Boarding schools - planning for Brexit?

The school may not have a Brexit plan but they will have contingency plans for most of the situations that people are concerned that could arise.
We were a military family with dc at boarding school. Based at 1 end of the UK from their school at one point. A very long drive but I did it in a day once in an emergency.
We were also abroad at one point.
We lived through the Ash Cloud delays/flight cancellations, Foot and Mouth disruption and road closures and the petrol crisis - even with our military allowance we could not get to school, it was so we could get to work.

My kids survived and even enjoyed their extended term and the adventure it threw up.
From memory due to the petrol crisis and their rural school being in a foot and mouth area (2 different occasions between 3 kids) the school did run low on supplies and have stranded students. They managed for the time. A few odd meals but they loved it. Some local families took some kids to stay, some stayed at school with also stranded staff. School went on with extra fun activities etc.
The Ash Cloud was chaotic. My dc were ferried back and forth to an airport several times. School were fab. Had staff on hand, remained open. 1 dc ended up staying at a friend house for part of it. The Ash Cloud crisis came out of nowhere. I don't think there was a boarding School without pupils affected. Many boarding schools just had to deal with the fall out there and then as it unfolded. No one I know- and I know quite a few military families with dc or had dc at boarding school at that time complained at how their school reacted. Not the most pleasant time, but well dealt with.

I'm sure if there are kids trapped in schools with no water, food and heating they will be higher up the list than those kids in their own homes with families that also didn't prepare, to get help. The military will be sent in to do something like they always are at a time of crisis.

Personally if I was as worried as you I'd be sending supplies and picking my daughter up well in advance of the Brexit apocalypse to cover both bases.

Have you thought about contacting other parents at the school to gauge their concern? Do you have emails or a parent contact list? Social media page you can tweet or post on? You may find others may have better ideas or want to lobby your school to get a Brexit plan asap with you!

Foot and Mouth was before internet was big for us. No online orders etc. But today you could easily start your own planning. Get onto Amazon Pantry and send your dc bottled water, tinned food, packet foot, multi vitamins, water purification tablets and even ration packs and a little stove.

If you are genuinely this worried then surely you’ll go and get her in plenty of time and have her at home with you.

This^

Just drive up on 28/3 and bring her home

Then take her back when you feel sure everything is to your liking

Can't you just fill a couple of jerrycans with fuel beforehand?

"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)."

Have you built your bunker yet, OP? I've had one built underground in my garden since June 2016 - solid 3-foot thick concrete all round - when David Cameron told us there's going to be war! All your present preparations may come to nothing if you haven't had one built yet.

I think people have been very harsh in the op. It isn't too hard to think that disruption will extend well beyond the Easter holidays. Which means folks need to have some comfort over situations thier children may have to live in following Brexit. Normal life means you expect your chilren to be able to access their education!

I think you have had a hard time on this OP. Of course the Head should have made plans because some fallout after Brexit is POSSIBLE even if not guaranteed. He has his head in the sand. I think some of the scenarios you mention are going a bit far but he should be considering how he is going to feed his staff and pupils if the supply chain is disrupted. How students especially those travelling overseas are going to get home for the Easter hols and even if his staff are going to be disrupted getting into work.

For context our local Boarding school is allowing overseas boarders to end the term early before Brexit if they wish

Try posting this again in the Brexit section as you may get a more informed response.

OP - being a boarding parent, you need to trust the school. Especially being so far away. If it takes so long to get to school, I'm presuming you have a local guardian for emergencies. Are they fully stocked up and prepared?
I haven't asked our schools about contingency plans, so I can't answer that question. But I think my dc will be ok in their schools, and we plan to continue as normal (as we can).

Dd said most of the older pupils (and teachers) were celebrating when Leave won

Aaaargh. DS's school had a vote, and Remain won by a massive majority (among staff and pupils alike).

Agree that good boarding schools take in loco parentis very, very seriously, though.

Oh I didn’t realise that @anothernewt. Our Eu school only insists on a local responsible person for children from outside of the Eu.

Do you honestly think if the UK had a shortage of bare essentials that the EU wouldn’t put into place emergency ruling to ensure these items got through?

Whilst I suspect this is probably correct it's a little odd how "take back control" has morpled into "we will be relying on the EU to take pity on us and protect us from the consequences of our own stupidity."

The journey to and from school for international students is the responsibility of the parents or their UK-resident appointed guardian (boarding schools all insist on there being one when the parents live abroad).

That is the person who wouid deal with flight dislocation, or pick up in event of unexpected school closure.

OP: if you are abroad,, and not happy with the person you currently have appointed, then you've still got over a month to find or hire a better one.

Dd attends boarding school, she is around 2-3 hours drive away. We're due to pick her up next Sat for half term, but there are parent/teacher consultations in the morning. I may ask her head of house regarding contingency planning for Brexit.

Tbh though, I haven't really thought about it in that regard. I would imagine for security reasons it wouldn't be widely disclosed. The school takes in loco parentis seriously so I have no real worries as such.
(Dd said most of the older pupils (and teachers) were celebrating when Leave won )

You wish there HAD been a Millenium bug? I cannot even be bothered to bite.

Can I ask whether anyone else has a child at boarding school

I do

and is worried about what will happen, both in respect of the Easter holiday (shortly after Brexit),

No, I am not

and in respect of the summer term?

Not worried about this, either.

Have your schools made any preparations or even just plans to do so?

No idea!

DC is at school 250 miles away. I am an ardent Remainer hoping for a second referendum. The school has shown itself to be superb in every way. I have not thought about what their Brexit plans might be, but given that you have asked the question, I am quite sure that they will find a way to cope admirably, should the need arise.

Programmers worked hard to avoid chaos with the millennium bug. Companies across the world checked and fixed things.

I now almost wish it HAD messed things up. Maybe people wouldn't be so fucking, monumentally stupid.

There is a poster on the Westministenders thread (check the Brexit topic) with a child in boarding school - as far as I remember their school has no plan either. Not good enough, in my view.

Erm....remember the Millenium? This all sounds very familiar.

I am fully expecting this conversation to appear on Mail Online tomorrow.

The bloomin beast from the east felt like the apocalypse!
It’s not unreasonable to plan for disruption , especially where kids are concerned. And I have not bought so much as a tin of zombie beans.

Exactly @notanotherjaffacake

I am a governor at a bog standard state school, the kind where children go home every day and live a max of 20 mins away, and e have fairly serious contingency plans in place. Colleagues in Kent who may face serious traffic disruption have even more robust plans in place, and th DfE has advice and guidelines out. At the very least, you need to know that staff are eligible to remain and work in the Uk in the event of a no deal Brexit, and that our caterers can provide food - our obligation to provide infant free school meals remains, even if our caterers can’t get food.

Your head sounds completely incompetent, and shows a serious lack of judgement if they really are doing nothing. It’s not about whether or not it will happen/be fine/be a disaster - it’s like the Y2K bug, you plan based on the risk involved with a worst case scenario.

Maybe if you had asked the school for their Brexit contingency plan they may have discussed it with you? But you kind of presented some sort of Bruce Willis disaster movie script - perhaps they thought you were a bit deranged?

My dd is a boarder and we haven't heard anything either. I wasn't expecting to tbh, if there are shortages and school closes, we'll collect her, keep her at home and H.ed
Stop listening and reading about speculation, which is all it is.
What are you so scared of, it's not good for your mh to be so anxious.

When do your Easter holidays start OP?