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They can’t mix indoors, so they’re ignoring some rules to socialise outdoors.
and then along comes Winter.
Fresher flu has taken on a whole new meaning.
It's going to be chaos .
and then along comes Winter.
All the more reason to not get upset about students making use of outdoor spaces while they can. Once they are all pushed indoors, everything will become more difficult for students and carry more risk (for society).
All the more reason to not get upset about students making use of outdoor spaces while they can.
Indeed,I only get upset thinking about what kind of experience they are going to have this term.
Even in normal times a lot of first years really struggle with settling in and have all sorts of issues,student services are going to be overwhelmed 🙁
It's the knock on effects as the staff are now aware of this - some are quite rightly worried they will catch Covid due to the partying. It's going to be a nightmare all round.
so it begins
MMU has landed in the press about Halls.
One of my daughter's is on that campus.
They've isolated everyone in one of the halls (not my daughter's) for two weeks and told them NOT to go home.
Unlike the building that has been isolated she is in a "townhouse" for 12 which is not physically accessible by anyone else so I think that could be isolated on it's own if required.
She went shopping yesterday to stock up on non-perishable food just in case.
😐
@sharkbait, 1 student who knew they had Covid went to classes and parties (Hulme campus). There are 9 now positive. We were trying to source 200 lunches yesterday at last minute.
Thanks for the update fossy.... Very interesting.
1 student who knew they had Covid went to classes and parties
One idiot spoils it for hundreds of others! 🤦🏻♂️
A friend's daughter is at St Andrews and apparently security has been hired to keep an eye on the students and expulsion from the uni is the ultimate threat for those breaking the rules!
Just had the call from eldest.
The notorious 'party flat' next to his has 4 of 8 residents confirmed with cv19. All his flat were at Saturday nights party with them, him included...
Amazingly, they aren't locking down the building, just the individual flats.
we have on site security at night who do regular patrols to stop any multi flat gatherings/parties. Must admit it was very quiet on site today on met one student the whole day.
There are international students who are self isolating, due to travel conditions, they are contacted daily to see if they require anything but they seem to be well organised with supplies etc.
I dropped my daughter at her halls in London on Saturday. Only three people (including my daughter) have moved in out of the dozen or so who are meant to be there. The other two are from outer London and have made clear their intention to move back home if restrictions / spread gets worse.
I'm struggling to see the sense of moving into halls if all teaching is remote on a particular course, especially when the going rent is £6k. Are you really going to have a good experience sitting in your room watching online lectures with halls and the campus significantly emptier than normal?
Amazingly, they aren’t locking down the building, just the individual flats.
I think that makes sense. If the message is "anyone gets covid anywhere in this building we are locking it all down" then the attitude will be **** it - we are going to get locked down eventually anyway, so enjoy it while we can. If its - if any of you 8 get covid you 8 get locked down the peer pressure is slightly different, and a little more control of your own destiny (like not going to the party in the flat next door!). Obviously there may be short periods where an entire building gets locked down to allow T&T to catch up.
Glasgow now as well...
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/23/significant-covid-outbreak-at-glasgow-university-sees-600-self-isolate
I really hope it doesn't happen but it needs one of them to get seriously ill to dampen things down.
A long time ago but the only time the police were called to our halls the student was thrown off the course and the fact police attended didn't make local no matter national news.
Interesting thought poly, that could be the case.
Eldest texted late last night - rumors of many of them feeling ill through the evening (there's @140 in their building) although he thinks some is panicking.
One set of parents also turned up last night to take daughter home to 'avoid' getting ill...
Eldest texted late last night – rumors of many of them feeling ill through the evening (there’s @140 in their building) although he thinks some is panicking.
In my experience of HWU halls the heating was always up so high that I had a dry throat (probably coughed a few times!) and felt hot. That was before any hangover was added on top!
Well… looks like it’s going to be a quiet xmas…
Yes I read that with dread. Very few have actually turned up to my daughter's halls. Looks like a lot of students and parents holding back to see how things are going to play out before actually moving into halls.
If I hadn't moved in yet I wouldn't at all.
Daughter #2 just been on the phone.
Even though her townhouse/flat has been self-isolating for 8 days (8 of the 12 have had positive tests) their entire block, of about 20, townhouses has now been put into a further 14 days lockdown by the uni.
{Naylor at MMU @fossy}
They've even put security on the gates stopping anyone from leaving!
To say she's unhappy is an understatement.
If I hadn’t moved in yet I wouldn’t at all.
Agreed. As soon as the promised on site learning disappeared, and “local” lock downs were applied to so many university cities… the gig was up. It’s not going to get magically better in the next few weeks. Wish we hadn’t dropped ours off last Sunday.
Naylor at MMU
Was just reading about that, while trying to work out what’s happening in MCR this weekend and next week.
1700 students locked in it appears.
and one kid today on tv saying some parents had extricated their kids from some hostels and taken them home for one uni,(his words) going to be an interesting year for students.
Also students not happy all the stuff at campus out of bounds or closed and lessons online.
Going to be a huge number of claims for money back and failed education ,going to bankrupt a lot of hostel providors and private smaller landlords.
appears to be more unis in lockin now east anglia and a few others
Glasgow University is to refund one month’s rent to students in halls of residence as compensation after hundreds were forced to self-isolate following an outbreak of coronavirus.
Plus some other measures. Seems a reasonable compromise?
Thank goodness I'm working from home. Just been for a pint with my dad at our caravan site pub (we can't do that at home). He joked he wouldn't be having a pint with me if I was working from the Uni buildings. I wouldn't have even gone for a pint with him if I was at work as way too much risk - dad is OK health wise, but mid 70's.
The Uni's are working on helping out the students. Just shows you how fast this virus spreads - I hope all the idiots that think this is all a hoax wake up at some point.
Is there not an argument for allowing spread of cv19 within the uni population? It is going to be almost impossible to stop it spreading within a group who see little harm from it and desperately want to socialise. As long as its kept like a leper colony and vulnerable students are isolated. Vulnerable tutors will probably already be off. The current course seems to be a recipe for no education and psychological problems with locked down students.
Suggest you watch the Alternative Sage video from yesterday… in short… no… that will kill many people within and outside the student community.
Will do.
Vulnerable tutors will probably already be off.
Ha ha. Extremely vulnerable maybe, all the rest of us are bricking it.
I can't see how they didn't see this coming - it's cruise ships but with a younger population.
Not sure any of the students thought they would be a case study in the battle against Covid - with all the testing they are going to be a very highly monitored group.
Extremely vulnerable maybe, all the rest of us are bricking it.
Try being a teacher with groups of 30 and no social distancing!!
Honestly, can’t imagine what it must be like for teachers. Avoiding the mouth-breather parents at school drop off time is hard enough.
This. Kids cycle to school. I go some days with the youngest. Leave her close but not too close to school gate. Clusters of parents. No masks. Daughter puts a mask on before getting too close and takes it off again when in school.
Honestly, can’t imagine what it must be like for teachers.
Well I'm about to half my second week off school due to the wife catching a cold of me that turned out to be covid!! (I know I know we cant be sure, she could have got it from her school)
Absolute disgrace how this is being handled by the unis. Completely forseeable that this is how it would play out. As I understand it most have some level of inline learning, so obviously they just wanted the students back for the halls rent. Where is the transparency?
Reports of students being physically locked in by security - if true, this is a criminal offence.
Absolutely shocking the way they have been treated. Entirely predictable, and the unis don't seem to have any sketch of a plan as to how to deal with it. The whole term (at least) is going to be completely ****ed, they should have stayed away.
I don't predict this ending well, students do love a good protest march and I certainly think they've got every reason to be angry.
As I've said before mines in student accommodation but goes to Northern Ballet School. So private accommodation, not affiliated to the university. Being dance they are still attending school, she's 16 so no way I'm letting her get locked down in halls. She's been home for the weekend and has gone back today with instructions to keep on walking if if looks like the accomodation is locked down on returning from classes and call us. Unlike most students they have classes from 9am to 6pm and stay within the confines of the dance school, they aren't even allowed out to get a sandwich at lunch time. Many of the other students commute in.
Anyone challenges this and I'm applying the Cummings defence of doing what I think is best for my family.
so obviously they just wanted the students back for the halls rent
It’s more than that… if they had taken an honest ‘online learning only’ approach around the time of the A Level results, many many students would have deferred, and they would have lost fees not just rent this year… the way we fund universities would have meant a decimation of University learning and research provision for years to come. They should have been more realistic and transparent… but they couldn’t be without backing from a government who absolutely weren’t prepared to do so… and even now are pretending that the problems associated with the return to onsite learning are some unexpected surprise that they couldn’t plan for… it’s on them, not the Universities and schools.
She’s been home for the weekend and has gone back today with instructions to keep on walking if if looks like the accomodation is locked down on returning from classes and call us.
I am 100% behind you on that, but it will be happening all round the country, what a **** up.
Agree, this problem was entirely predictable and the government should have had support in place.
That said, students aren't the only group suffering financially and not getting what they expected to this year. Tough welcome to post school life for them.
I'd be wary of supporting/encouraging "protest" action by the students, however justified. A lot of other discontents could easily hijack it. Responsibility and lockdowns where required are necessary, sadly.
I’d be wary of supporting/encouraging “protest” action by the students, however justified. A lot of other discontents could easily hijack it.
Probably, students might be the tip of the iceberg, protests in London were put down yesterday. There's been a lot of legislation passed over the last 6 months with very little scrutiny, back bench Tories and Labour are waking up to this.
But, he said, since then 50 laws with potential and actual criminal sanctions had come into force, without Parliament having a say.
- John Bercow.
I'd like to know the legality of penning students up in halls, which bit of specific legislation makes this acceptable and why security guards are actively enforcing it. I can imagine a lot of students don't have anywhere near enough food to last 2 days yet alone 2 weeks. Maybe they universities should have contingencies in place for this, not just getting in a few mobile food vans. I can also see this leading to people avoiding testing, especially students.
Of course they can't legally pen students up in halls. They may be able to punish students who leave their accommodation when they are supposed to be self-isolating.
I can also see this leading to people avoiding testing
Why get a test for mild symptoms if it blocks up your household for 2 weeks?