To think schools will close, rubbish will rot and bodies won't be buried

[bananacake2134]

‏Local authorities making emergency plans for March 29th onwards 2019 for Crash Out Brexit (Leaving without a deal)

@faisalislam
NEW: Extraordinary Kent County Council No Deal Brexit document detailing “Operation Fennel” next month to hold 10,000 HGVs “on a routine basis”

-administration GCSEs/SATS

• waste services “delayed and disrupted”
• “difficulties with transport of the deceased”

Looks like there's a serious possibility of 1000s of our kids having wasted years of education as GCSE and A level exams could be cancelled.

user1499173618

I see that you live in an EU country - did you vote in the referendum?

With all due respect clavinova, you’re comparing apples with pears. A single exam that schools have plenty of time to prepare for is not comparable to hundreds (more likely 1000s, as your average state secondary has year groups of 100-200) of kids sitting multiple different exams (if you think about subjects and exam boards, at least, say, 30) at different times and schools. It’s not hard to work out that that would be a logistical nightmare. It would be more sensible, as pp said, to hope that everything had settled by the time of GCSEs.

Incidentally, I am as English as they come, just in case you needed to know!

oh jesus, how thick do you have to be to understand that in a very rural area there ARENT necessarily nearest train stations that you can walk to, and if the roads are gridlocked you cant drive there, and there may not even BE a train station within walking distance of the secondary school? and dont say 'catch a bus' because when the roads are gridlocked the buses aint moving either.

yolo - was just thinking that myself. DC’s school, for instance, has a rural catchment of over 500 square miles. No trains, and most kids arrive either by school bus or public bus.

It’s not hard to work out that that would be a logistical nightmare. It would be more sensible, as pp said, to hope that everything had settled by the time of GCSEs

Of course it will be settled - MPs (on both sides of the Channel if necessary) will come to their senses one way or another. And the logistical nightmare will only happen if you believe that the whole of Kent will turn into a car park for 2 months or more.

The opening thread says this;

Looks like there's a serious possibility of 1000s of our kids having wasted years of education as GCSE and A level exams could be cancelled

which is nonsense as exam contingency plans (for major disruptions) have been around for years.

oh jesus, how thick do you have to be to understand that in a very rural area there ARENT necessarily nearest train stations that you can walk to

Thick enough to know that this will only affect a small minority of pupils in Kent in any one year group.

oh well that's ok then, just a few kids in Kent, no worries! Kent is quite frequently turned into a car park, forgive those of us who live here for not looking forward to it happening AGAIN due to bloody stupid Brexit.

"And the logistical nightmare will only happen if you believe that the whole of Kent will turn into a car park for 2 months or more. "

Looking very likely this morning.

The contingency plans for this scale haven't been around for years, and this is now what Kent are planning for and idiots here are saying they don't need to. Or that the researched claims of Kent council are "scaremongering".

The contingency plans for this scale haven't been around for years

They have for public examinations, which is what we are currently discussing.

My link on page 13 is dated 2012;
Joint Contingency Plan in the event of widespread disruption to the Examination System in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

"The Joint Contingency Plan is designed to ensure a consistent and effective response in the event of major disruption to the examination system affecting significant numbers of candidates across several awarding organisations All awarding organisations are required to have their own well-established contingency plans in place to respond to such disruptions, and these have been implemented already on numerous occasions"

Buteo

was just thinking that myself. DC’s school, for instance, has a rural catchment of over 500 square miles. No trains, and most kids arrive either by school bus or public bus

However you do live in Scotland.
Kent County Council have previously boasted of its extensive rail network covering almost the entire county - hence the reason why so many London commuters live in Kent. And Kent CC are constantly trying to cut bus services/routes/subsidies to save money.

Yet this is a scenario that goes beyond those contingency plans as the council have said.

They do have good transport links, to London, rather than between villages, towns and suburbs.

But hey Clavinova is never wrong, and nothing can ever be bad about leaving the EU.

But hey Clavinova is never wrong - at least I always try to link to facts instead of making sweeping statements without any substance.

and nothing can ever be bad about leaving the EU
Actually, I am slighting ambivalent either way, but we voted to leave the EU.

However you do live in Scotland.

Nope, not any more (and when we did, if schools were closed then you didn’t get the offer to go to a different school for the day either).

South Coast England and close to several channel ports. Traffic here is gridlocked at the best of times.

It would be nice if MN put a stop to these threads clearly designed to induce panic in the weak-minded.

But that's the client base....

in the event that a significant number of exam candidates cannot get to test centres, the recommendation is to:

• liaise with candidates to identify whether the examination can be sat at an alternative venue in agreement with the relevant awarding organisations

• offer candidates an opportunity to sit any examinations missed at the next available series

The first option will be presumably unavailable if pupils cannot travel, and would be extremely difficult to liaise with several 1000s pupils in the time available, so the solution is to cancel GCSEs in May and move them to the next series. Hardly a small impact!

They do have good transport links, to London, rather than between villages, towns and suburbs

From Kent CC's Rail Action Plan 2014:
Domestic Rail Services
1.11 The domestic rail network is recognised by LTP3 as playing a strategic role in the provision of rail transport to every part of the county. Kent is fortunate to have such an extensive electrified network covering almost the whole county, and the Rail Action Plan for Kent will reflect the priorities of LTP3 in ensuring that access to education, employment, health, retail and leisure facilities will be available wherever possible by rail

'We voted to leave the EU'.

One third of the electorate didn't vote. Just over one third voted to leave. Just under one third voted to remain. It's clear now that the Leave campaign put out some seriously misleading information and it's highly likely that Russia had a hand in that. If we'd known then what we know now, I don't think the referendum would have gone as it did.

That's before we even get to the insanity of having a referendum with a simple Yes/No answer and a commitment to accept a simple majority decision on a matter of this complexity. David Cameron has a great deal to answer for.

at least I always try to link to facts instead of making sweeping statements without any substance.

Sorry, but you seem to have done the complete opposite of this. You have filled the thread with nonsensical, impractical suggestions about how to take exams which you have plucked out of thin air and bear no relation to the reality of the education and examination system.

The first option will be presumably unavailable if pupils cannot travel, and would be extremely difficult to liaise with several 1000s pupils in the time available

No doubt any 'gridlock' would be apparent between the end of March and the beginning of May.

You have filled the thread with nonsensical, impractical suggestions about how to take exams which you have plucked out of thin air and bear no relation to the reality of the education and examination system

State school in Oxfordshire - exam contingency plan:

1. Centre unable to open as normal for scheduled examinations

*In the event that the head of centre decides the centre cannot be opened for scheduled examinations, the relevant awarding body must be informed as soon as possible. Awarding bodies will be able to offer advice regarding the alternative arrangements for conducting examinations that may be available and the options for candidates who have not been able to take scheduled examinations.
Centre actions:
Centre to open for examinations and examination candidates only, if possible.
 Centre to use alternative venues in agreement with relevant awarding organisations (e.g. share facilities with other centres or use other public building, if possible)...


1. Candidates unable to take examinations because of a crisis - centre remains open.

Criteria for implementation of the plan: Candidates are unable to attend the examination centre to take examinations as normal. Centre actions:  Centre to liaise with candidates to identify whether the examination can be sat at an alternative venue in agreement with the relevant awarding organisations...  10. Exam Papers not arrived in time / Students issued with wrong exam papers Criteria for implementation of the plan.  Candidates are unable to sit exam due to wrong paper being delivered.  Examination papers not delivered to school on time. Centre actions:  Centre will check all exam papers upon arrival in school and will alert the appropriate Awarding Bodies of any discrepancies.  If this happens on the day of the exam, contact the Exam Boards immediately. Awarding organisations to provide centres with electronic access to examination papers via a secure external network Exam contingency plan 2015/16

Awarding organisations to fax examination papers to centres if electronic transfer is not possible.The Examinations Officer would need to ensure that copies are received, made and stored under secure conditions
.
11. Disruption to the transportation of completed examination scripts
Criteria for implementation of the plan.
Delay in normal collection arrangements for completed examination scripts.
Centre actions:
In the first instance centres to seek advice from awarding organisations and normal collection agency regarding collection. ... School should not to make their own arrangements for transportation without approval from awarding organisations.

Centre must ensure secure storage of completed examination papers until collection.

All exams scripts must be stored in the secure Exams Office. If this
is not accessible, then in the safe in the Main Front Office...

Joint Contingency Plan in the event of widespread disruption to the Examination System in England, Wales and Northern Ireland dera.ioe.ac.uk/16235/1/2012-12-11-joint-contingency-plan-november-2012.pdf
GOV.UK

Looks like good news for school exams officers anyway. This utter fiasco looks set to continue well past the end of March. What the rest of the world is making of our current shenanigans god alone knows.

KCCs Rail Action plan is just that, a plan for rail in Kent, it takes no account of the impact of major road delays and merely addresses train travel. It makes no mention of the impact to services if staff cannot get to stations.

A quick glance of a map will reveal that the line that runs through the area most affected by delays on the M20 and adjacent local roads runs parallel to the motorway - it's right at the centre of the congestion!

Clavinova The emergency closure of one exam centre in Oxfordshire is hardly comparable to traffic gridlock across an entire county because of the civil emergency that will be no-deal Brexit. You are making yourself sound silly to keep flogging this dead horse.

I wish I could teleport the doubters into a village somewhere between Ashford and Dover in the summer of 2015, then tell them to get where they need to be every day for weeks.

When will people understand the things like this are just fancy risk assessments?

We've all filled out those forms where you write down risk of aggressive duck attacks for trips with pre-schoolers to the village pond.

Kent are assessing all potential knock-on effects of no-deal. If they didn't plan for the worse and the worst case scenario happens, you'd all be on here complaining about the incompetent government.

So I don't see why we have to tear what the they say to pieces to argue they are crazy/sensible. Kent are doing that they've been asked to do. They are doing their job.

traffic gridlock across an entire county because of the civil emergency

No, you are making yourself sound silly...

Someone I know tried to persuade the rest of us to join in his plan for a Y2K nuclear shelter - oh how we laughed!