Thread 48- Covid GCSE Cohort - Summer before Year 2 Uni

[Oblomov23]

Summer ending. Year 2 for many at Uni about to start.

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). 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 :
old thread 47

@EversoDetermined if you are near wisley, perhaps try Winkworth instead - much quieter!

Yes, post away @Oblomov23 you and he are still very much part of the cohort, their paths will start to diverge as some do placements etc but we still want to hear about them all.

@handmademitlove Winkworth is another regular, but it’s a bit more of a trek to get to for us and often sells out at peak times. I always try and go for the bluebells though. I see they are building a new visitor centre there.

Hey @Oblomov23 my DD had all last year off on a gap year and you amazing lot were all so lovely including me still. Post away, it's always great hearing about our YP and what they're up to.

So sorry to hear about all the covid / bugs around. Avoided them so far but I work in two schools so I suspect it's just around the corner!

Thinking of you @Piggywaspushed and hope DS has a good first week back.

DD after a bumpy beginning (homesick and straight into course) has had a good start so far. We visited on Saturday and she was happy and even did a first laundry visit on Sunday! She's showing her room on the open day this weekend so hope she can tidy it in time 😆 Think she said she gets £50 Tesco vouchers as a thank you for doing so.,

Did anyone else hear about the potential mini heatwave returning this week?

Yes, we were talking about the heatwave at work yesterday. Bonkers.

Completely read it as a shared sentiment. 😄

Good to hear your dd has had a positive start @AnneOfCleavage .

Good too hear from you @AnneOfCleavage , glad she is settling. I am sure DS would love £50 of Tesco vouchers, but he really does live in a tip - although it may be more representative of real student life!

Ds said his first workshop this week was called Video games: creative and critical writing. He said they spent an hour talking about their favourite video games then half hour talking about what they will do for module. So that was easy.

@mummyinbeds glad to hear that his first day went well. DS also started lectures again yesterday but hasn’t bothered to let us know how they went. We had been talking a fair bit on Sunday so I don’t want to hassle him

I take that back about DS not bothering to tell us how it’s going! Just had a long phone call with him, all sounding really positive so far. 🤞🤞

@285NeuerNamen it didn't last. He didn't sleep last night (he has scary vivid dreams so even if he appears asleep he wakes up exhausted) and felt too rough to go in today - not even for a 5pm lecture. He's promised himself he will watch the recordings.
He couldn't speak this evening - busy giving the kitchen a deep clean apparently.

DD has been moaning that her course is very boy heavy and they talk over her in workshops. The only one that didn't is a boy she was at middle school with - he reminded her of the time she scored against him to win the inter house football tournament. I think he's a little bit terrified of her 🤣

@285NeuerNamen Excellent!
@mummyinbeds Oof, sorry to hear that. Sleep is so important.

One of DD's new friends took her along to a swordfighting club tonight (medieval swords, not fencing). She spent the evening sketching which is a fantastic non-threatening way to get to know people (everyone likes to see the drawings) but will probably join in next week. That's a new one to me! DD already loves historic fashion and drawing fantasy scenes, so it's a good fit. If vaguely terrifying.

@mummyinbeds i’m sorry to hear that. I hope he gets some decent sleep and feels able to go in tomorrow. Is he in contact with student support?

@PhotoDad Thanks. Your DD’s method of sketching first is a really good way to work out the lay of the land at new things. I hope she feels confident to give it a go next week.

@285NeuerNamen yes, he has a support plan in place this year which includes his sleep issues. I'm happy to report he has already caught up with today's lectures. Last year he would have buried his head in the sand. He is supposed to have a weekly mentoring session but she emailed him once to arrange a chat over the summer, he was working, and she hasn't responded to his (written by me) emails since. I'll be chasing that up with DSA tomorrow (pretending to be DS of course) The whole point of the mentor is so I can back off. I feel too involved at times but I can't watch him spiral out of control again.
@PhotoDad I love the idea of your DD sketching - what a fantastic skill to have. A safe way for her to join in on her own terms.

@mummyinbeds so happy he has already caught up, that must be a relief. i’m glad he has a support plan in place even if it isn’t quite working as it should be now. Yes, I’d definitely email as him. If you can get her properly on board then you will have trust to step back a bit. It’s so hard to step back when you have watched it go wrong before and as a parent it is natural to want to do everything you can to avoid a repeat.

Similar story here, although no DSA, DS had a great conversation with a student support lady in the summer and agreed to meet once he had his timetable but she has not responded to his email asking for an appointment last week. I suggested he send the email again. At the moment though as things are starting well, he doesn’t see it as a priority but I think it’s vital to build these relationships before you are in desperate need of them.

@mummyinbeds great to hear he has caught ip.

@PhotoDad -DS has seen the role players on Parkers Piece in chain mail or mithral or something similar! Wonder if it same group?

Lectures etc restart tomorrow. Yesterday he was manning the college Fresher fair on the basketball stand as he is secretary and treasurer this year - ironically his favourite non aquatic sport as he is only 5ft8 ...

@craggyrat my DS was always good at basketball despite being tiny (5'5" now, always been the shortest in his year). He's fast and could nip under the outstretched arms of the tall players.

@EversoDetermined - just what my DS does !

@mummyinbeds glad you DS has caught up already, excellent! On a separate matter, has he got access to all his module timetable? DS can't access the timetables for his two elective modules, he has emailed the school but not really had anything helpful back. For all knows he's missed lectures this week already!

Just had another call from DS, he’s finally been to the physio with his sore knee and been told that he can’t play football for three months.

Which would be bad enough for him as he loves football but part of why he was so positive the other day was that he was getting along great with the departmental football team, had been out with them etc (he played a couple of times last year but not much due to training clashing with lectures). He thought they would be where he would meet most of his new friends.

And now he is out for three months minimum, he was so down on the phone. I felt really sorry for him.

i hope he can pick himself up and still support the team and socialise until he is able to play but sometimes that’s easier said than done. It may seem like a small thing to us but to him it’s massive.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn DS has no timetable at all. He's been trying to sort it with Student Services who say it was screwed up because of the resit. For now he is using the master timetable but that doesn't help with French which is all small group stuff. He has no electives so it can't be that difficult to enrol him on the correct modules. Someone from French contacted him on Sunday afternoon to check he was okay as he wasn't registered. I doubt law have even noticed.

@285NeuerNamen that's a real bummer about football. In my view, being able to socialise with them whilst having an excuse not to play would be ideal but I know DS wouldn't agree with my lazy point of view.

@craggyrat Could be! But I got the impression that this was more a sport thing (albeit with longswords) than a RPing thing.

Hope other people are settling in (again, or for the first time) nicely now. Sorry to hear about the downs, but the ups always make me smile!

@mummyinbeds ah the resit might explain it but it just seems like another bit of crap comms by Notts to me. I can’t believe your DS hasn’t got a timetable at all - ridiculous!!

@285NeuerNamen that must be gutting for your poor DS.