Thread 42 Corona GCSE Cohort - 👻Creeping it Real for Oct22

[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 advice to be had.

previous thread

@mummyinbeds that sounds so sad, it is so good that your DS spoke to you about it. It is always hard for DC to open up, even harder (I think) for boys. I don’t blame you for wanting to pop up there. I hope he feels better from his illness soon.

It sounds like it’s been a very tough time mummy. Sending you all strength and support.

Ds left at lunchtime at just about got back in time for his 3pm practical session (next time get the slightly earlier train Ds!).

Wow ten pages in already on a new thread. I feel a bit of a fraud being here as DD on a gap year but all your experiences are so helpful to read and squirrel info away for our turn next year. We went to visit Chichester Uni again last weekend as they had an open day and DD got to see some accommodation so that was super helpful. As she is deferring it seems they get first dibs on choice so she is pretty relieved as definitely wants an en suite room. They only have one choice on campus and the rest either a 10minute walk away or further still so she really wants campus even though it's more run down than the brand new ones 10 min away.

Loving the pics @PhotoDad Seems your DD is throwing herself into Uni life.
Sorry to hear your DS is struggling @mummyinbeds and great he's opened up to you but it must be so tough being far away from him distance wise.

Dh and I are helping to advise a friend of Ds who is on a gap year Anne so in a way we feel like we are going through the whole applications process again!

@mummyinbeds sorry to hear about your DSs troubles.

DD is still poorly. She's has a temperature since Friday, headache, sore throat and generally ill. She's tested, so not covid. She managed her lecture today, but missed Friday's. I've told her to try and get a GP appointment tomorrow, but don't know if that's OTT. She's getting worried about it all.

Sending hugs @mummyinbeds

@AnneOfCleavage no, not a fraud, good to hear from you. DS applied to Chichester and I have to say out of his 5 choices that would have been the one I would have chosen for myself both the city and uni appealed to me. It is JUST about commutable from here too.

DS is coming home this weekend, the plan was for DH to pick him up on Friday afternoon after his DSA training and mentoring sessions but talking to him tonight we suddenly realised that he could do them from home as both are remote. So he's coming back Thursday evening instead.

@mummyinbeds So sorry to hear your DS has experienced something traumatic but it is wonderful he was able to confide in you and talk about it in the end with you and the teacher (thank God for teachers!) I hope he makes a steady recovery and is stronger for it. You also must keep strong and look after your own mental health, take time out if you need.
It's a shame he has so much anxiety, has he made any friends? did he take part in any freshers events? do you think perhaps he may want to come home to recover properly?

@Seeline your DD seems to have been unwell for well over a week, so seems sensible to make a GP appointment. Is she sleeping well and giving her body max chance of recovery. I recently read on Mumsnet that garlic is really good for viruses - maybe she could dose herself with garlic bread and garlicky humous!

@Seeline please ensure if your child has been ill for a week without improvement goes to a GP asap - chest infections/pneumonia can occur especially when kids stay in bed when sick at uni rather than moving around more.

Fluids, pain relief and antibiotics are needed to treat a chest infection or persistent tonsillitis.

Just joining the group asking @Seeline to suggest a GP call for her DD! A week is a long time. Hope she recovers quickly.

@mummyinbeds , it’s desperate to read about your poor DS but testament to you and your relationship with him that he felt able to confide in you. I do hope things improve now it’s out in the open.
@Seeline , a week is a long time so definitely a trip to the dr. I hope she gets better soon. A friend of DD’s has had pneumonia this week and her flatmates are all rallying, cooking for her, getting her antibiotics etc.
I’m heading to RH to see DD today, this is the longest we’ve ever gone without seeing each other and I’ve been quite touched by how excited she is to see me too. Maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder afterall!

Thanks all - I thought maybe I was being a bit extreme telling DD to try and see the Dr, so good to know others would do the same. I think it has only been since Friday, but it is the fact that she still has a temp that is bothering me. She's registered with the campus Drs so will see whether she can get to see one when she rings this morning. Luckily she is used to making her own appointments etc.

@mummyinbeds so sorry to read about your DS, but so pleased to read that he confided in teachers and you. He sounds a very sensible, strong young man. Hopefully once he is feeling well he can really enjoy being at Nottingham and getting stuck in whatever he feels like doing. There seems to be so much on offer.

Hope your DD gets better soonest @Seeline, will she listen to youand make an appt?

@AnneOfCleavage pleased to see you on here again - never feel a fraud, people said from the beginning that everyone was welcome no matter what their DD/DS does after Y11.

@crazycrofter how did the interview go? was she ok travelling as I heard there were problems on Monday with trains? Was it lovely having her home?

DH is collecting DD late Friday night and bringing back Sunday afternoon/ evening. I don't think we will see much of her (due home approx 11.00pm Friday) as she will be out playing hockey Saturday and I'm assuming staying at boy friends in Liverpool Saturday night after the hockey ball and then clubbing. Hopefully she will watch tele with me late Friday night like old times and maybe she will even chat. I guess Sunday roast is a possibility too. DH gets to spend 2 hrs each way with her in the van driving so hoping she will chat to him. He doesn't ask lots of questions like me so will probably get more out of her :-)

Impressed with UEA medical centre! DD rang at 8.30 (been well trained by our GP practice at home - if it's a minute past 8.30 it takes 20 mins to get through, and you're lucky if any appointments are left!). Got straight through, spoke to the receptionist who said she would get a Dr to ring her. Had a call back just after 9, and she said gp was lovely - listened to everything, asked lots of questions etc. says it sounds like it is some sort of flu, and just keep going with what she's been doing. If she gets worse, or no improvement by Thursday to ring again and they'll reassess.

It's so hard when they're ill like that and you can't do anything to help with cooking, shopping etc. She's desperate to keep up with lectures if she can, but the rest of 'life' on top is a bit of a struggle.

@Seeline Hope your DD's starts feeling well soon. I also trained DS in calling the GP, in our case before 8.30 am, or else they'll get nothing. First time he thought I was being over the top and got up at 11 am to call! it took a whole week of getting up at 11 am, then 10.30 am, etc before it finally got through to him that he really did need to be on the phone by 8 am on the dot and keep redialling until he got through or else there will be no appointments.

@AnneOfCleavage You're not the only that's popping in and out and finding the thread is 10 pages in! although this thread I think I was the first to mark it much my delight. Sometimes I don't check in for weeks and then discover replies to something I said 5 pages back and feel awful I've taken so long to reply as the conversation has moved. Sounds like your DD will be going to university with peace of mind knowing she's got the right accommodation waiting for her. That's one less thing to worry about.

Thank you so much @EerilyDevilled and @Heifer and how lovely you both get to see your DC this weekend.

So glad your DD has spoken to the GP already @Seeline and it was an easy experience. How beastly she has flu and you can't be there to keep a eye. I'm glad her housemates are looking out for her though.

DD had a great day yesterday at a theme park with the school she runs the after school club at. Great experience as was with lots of teachers and mixed aged children. She also has some babysitting commissions come in so is keeping busy as well as working at her dance school and keeping up with her dancing and musical theatre classes.
While she was out yesterday i tried to hoover her room but could only do the square bit where her door opens into her room as clothes and stuff everywhere - will not miss her messiness next year 😁
She's also reluctantly studying some theory as has her driving theory next week. Hasn't passed it yet in practice and doesn't go over stuff she got wrong so I've warned her that if she doesn't pass she's paying for the next and subsequent ones. She thinks it's unfair we didn't have to do a theory test but I argued that having questions fired in the small confines of a car after the test not knowing if you've passed or not is not fun either [sigh]

Thanks @Shimy and yes i did notice you got in first on this thread. Not sure i ever have in all the years I've been on this topic 😂
Still can't access mumsnet on the ipad /mobile so have to rely on when DH is not on the PC.

It's the first time ever for me @AnneOfCleavage , I'm easily pleased!

Why can't you access Mumsnet on your iPad? I can on mine.When you type in the URL what comes up? or do you mean you can't logon to your account?

Good to hear from you @AnneOfCleavage !

@heifer I'm afraid dd didn't try the tram in the end. She was feeling really rough and tearful - freshers flu combined with time of the month - and so I relented and paid for an uber from the station to uni. It was also dark by the time she got there. But next time she's doing the tram!

Her Tesco interview was all of five minutes so I hope she gets work, after the effort taken to get her back for it! It was nice to see her and she's really enjoying uni life (although going out far too much for my liking, but she didn't appreciate my view!).

My worries about what to do with her/where to accommodate her in reading week are sorted too, as she's got an invite to a birthday do in London from an old school friend, so she's going to take the opportunity to visit all her London based friends.

@seeline hope your dd gets better soon. It's good to know that the GP is efficient and responsive.

@AnneOfCleavage you are not the only gappie here!

It is lovely to have an unconditional offer and be able to book accommodation and make plans knowing exactly where you stand, we had that for DS1. Sadly this time round, his top choices are likely to be conditional on getting an A for Chemistry and the only one which would be unconditional (Newcastle) don't allocate any accommodation until after results day.

DS has seen personal tutor and started the process of deferring.They have said they will try and backdate the suspension to start of term which is really good of them but that they can’t guarantee they will be successful.

Next job is to get him to register at our new GP. Once he is feeling better we’ll need to come up with some ideas to fill the rest of the year and I do wonder if he should be thinking about whether Bristol might be a possibility so he could commute if he wanted to. Have also wondered about suggesting he looks at taking an OU module in January. Lots to think about so one step at a time.

@Volterra the other thing worth looking at is MOOCs, loads available and they are free. OU does them and so does Harvard. In fact there are so many that I don't know how you choose! I keep meaning to do some.

Thanks @Monkey2001 , I will mention it to him. I did one once, they are really good 🙂

Wondered if anyone here or their OH is a teacher or works in another role in a school or is a governor? Old school friend of mine who is lovely works for a charity and they are doing a survey on allergy to support development of new resources and training for schools. If you can help please click on the link below 👇
forms.office.com/r/CmTVxLkUNJ

Ds1 says he's so incredibly happy. He says all his non catered friends are spending huge amounts on food. He says most catered struggle to get up for breakfast. He says he's eating so much food he's really getting his moneys worth. He's thanking me for my accommodation choice. I think I need to sincerely thank @singingstones, because it was she who first suggested it, right? Can't thank you enough. It's been beyond brilliant.