Boarding schools - planning for Brexit?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-schools-in-england

Government guidance

www.kelsi.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/89595/Brexit-Guidance-Note-for-Schools.pdf
Advice to Kent schools.

Don't be ridiculous.

@Tonsilss I also fear you may be missing the point. The government, with its vast resources has been unable to adequately prepare for brexit. And yet you expect a single school to have innumerable contingencies specific to your child and your travel situation. And for that, I think you're being unreasonable here... worst case scenario? She stays at/ near school for Easter. What more do you expect if there are no trains, planes or automobiles?

Loads of people abroad know as much as we do about Brexit.
I've been to UAE and several Asian countries recently. Brexit is all they want to talk about.
That woman you spoke to must have her head in the sand.

I think you could help yourself by relaxing a bit. You seem very very stressed out by this all and seem to be determined to only see a black hole.
I agree Brexit is shit and we have uncertain times ahead but I've lived through other difficult shit and come out ok. Its not always been great but it's turned out ok in the end, usually with a few good takes to tell.
You seem to have thought of every possible awful thing that could happen after Brexit. So use that knowledge to find your own solutions rather just waiting for the shit to hit the fan.
You do seem to quite down on everyone's suggestions. For example going to collect your daughter- you say you can't do it in a day, it won't be safe but if school called you right now and said your dd was ill in hospital I expect you would find a way to get there. No one on here has suggested you drive it one day anyway. You say there could be fuel shortages then plan your journey in advance before UK fuel dries up.

You sound so stressed out about this all - thats not a criticism by the way. There are practical and simple solutions to alot of the issues you raise especially about getting your daughter and being in control of her welfare during the Brexit Apocalypse you are so concerned about. I get it may not be ideal, not much about Brexit is ideal for many if us, but like I said before, you have foresight so use it to your advantage. On that front you should be optimistic. You are streets ahead of those in denial.

I've asked the Head what contingency plans are in place for the effects of a no deal. This is in the current context of expected serious food, medication and fuel shortages, the possibility of contaminated tap water, no facilities for disposing of waste, civil unrest and an increase in crime (eg looting / burglaries).

FFS!!!!

Are you off your heads?!

The EU has been extraordinarily patient with the unicorn-chasing UK in the past two and a half years. Humanitarian aid to a country that voted for suicide and then went ahead might be beyond its tolerance...

Sorry only half s message there!
Not sure
a) why that’s relevant
b) if its true
c) @Clavinova - my DDs private boarding school also breaks up the week after Brexit

It has just occurred to me that the op's dd must be attending a state boarding school - that would explain why the school breaks up for the holidays a week later than the private boarding schools.

Beer and Crisps. 100% British ingredients, no border issues. And maybe some Iron-Bru for the children.
Suggest OP buys an electric car TODAY.

But I'm sure there ARE contingencies. They may not be specific to brexit! There will be contingencies if students can't fly (local parents, guardians or school staff). Food issues? There will be other suppliers... etc... they probably don't have a contingency specific to your hold, your specific travel issues...

And I'm sorry, but parents don't send their kids to a foreign country without knowing the situation (at least what they glean from the news).

I recently worked at a boarding school where about half a dozen parents pulled their children after the referendum because of uncertainty with going to British university etc.

It's sort of the parents' job!!!! You worry about you. Let them worry about them.

Schools managed during the war; they'll manage a disorderly Brexit. Most schools use contract caterers who will probably have made some plans, otherwise there will just be a rather unvarying menu for a bit. If there are travel difficulties, schools may stay open during the holidays, although most require overseas pupils to have a UK guardian with whom they can stay in just this sort of circumstance

It has just occurred to me that the op's dd must be attending a state boarding school - that would explain why the school breaks up for the holidays a week later than the private boarding schools. State boarding schools have forces dc - I can picture food parcels and SAS personnel dropping from the sky as I type.

Duckshead
This advice was published by the Association of Colleges (FE colleges/sixth form centres):

It is less than 2 months from Friday 29 March 2019 which is the date when the UK is due to leave the European Union (EU), but there is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen at that point

No deal contingency planning

Colleges could spend - and possibly waste - a lot of time preparing for a variety of scenarios

Supplies and services

Colleges have a web of contracts with other organisations to supply everything they need. The range of courses on offer in a typical college makes a wide range of supplies and it is hard to generalise about where the weak points are. Each winter many colleges close for a day or two because of snow disruption. Colleges stayed open in September 2000 when petrol started to run dry but land-based colleges had to shut up shop in April 2001 when foot and mouth closed down large parts of the countryside. More recently, colleges have been affected by riots or terrorist incidents. A no-deal Brexit is different to this because change - and disruption - could last for weeks, months or even longer. There are a range of scenarios for what might happen so it is pretty much impossible to do any serious planning An obvious first step is to ensure that the college has information on its suppliers and key contracts up to date and available

Whilst everyone might know Brexit is coming. No one knows what it is going to be like and there has been so much scare mongering

I can’t help wonder if all these scare mongering things don’t happen that people will suddenly think everything is going to be great and everything will bounce back.

Instead of the certain things that aren’t going to be good and we can try and do something about are getting lost in the panic forecasts

Actually the fire then affected my shcool too (if you read my post) and several dozen others. The fire spread so that the burn areas were visible from space.

The reason it's a relevant comparison is because you can't prepare for the unknown!! Brexshit May have a very very large impact, or relatively little impact on people's day to day lives. Because so much is unknown there so nothing you can do to 'adequately' prepare for it because you don't know if you're planning for a shortage of avocados and strawberries, or a full-on zombie apocalypse. Too many possible outcomes to plan for!!! The govt have whole departments (mis)handling this; what is reasonable for one school who has no real inside knowledge to do???

You deal with the situation as it unfolds.

Yes but physickate the whole point of the OP's point is that everyone knows Brexit is coming, your school fire example is the complete opposite, it came out of the blue - plus it only happened to the one school which could then lean on the others. ALL schools will be in the same boat with Brexshit - apart from the ones who have made contingency plans!

How can he adequately plan for this when the uk gov't have been unable to do so?? I think you're being a touch unreasonable here...

I went to a boarding school. There was an emergency at a nearby (an Hour's drive) boarding school (massive forest fire) that started overnight and took the other school by surprise. Guess what happened! They came and stayed with us for a week!! They camped in our gym, slept on dorm room floors, etc. The fire then approached our school, and so it closed two weeks early for Christmas so firefighters could use it as a base.

Emergencies happen. People can't always plan for them. That's what the whole business of risk assessment is about. You honestly cannot plan for unexpected or unrealistic risks!!! But you can respond to an unfolding situation. And that's what schools do to factor's beyond a school's control. That is what reasonable and rational people do too...

Give me strength....

I was a remainer. I'm quite happy to go now. A lot of this is scaremongering, deliberate or otherwise. I think the EU have been disengenous and slippery throughout and that we really will be fine, if not immediately better off.

A lot of people are likely to experience, very soon now, that the UK needs the EU a hell of a lot more than the EU needs the UK. And it's not their job to save us from our own politicians

But it is their job to watch out for own citizens - 3 million of them living here, plus all the British who have dual citizenship. I do think there will be a shortage of some things (and so am eg stockpiling tinned fruit and multivitamins) but the idea that the EU will let us die of contaminated water is a joke.

Tonsilss

Are your schools making contingency plans?

Not that I'm aware of - private day schools. I haven't made any Brexit plans either. I can afford to stock up two weeks before if absolutely necessary, or spend an extra £500 pm on food etc. instead of a holiday.