Skills To Help Independent Living

Most students who come to university are aged around 18, having never lived on their own before. In the Student Support Office we feel that there are many skills that parents and carers can teach their children to help them cope with university life.

It is often precisely those things that young people need to know when they start to live independently of their family or carers that are done without the yourng person being involved. For instance, we will often just tell our sons and daughters to clean their room without telling them why, or generally they are not involved in how household finances are managed, or how to launder clothes, shopping for food, preparing and cooking meals. We have put together some suggestions for the main areas in which parents can help their sons and daughters be able to manage their life at university.

At Home

• Cooking meals: students either have to cook in their halls for themselves or they have to buy food from one of the bars or dining halls around campus if they do this on a regular basis it can be expensive .Whatever their food preferences it is very useful if they are able to cook for themselves.

• Cleaning the kitchen and bathroom at home: students will have to contribute to keeping the kitchen in their halls clean. if you are able to teach them why this is important and give them some of the skills to do this at home before they come it will help.

• Keeping their room clean and tidy: students are responsible for keeping their rooms tidy.

• Doing their washing, getting the clothes dry, ironing them and putting them away: on campus they will have to use the laundry facilities.

• Letting them manage their own time: getting meals for themselves and going to places by organising their own time, whether that is to work or to socialise; time management is essential. At university there is no one to tell you when to get up, or to get your breakfast and take you in the car when you are late.

• Involving them in planning and shopping for food as well as for other necessities such as cleaning materials and toiletries; showing them how to take advantage of supermarket deals, 3 for 2, and buy 1 get 1 free deals. Encouraging them to consider their choices by shopping within a budget will help when they are managing their money. There is more information on money management and student funding which you may find useful

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Out And About

• York is relatively a small and generally safe city for students, but everyone should still be aware of keeping themselves safe. Encouraging your son or daughter to develop systems whereby they let friends know they are safe when they go out at night; finally, not walking around unfamiliar unlit areas, and remembering personal safety when out drinking.

• York is also easy to get around, students can either walk into the city centre, there is a frequent bus service, a number of local taxi companies some of whom offer student discounts; and finally, a lot of students get around by bike. Iif they do want to bring their bike we would advise that they have a high quality lock and that the bike is insured. York is a good centre for travel by train, which helps when students want to go home for weekends and vacations,parents can help their sons and daughters budget by buying them a student railcard which gives a discount of up to a third of the cost on rail travel. Students at the university have no real need for a car, if they want to bring one there is very limited parking and they will have to pay to park. Only certain students, those who have a heath condition or a disability will be entitled to a parking permit, the full details are on the page - Parking Information for Students

For young people who are not familiar with using public transport it will help them develop confidence in using public transport if you are able to try leaving your car at home sometimes and use public transport, either the bus or the train which ever is going to be most appropriate for your son or daughter. If you fancy a day out to York there is lots of information on the Tourist Information web site and maps of the university.

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Last updated July 08. sm49 Legal statement