Hello again! Stupidly I took my work laptop which didn't have my MN login and I couldn't remember the details, so sorry for the radio silence from me.
@Cliff1975 I'm rooting for your and your DS. As others have said, it does sound like a specific organisation issue and it is certainly worth further investigation.
@goodbyestranger, like your C DS, DD1 has only had to self-isolate on her return in April for a day and a bit until she returned a negative test.
DD told us that a lot of the recent SI has come about because loads of them went rowing. They all dumped their bags together with their phones inside & went out on the water. One tested positive later but because all their phones were in close proximity, the app assumed the owners were too and pinged them all so they had to SI. DD doesn't turn her bluetooth on, and in any case had a football match that day so wasn't affected.
Anyway, the graduation ceremony was amazing! We watched students processing from another college in the morning and met DD, bf and his parents outside Kings. After coffee with an old uni friend of mine, DH & I had a siesta back at our hotel whilst DD got ready. We met at her college where she was all gowned up and having photos with her NatSci friends then we went inside the court (onto the hallowed turf) for more photos. Parents were politely asked to leave around 30 minutes later so they could organise the procession. We walked round to West Road and they processed past us then we were ushered into the Concert Hall and sat socially distanced. There were some brief chats where the ceremony was explained and the Bursar and Alumni guy talked about what next then we watched the live feed on a massive screen.
Students lined up in groups of 3 and were called forward. The Master of DD's college said the Latin stuff, students bowed or curtsied and the Master said something like "well done Fred", "congratulations Sophie" to each one. We had a much better view that we would have done squashed in the Senate House. After it was over, the students went to collect their photos and we were called up in groups for the picnic. We were with DD's pastoral tutor and some of her friends' parents. We sat outside at socially distanced tables & chairs chatting, then the grads came back, each was given a bottle of champagne by the college and everyone had a boxed picnic. It was really lovely. After that, we went for wine & tapas with DD, bf and his parents who seem as nice as bf so it was a great day. The sun shone for most of it, the concert hall was thankfully air-conditioned and we had as good a ceremony as we could have hoped for.
Today, the rain held off for the packing ritual. I am ready to throttle DH who took way too much stuff for 2 nights. Who the hell needs a bloody fleece in July? The car already had his crap before adding all DD's. We have finally after a tortuous time on the M3 and A303 arrived home & unpacked. DD2 thoughtfully provided us with tea and helped ferry the junk upstairs. DD1 should be here on Monday with bf.
Now I'm going to see if I can watch the live stream again & try to record some of it. My dad watched it but said he couldn't hear it...