Corona Cohort - Year 12 - 2021 - NO 'Self isolating' please.

[Oblomov20]

We just want our kids in school. Please. If at all possible.

And driving lessons. And good Mental Health. And happiness.

In-and-amongst all this Covid nightmare and lockdown debacle.

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I went to Cardiff open day and interviews at Southampton and Sussex. Think I had to go to interview as I was mature student and only doing 1 A level. Sussex and Southampton were fine but I felt instantly at home in Cardiff.

@Seeline we will have to compare notes! Cardiff and Bath are the two places that dd has expressed interest in, having been to both cities a few times and liked them. I had a look at a few courses last night. Knowing nothing about Psychology, I really liked the look of the course at Southampton. Lots of choice and interesting-sounding modules.

@crazycrofter Birmingham is also good for Psychology I think (though can understand it being ruled out if you are currently living there)

I shall check out SOuthampton and Birmingham. I think Birmingham might not suit DD as a location though...

Birmingham is a lovely, green campus and I would definitely recommend it. Dd spent five years at school next door, walking through the campus to the university station every day, so she’s not willing to consider it! @Seeline check out a campus tour from the air on YouTube!

I remember THE book. I also remember frantically scouring the pages of the Guardian supplement the next day because I missed my offer! It was in about size 6 font! I had to phone round (and beg) but I managed to talk my way into a course and some of the best years of my life!

@crazycrofter I'll have at look at Birmingham. So far she has ruled out most major cities (we live in south London, so I think she just wants something less busy/built up). Presumably she would still be reliant on the city for entertainment and accommodation post first year?

No, not really. The students tend to stay around the uni area where the r is lots of accommodation and things to do. Tbh DS is keen because the cricket ground is near!

@seeline, as piggy said, the students tend to live in Selly Oak which is right next to the university. There's rows and rows of terraced houses with 'to let' signs outside of pretty much every house at this time of year.

There's lots of pubs and things to do around the Harborne/Edgbaston/Selly Oak area so I'm not sure students would need to go into the city centre if they didn't want to. In many ways it seems like a very large student 'bubble' to me, unlike the uni I went to where students were spread around different areas and the halls were 3 miles from campus.

@teta my niece did architecture at Cambridge she is now working, will then do the post graduate part, for which I think she is considering Zurich. As Shimy said their contact went to Florence, maybe the international party is often done post-grad.

Neice applied to Bartlett, Bath, Cardiff, Cambridge, can't remember other one. Portfolio was important in applications, some give drawing tasks.

For comparing universities, another resource is discoveruni website which has a section telling you outcomes for each course including salaries. Made DS realise that physiotherapy may not enable the lifestyle he would choose.

Heifer It is straight biology? Any second science here
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/biology/biology-bsc/

@EwwSprouts - unfortunatley DD isn't doing Chemistry, Mathematics or
Physics. - She is doing Psychlogy as her 2nd science. Thanks for the info though :-)

Dd struggling with online learning arm. Anyone else's DC feeling the same? She managed to escape it last term at the college. Sometimes we forget they were really left to their own devices a bit from March 2020. She has been getting headaches from Zoom sessions

DD just been sent details about applying to be Head Girl, deputy, house captain, subject prefects, year group prefect. She's currently planning to apply for everything - a bit of a scattergun approach...

@orangecinnamon DS has been complaining about headaches and eye strain. His tutor put in a plan for him where he must go away from the laptop and do exercise during (DS goes on the treadmill) the day and he has kept to it and it seems to have alleviated things a bit. At the moment he's having a nap, then will resume prep. Can you ds do something like that? i prefer going for a long walk in the fresh air. Maybe he could build in some mandatory activity away from the laptop.
These kids are going to have to really draw on all the self will and motivation they can get as this drags on. Sitting in from of a machine doing lessons solo all day is no joke. No running around with your mates, no games, football, no societies etc I really feel for them.

@Kingscote DS had been prepping himself to become a monitor at school since last yr, running extra errands, putting himself forwards etc. Now he hasn't mentioned it since lockdown. He was so looking forward to it.

I think DS likes online learning but the way his school has set it up is really good. Only two taught lessons a day so only an hour of a teacher droning and then time for students to do follow up work.

I mean he likes being in lessons too. He is just a laid back fellow, I think. And not a socialite.

My eyes and head are suffering though!!

Thank you @Monkey & @Shimy for the info. In Architecture. I've tried to engage DD but she seems to have slipped back into a depression again. She's fine with online lessons but currently has exams and today was meant to be a revision day. But she's spent the day in bed apart from a walk with DH & the dog. Every time I speak to her she puts her head under the covers & gets all tearful.
She was getting really good marks in a very academic school before Xmas.

I'm going to phone the gp tomorrow. Her school have counsellors but they expect the pupils to contact them. How can they, if they're too depressed?

Hi @Shimy it's Dd..she did go for a lunchtime walk today and said she felt loads better actually, but her lessons didn't start until 3pm (college timetable). I have spoken to her tonight after your post to tell her not to be afraid to tell her tutors that she is stepping away from the screen for a minute or so to give her eyes a rest. She has also dug her blue light glasses out which she bought to be trendy they should help, fingers crossed.

I think mine is liking online lessons as he can sleep more. He gets up at 9.08am for 9.10am lesson start. Then has a shower in the 10.30am break. Then breakfast at lunchtime. Though today he did actually have breakfast in the morning. I took his bedsheets off for washing this morn as he was up early, he asked me if I could put sheets back on so he could nap after lunch. Then dinner time when I called he was asleep. I do worry about how much sleep he seems to need. When there's no lessons he will sleep till 4 or 5pm.

He was also set on going to university. Now he says he doesn't see the point. So I don't know if being home all the time has changed his mindset. He just says no point in a history degree. He only enjoys history and religious studies/ethics/philosophy. I'm hoping when they finally get back to school there might be talk on what to do next. He was so happy and cheerful when he returned to school in September. I'm not sure he is now.

@icanbe your Ds sounds very similar to mine. Down to the mid-morning shower and the breakfast at lunch-time and the last minute waking up. Mine has a long nap when school finishes. He's pretty dyslexic, so I think he finds online learning exhausting. He then wakes up to do his homework, his Weight's n exercise regime & cook more food ...
He did used to love to sleep in the afternoon as a baby. His twin sister used to lob toys at him because she was awake n bored.

DS wouldn't dare complain about a headache from online lessons because the response would be rest your eyes by no online gaming then!

Heifer another option just because the hockey facilities look great (DS also biology + hockey).
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/specs/2020-21/USHFBIOJPSY.html?1611612053231

@teta Sorry to hear she is having a really hard time of it. Loss of motivation is quite worrying. You're doing the right the ringing the GP, I would also speak to school and let them know. A counsellor from school calling her just to talk might be just what she needs. They need to know there is light at the end of this tunnel and we won't be in lockdown forever.

@Orange She should definitely let let her tutor know. They are quite sympathetic. Ds's tutor said he is really glad ds told him, because he felt pastoral care had kind of fallen by the wayside in all the online learning and parents where filling that gap, meaning teachers not really getting much of a feel for their general wellbeing.