Stolen jacket at school

Gleek

carmina_piranha wrote: »

I escorted somebody to an exam today and they could leave bags and coats at the front of the room.

Pupils were allowed to leave when they wanted to, so I suppose there's still a risk of bags and coats going missing, but perhaps less chance if it's possible that the owner of the item is watching you.

GwylimT wrote: »

What exam board was this? It would certainly be breaking the regulations of OCR, AQA, Edexcel and WJEC, both where leaving is concerned and personal belongings.

I finished exams in early 2000's (GCSE and A Levels) - but our coats and bags were always in the room with us whichever room they were in :huh: There were piled along the front of the room with the teachers/invigilators and we sat in rows of desks facing them.

This was for EVERY exam and every board and AFAIK is the same procedure now.

msb5262

Gleek wrote: »

I finished exams in early 2000's (GCSE and A Levels) - but our coats and bags were always in the room with us whichever room they were in :huh: There were piled along the front of the room with the teachers/invigilators and we sat in rows of desks facing them.

This was for EVERY exam and every board and AFAIK is the same procedure now.

I did an exam at university last week, and to my amusement our coats and bags were piled up at the back of the room BUT we all had to leave our phones on our tables, clearly visible and switched off! This meant that nobody could "accidentally" check something on their phone while in the loo, accompanied by an invigilator, and that if a phone rang or flashed, it would be obvious which one. If the phones had been left in bags or jackets, I could imagine a hundred people all jumping up and digging through the pile of stuff to see if it was theirs...

susancs

Gleek wrote: »

I finished exams in early 2000's (GCSE and A Levels) - but our coats and bags were always in the room with us whichever room they were in :huh: There were piled along the front of the room with the teachers/invigilators and we sat in rows of desks facing them.

This was for EVERY exam and every board and AFAIK is the same procedure now.

You are certainly correct according to The offical Joint Qualifications for Council (JQC) document "Conducting Exams 2014/2015" produced on behalf of AQA, OCR, WJEC/CBAC, City and Guilds, Pearson, CEA which states on pg29- 11.1

"any unauthorised items that have been taken into the examination room, must placed out of reach of the candidates (and not under their desks) [FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma][FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma]before [/FONT][/FONT]the examination starts. This would normally be at the front of the examination room or a similar arrangement that enables the invigilator to control access to the items".

http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/ice---instructions-for-conducting-examinations

I have just asked my eldest daughter who did GCSEs two years ago, AS exams last year and is currently doing A2 exams and coats, bags, mobiles etc are all stored at the front of the class by the invigilators desks in full view of everyone. Pupils doing GCSE exams of an hour or more, were allowed to leave the exam early but usually only after an hour of the exam had passed, and would have to collect their property under the watch of invigilators. Under these circumstances there was probably a reduced risk of items been stolen. OP you could point out to the school that if they had followed the exam procedures as set out in the offical JQC document for conducting exams, they would have reduced the risk of your child's jacket being stolen.

Wyre

I am an invigilator and we have just had our JCQ inspection. Our students put their bags and coats at the side or front of the hall or room. Our inspection went brilliantly. It's a brand new school with no lockers.

I would be pushing the school to send a letter home asking all the students to check they took the correct jacket home and asking the school to review their procedures.

Spendless

Wyre wrote: »

I would be pushing the school to send a letter home asking all the students to check they took the correct jacket home and asking the school to review their procedures.

The thing is this is probably a yr11 student and they've finished other than going in odd days for exams, for some pupils the exam in question might have been the last day they were in and not all will be returning there in September for sixth form. The school isn't going to pay postage on letters to everyone home instead, though if they operate a texting service they might send a message out that way.

Hopefully if it's just a case of mistaken identity, which it might be as the OP also mentions someone elses bag going missing too, it will be returned to the school office in the next few days.

susancs

Spendless wrote: »

The thing is this is probably a yr11 student and they've finished other than going in odd days for exams, for some pupils the exam in question might have been the last day they were in and not all will be returning there in September for sixth form. The school isn't going to pay postage on letters to everyone home instead, though if they operate a texting service they might send a message out that way.

Hopefully if it's just a case of mistaken identity, which it might be as the OP also mentions someone elses bag going missing too, it will be returned to the school office in the next few days.

Most secondary schools use email to send out information (apart from personalised information such as individual reports) so they could send out an email to all year 11 parents and if like all secondary schools in our area, pupils also have their own personal allocated school email, to these email addresses as well.

Spendless

susancs wrote: »

Most secondary schools use email to send out information (apart from personalised information such as individual reports) so they could send out an email to all year 11 parents and if like all secondary schools in our area, pupils also have their own personal allocated school email, to these email addresses as well.

I've 2 kids at (the same) Secondary school. They don't use email to contact students or their families. They do use the text messaging service but I think you have to sign up to it (and alert them about a change of number!). The only time they do email you is if you have initiated contact with an individual inquiry that is being replied to. But certainly worth asking if the OPs school participates in doing this.

Jagraf

susancs wrote: »

Most secondary schools use email to send out information (apart from personalised information such as individual reports) so they could send out an email to all year 11 parents and if like all secondary schools in our area, pupils also have their own personal allocated school email, to these email addresses as well.

Even with such a system, most year 11s won't look as they are leaving school, and most parents probably won't respond. There is so much more going on at this time of year than a whole school looking for one jacket. My year 11 child actually does have an email account and has probably looked at it twice. My dd stuff is always going awol and ends up in lost property. I'm not sure all this pandering is s good use of school resource at all.

Jagraf

susancs wrote: »

You are certainly correct according to The offical Joint Qualifications for Council (JQC) document "Conducting Exams 2014/2015" produced on behalf of AQA, OCR, WJEC/CBAC, City and Guilds, Pearson, CEA which states on pg29- 11.1

"any unauthorised items that have been taken into the examination room, must placed out of reach of the candidates (and not under their desks) [FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma][FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma]before [/FONT][/FONT]the examination starts. This would normally be at the front of the examination room or a similar arrangement that enables the invigilator to control access to the items".

http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/ice---instructions-for-conducting-examinations

I have just asked my eldest daughter who did GCSEs two years ago, AS exams last year and is currently doing A2 exams and coats, bags, mobiles etc are all stored at the front of the class by the invigilators desks in full view of everyone. Pupils doing GCSE exams of an hour or more, were allowed to leave the exam early but usually only after an hour of the exam had passed, and would have to collect their property under the watch of invigilators. Under these circumstances there was probably a reduced risk of items been stolen. OP you could point out to the school that if they had followed the exam procedures as set out in the offical JQC document for conducting exams, they would have reduced the risk of your child's jacket being stolen.

You don't havevto have items in the same room, it says that if they are they need to be out of the way. The school are, from what I can see, adhering to the protocol. The exam board won't care where the jackets etc are so long as they are not breaking examination practice.

Bennifred

The coats, bags, mobile phones etc do not have to be locked away, or kept in the exam room. They do have to be away from the candidate (Exam Board Rules - very strict!) and if there isn't a lobby where these things can be left, then they are generally piled up at the front or back of the room.

Students cannot just leave an exam room willy nilly - there are very specific rules about that, too!