Thread 52 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Autumn 24 - Start of Uni Yr 3

[Oblomov24]

2024 Autumn, start of year 3 for those at Uni.

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.

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@crazycrofter that is such a shame for her. I remember fearing that when older DS had 3 points in his first two years and then 9 points after that! Thankfully he’s down to 3 points again now. She will be ok, much as it feels a catastrophe now it’s a bump in the road which I am sure she will navigate.

@craggyrat it’s amazing that a part isn’t available for two months. We have had that before but not on a safety item which means the car is unusable. That is so frustrating for you.

@crazycrofter Poor thingI Nearly did the same last week, I came to a complete stop while my passenger and I peered trying to work out which way to avoid ploughing into workmen. As temporary night works there was no signage! Hard when you can't give her a hug.

Applying for jobs is a painful process, but I really think trying to get a grad job whilst at uni is the way to go. My DS who graduated in June never got round to it (bad break up combined with dissertation and lack of parental nagging). We are now in the situation of most jobs he can be bothered to apply for (there is only so much parental nagging that can be done!), are September 2025 starts. He still hasn't found a 'temporary' job yet either - we were hoping for one of the thousands of Christmas temp jobs that keep being mentioned but there just aren't any in our area. He is tied to public transport access, which again in south South London isn't great unless going into central London.
Still he has managed to book a driving test - end of March 😲

Hope she’s feeling better today Crazy, what a horrible experience for her.

Yes, that's my concern @Seeline . I think DS will be able to pick up his job from last summer again as they asked if he could work next week (half term) and possibly Easter. But it's a stopgap. I have messaged him and asked him to ring me as we need to talk about this.

Thanks @ealingwestmum , she was coming home for the weekend anyway, as we're doing a late 18th party for ds. She's just gone to revisit the scene of the crime and see if the signage was unclear, as a possible defence.

Re jobs, dd is probably looking at a gap year. Things are up in the air too as she's got a newish but seemingly very serious relationship, and the boyfriend studies at Swansea. He's only just started on a four year course. So that's put a question mark over whether she wants to come home when she finishes or not.

@seeline I hope ds can secure something decent soon and also get a stop gap job to tide him over. It must be very frustrating having him at home unemployed!

@crazycrofter oh my - unbelievably frustrating!! He is not great without structure to his day....

Poor DD @crazycrofter I so feel for her. What's the upshot of re visiting the scene and if any signage? Take photos if poss to help her case! How far off two years is she?

Yay to a booked driving test @Seeline

I love my Kia Picanto @craggyrat and it's surprisingly roomy once the seats are down but no where near enough space to clear a room entirely. Would hiring a minivan be an idea just for one day?

@AnneOfCleavage we did think about hiring but it would he over 3 days as would need to collect Friday and they aren't back open until Monday. It is an option if need it. So irritating as we're going to swap car next year once DS had finished at uni and we didn't need all that boot space.

What a pain @craggyrat ! Cars always go just when you need them... In April we had an extended family holiday for my dad's 80th. Our car failed its MOT just before the holiday and couldn't be fixed in time, and dd's clutch went, literally the Sunday before our holiday (we were going on the Monday). Thankfully a kind friend lent us their second car, but it was stressful, I hate driving other people's cars!

@AnneOfCleavage just waiting for her to arrive home!

@crazycrofter that sounds as though it was an utter nightmare!

That's a bummer! @crazycrofter, almost wishing she was caught speeding instead so she could go for the refresher driving course and avoid the points and especially so close to the end of the yr.
@EternallyDelighted The right job is out there for him, a lot of the things you ways in which you describe him also apply ds1. The never making eye contact, extreme introversion, little communication so no one was more shocked when he was offered a job. Also, employers are more conscientious these days in their recruiting especially when it comes to neuro diversities, and make allowances for certain quirks infact many actively encourage neuro diverse people to apply, so do look out for those. Keeping fingers crossed for you.
Trying to find a job is a job in in itself I tell my lot.

Well, I was planning to visit DS up in Reading this Saturday. I haven't seen him since I dropped him off at the end of August. I may go for lunch and a walk, too. He's just messaged to ask if I could bring a new mattress protector for him, as his mattress is infested with bed bugs, and he's been eaten alive!
So the trip sounds like it's going to be hard work rather than the relaxed time i had in mind. I've bought a brand new steamer to hose down the entire room, new anti-bed bug mattress protector and some bed bug spray. I've never dealt with this before but from what I've read, its not an easy thing to get rid of.

Could you consider a Man with a Van type set up to get everything back one way under one quote/charge @craggyrat ? It may be less than you think, especially when they double up pick ups…

@ealingwestmum - that's a good idea. Although DH is currently out testing a used Volvo....!

@Shimy thank you, glad to hear that it’s not just my DS but that your similar DS1 has succeeded with a job. DS applied for two jobs this year with Disability Confident employers (they guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria) but he didn’t make the cut for interview at either, to be fair one was a VERY competitive internship and one was retail where he had next to no experience. I have spoken to him now and he is off to a careers fair next week and they have been given advice on how to get the best out of it. His uni is a Disability Confident employer itself so hopefully the careers team there is neurodiversity friendly. So sorry about the bed bugs, what a nightmare. Don’t bring any soft stuff home and change as soon as you walk in the door when you get back. I had a nice day visiting my DS on Saturday, the weather was good so we went out for an autumn colours walk and he did about 2 hours of driving practice in my car.

@crazycrofter I don’t know the exact ins and outs of how the points and two years thing works but taking photos is a good idea, it’s a totally different scenario to speeding with a lot more room for interpretation I would hope.

@craggyrat how frustrating about the car. I can’t offer any further solutions TBH but man with a van might be a good call. I am in a dilemma with mine, trivial but the microphone on the hands-free call thing has gone, in fact the whole audio set-up is fairly shit for a modern car and the on-off button doesn’t work either. I have a choice of £150 for the microphone only or £600 to replace the entire audio which is tempting but might also push up my insurance. Either way I am feeling a bit that such a small thing costs so much. But it is a real pain not being able to take calls (I can hear the other person but they can’t hear me, I keep having to park and call back).

She took photos and I can see why it was confusing, especially in the dark. She didn’t realise she was turning right onto a dual carriageway, and there were loads of cones between the two sides so it wasn’t obvious there were two more lanes beyond the cones. She turned into what she thought was the left hand lane of a normal road and the next thing she knew, a poilice car was coming towards her!

@EternallyDelighted i am rooting for your ds that he gets something g soon and not just anything but something that’s exactly what he’s looking for & will set him up for a good career. You’re doing all the things. Encourage him to make good use of his uni careers dept, most continue to support beyond graduation for at least 2yrs & more.

Glad hear you had a nice visit. I bet he was delighted.

thanks for the advice about clothing when I come back I hadn’t thought about that. One of the reasons I’m keen to go up there and blast the little critters is it will be Xmas break soon & he’ll be home with his “suitcase”. 😮

@Shimy Surely the Uni or housing landlord will have to replace the mattress. Poor lad.

@crazycrofter fingers crossed she can appeal her case with photos. Sounds a nightmare situation.

DD is back for reading week today for a whole week so I'm so looking forward to seeing her. Been painting her room and we've upgraded her single to a double bed so we now have a guest room when she's away at uni if we need. She's always resisted a double bed as loved the space to dance and spread out to do arts on the floor etc but she's finally come round to the idea now she's in a serious relationship. However she's not relinquishing her enormous collection of cuddlies haha 😆

Ds has signed up for his next year's accommodation. He is going for a private halls but the flat of 5 is entirely made up of his group of friends. It's very central and he has friends who lived there in previous years so he knows what it's like.

If anyone has a spare moment and has spotify or apple music then I'd love you to listen to this song. Ds did all the string arrangements for it.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0yeosMq6y20NXz7GUMB5Jv?si=z0-DKuOUQy2CMOmWRuuQkw

Nice! I like the little string coda in the middle. Is he in the band or just helping with the orchestral elements? Good work @Comefromaway ’s DS!

He plays keyboard.

That’s fantastic @Comefromaway , i love music in a minor key! I’ll follow them looking forward to the next release!

Poor crazy dd, hope the photos help the appeal.

Saw ds1 yesterday when we all went to watch spurs. He said he was just so incredibly happy, (which I was just so pleased to hear) with his placement, last weekend mountain climbing with the Nottingham lot, leaving us after football to go drinking in Shoreditch with all the accountancy placement lot.