Thread 41 Corona Cohort - Autumn Adventures of our Adult Children

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and support to be had !

previous thread

@PhotoDad your DD is really talented, she obviously works very hard

Just talked to Ds who is having a go at a job application and wanted some help. Dd is applying for jobs too so it’s a cv focused house today!

ds’s highlight of the day was ‘cake and calculus’ - there was free cake, a mini lecture on a famous mathematician and free extra maths to do ;-)

DD only has two weeks off at Christmas which seems really short for a university in my mind!

Thanks for all the insights into Christmas retail work, food for thought. I will have a chat with DD. She'd rather have a pt termtime job hut they always seem to want at least 15 hours a week in supermarkets and I think that's too much (dyslexia means her homework takes a lot longer than it does others plus she still swims and does archery 2x a week each). She doesn't think she'd cope in a cafe taking orders because of the dyslexia and getting things written down quickly enough.

@PhotoDad i love seeing your DD art, she is very talented.
we wanted DS to work but Christmas will be tough as he has tests straight after. He is also doing rugby, so has training or matches 6 times a week. So we think Easter/summer is when he can earn something. We’ve got his younger DB working locally, as he doesn’t do sport he has loads more free time.

Ds wants a job but he won’t apply for the part time Tesco job as they want 5-9pm on Fri and 1-10pm on Sat and he wants a social life too 😩 he wondered if he could apply but tell them he only wanted to work Saturdays 😩

I used to have a supermarket job in 6th form but it was 5.30-8 on Fri and 9-5.30 on Sat so it didn't interfere with my social life, but supermarkets closed at 5.30 except on Fridays then. How quaint.

When Dd was at uni her summer jobs would often take her back at Christmas- she worked in a shoe shop for a while & then a pub.

Not sure if ds2 will try for a job at Christmas- he has exams in January

No idea when dd's exams are, but she's already said that this year is supposed to be easy if you've done A Level Psychology! Hopefully she'll still put the effort in, around the socialising... She hasn't told me anything about the course at all!

@crazycrofter I remember seeing exams mentioned in January on an important dates notice somewhere on their website so I assume that is for every course perhaps.

Nottingham people - does any of your DD/DS have the heating on in their rooms? DD says it's not on but just wondered if she hasn't put the radiator on properly or it's not turned on yet...

Also Nottingham people on catered. How much is your DD/DS spending on lunches? DDs wants to discuss her (very generous) weekly budget as apparently £65 isn't going to be enough. £25 isn't enough for lunches during the week and it's almost £10 everytime she goes to a club. It will be a short conversation as no way are we paying her more but would be useful to know if she is just overspendng at lunch. My view would be if the cost of eating lunch on campus is too high then to make her own sandwiches and buy drinks from the supermarket.

Love seeing your DDs artwork @PhotoDad .

Re holiday jobs. DD usually either works for her Dad gardening or as a swimming coach/assistant. I assume the swimming lessons will stop when DD is home at Christmas but hoping she can get work over Easter hols instead. She has also completed her life guarding course so hope that will help. During the summer I've just sent her info re Camp America - let me know if anyone is interesting and I can post the link I was emailed.

I don’t know when DSs exams are either but he’s told me they have no essays or course work just end of term exams, that can’t be right can it??

@Heifer DSs heating was on when we arrived because I was boiling! I did ask him the other day if it was warm in his room and he said yes so I assume it’s on still.

DS says the nice lunches cost more than £5, he has been buying a cheapo £2 sandwich in the Spar and then getting something nicer maybe on the weekend. Reading the accommodation portal contract yesterday, I noticed it said the £25 was meant to cover them for all 7 days lunches which is impossible when they are expensive.

@NCTDN Two weeks at Christmas seems very short. My DS only gets 3 and thinks that's mean! DD will get 4.

I'm not expecting DCs to get employment over Christmas. Both have coursework deadlines are the end of January and DS has exams too. All DDs modules are only coursework assessed this semester - no exams, so I'm guessing she will have an awful lot to do over the Christmas break!

I think he said the burger and chips in Portland were £7 or something like that?

Thanks @JustHereWithMyPopcorn Sorry I can't remember is your DS on Campus or Broadgate? If campus which halls?

He's University Park in L&W.

This is from the accomodation contract...

a weekly lunch allowance of £25 which you can spend at numerous
campus outlets using your University card, (which will be provided to you
when you arrive) and MyNottingham app. This weekly allowance covers
Monday to Sunday, but options for spending it may be more limited at the
weekends so you should, wherever possible, spend it Monday to Friday;

@heifer as I mentioned a while back, we’re sticking with £50 a week. They don’t have to eat out every lunch time do they, they can buy something cheaper or have beans on toast. Even McDonalds is only £3.50 if they go for wrap of the day meal. And I’m assuming the clubbing will die down a bit now? I think it’s important they learn to manage their money and prioritise. However I’m not sure how much dd is dipping into her own money or just living on the £50. But again she needs to make that decision and not just ask for a top up,

I’m guessing she’ll have exams in Jan then, but I’d have thought the seasonal work will be over by early Jan so if she does get the Tesco job that would leave her a week or so to revise.

DS is going back to his room on days he can to make a sandwich or he is taking is taking lunch with him. Messages have dropped off a bit now but I assume that's a good sign.

@Heifer I think a lot of students get a Tesco meal deal for £3 with a club card. She could do that a couple of times a week and get a bigger lunch on the other days. Surely a cooked breakfast, burger and chips for lunch and a big meal in the evening is not very healthy!

I am impressed that it only costs £10 to go out clubbing for a night, but now that Freshers is over that should probably only be once a week!

@Monkey2001 I meant it was almost £10 to get in not all she was spending :-)

Totally agree DD can buy cheaper lunches, and can learn to budget properly. Thanks all

I'm also guessing she either isn't going to breakfast or is only having yogurt. She wouldn't eat too much as likes to be quite healthy (usually).

In that case she has the option to have a big breakfast and get a yogurt for lunch if she wants more money for clubbing!

Good point, and go clubbing less often. I think that will happen naturally anyway as she is shattered from her lectures. Her contact hours do reduce in November but only down to 18/19 per week.