT school and had either computer access at school and books etc for homework which was incidental. A few hours per week on kitchen table is fine.

With online learning they are studying at home several hours per day, everything is on line so fast,reliable internet needed as they have no books, no paper lecture notes etc, and they need space to work for several hours.

Completely different, and that’s without thinking about whether their low spec laptop is good enough or whether they need higher spec it equip available at uni study areas.

I suppose current first years wouldn't have had to follow a full schedule from home. However current year 13's have - wonder if Uni's will
accept the same reasoning from everyone or only those who had to attend school due to various reasons during lockdown

@chopc I SO hope nobody tries to make students stay at home next year. Doesn't Gove have a child doing A levels this year? Maybe his child will make him aware of the impact of govt ignoring students or treating them all as super-spreaders.

Hoping with all my might they won't have to @Monkey2001

However given the way students have been treated this year ....