AIBU to think school closures ignore parents' work commitments?

You have already said you understand safety concerns so not sure why half the posts are driving home the importance of safety to you. Your point of irritation is your other commitment of work and the difficulties it presents when you suddenly cannot work. I get the frustration as I have 3 grown up kids but generally speaking schools regularly do stuff at short notice with no consideration of working parents. They have no choice in this case and there is nothing they can do about the impact. My kids have grown up now but I can think of dozens of times the schools could have planned or communicated better to working parents. 2 stand out memories are youngest chil going on trip to London. It was snowing heavily and forecast worst area London. I phoned school as I assumed they wouldnt go. They said they hadn't assessed yet. We skidded, slipped and slided to shool. Eventually got there. Still not changed minds. Nightmare drive home. Home 10 mins got a call to pick up daughter as it was deemed unsafe to go. 2nd example trivial but sends clear message. Standing in playground with other parents in full view of classroom, teacher and kids. It is HAMMERING down with rain and stormy. Teacher in warm dry classroom carries on teaching and talking completely ignoring parents ordeal outside waiting and runs over by 10 mins. 10 mins is a long time stood in open area in horrible weather. Just saying....there are times when schools can but dont consider parents.....

So what do you suggest? One parent remains SAH just in case school is shut?? Have some magical non-existent nanny on standby who can jump in with no notice?

I lived in Singapore as a child. I started school and ended at 1.
that’s how they manage it because it’s ALWAYS hot and humid

Schools exist to provide education, not childcare.

I what?? What are you rambling on about?

I don't think you have any idea how intolerable it is in many classrooms.

It is certainly not as intolerable in many homes, and even if it is there are options available at home that are not available at school.

I think that schools should stay open, but be prepared to go off timetable to account for the weather. It’s just as hot at home as it is in school. Get them all cool drinks, close the blinds and take things at a much slower pace.

I can tell you how they are coping Some tenants in Woolwich are taking legal action against their housing association because their homes reach 43c in the summer

No, it’s an academy. They have 13 weeks off now.
I understand it all, I was just agreeing with OP as to how school communicate with parents.

But you had 12 weeks before and you have 12 weeks now. You seem to hold a lot of resentment towards people who have basically no flexibility during term time.

Ok cos theinthibknits more the memories talking about making it easier for teachers over ONE week when non teaching parents have 12 weeks of holiday to deal with

It’s not a bottomless pit of money. It’s hard enough employing enough staff.

I can't work out why you find this unreasonable. Your children still had the same number of days holiday in a year.

Making it easier for teachers also doesn't sound like a terrible thing to me.

Absolutely agree OP. My child’s school used to talk to us as though none of us worked. It was very annoying. Now there’s a new head, and she has been acknowledging it in all of her messages, for example, “here are the plans for Sports Day. I know many of you work and are unable to take the time off, and that is absolutely fine”. It just makes such a difference to know they’re actually taking it into account.

Of course I do but we are raising a bunch of wimps by closing the schools at the drop of a hat. The whole country is becoming wimps. We close things for heavy rain, high winds and a bit of heat.

some people don’t have the luxury of being able to take a day off at short notice in their workplaces because there is nobody else to cover. Some people dont have family who can babysit when schools close at short notice.

relax uniform and allow kids to have plenty of breaks and free access to cold water. Reduce lesson times so they can have comfort breaks and go and run their wrists under cold water. That’s what I’ve had to do at work when working in 38+ degree heat in a small room full of electrical equipment and several bodies and no air in, also with windows that didn’t even open an inch, for 10 hours, far longer than being at school.

It's similar to when they introduced the 2 week 1/2 term in Oct.
The presented it as "yay, you get a whole extra week, you could go on holiday when most schools are still open".
Yeah...sure, cos my employer also gave me an additional week of leave. 🙄

The best one was when we were asked to consider the teachers who had children and had to juggle childcare when the 1/2 terms didn't coincide across county boundaries. I think that was meant for the staff memo, not for the parents, most of whom have to juggle childcare and work for most of the school holidays.

She's already said in the post she understands why it's closed. She's annoyed at how the school doesn't seem to realise how much of an inconvenience it is.

Well at home they can be naked / in pants, take cold showers, sit in the paddling pool, go and sit outside under a tree in the breeze. In school they're in socks and shoes and shorts and tops, no going outside, play time and lunch time sat in the same classroom, potentially long walk to and from school

School is education, not childcare! And the fact is that we are managing to teach on the mornings... Just about.... But there is no learning going on in the afternoon this week... In my opinion we should shut or finish at lunch time but I fortunately our school feels too much under pressure from parents who think of school as childcare and not only don't want to pick up at lunchtime but expect after-school club too!

It's most annoying for those of us whose children are in the same school as we want to pick our children up early but can't because we have to be with other people's kids. A teacher friend couldn't believe how many I had in my after-school club today.... Her daughter was in for about half an hour due to the juniors finishing later than infants and she flew out the door to pick her child.

We have been celebrating the fact we now have air con in the hall this year... But classrooms remain scorching.

School is for education, not childcare.

We've unfortunately got to a place in society where, often, childcare is all it's deemed to be but, nevertheless, school will be prioritising the students and their staff (as they should do!)

My kids' school is currently open, offering for them to wear PE kit and re-timetabling if certain rooms are problematic. Some are in very old buildings with poor ventilation, like being in a fish tank and the heat is unbearable.

If it gets to a point where it's not safe for them, I'd rather they be at home. No, it's not convenient but it also wouldn't be convenient for children and staff getting sick and being at risk.

What would help, is if as a society we finally properly acknowledge the impact of global warming and the extreme weather we're having and actively plan for it e.g. making schools adaptable to the changeable weather, better ventilated, option of AC etc.
If only...!

Bang on. Don’t have kids if you are going to view them as an inconvenience.

I can assure you that 99% of the time they are not fit for purpose. Our school infrastructure is crumbling.

You know that closing the school is a "major major f*ing headache" for the school too, right? They aren't all giggling into their cocktails and rubbing their hands because they aren't in the next 2 days...........the logistics around making sure children in reciept of free school meals are catered for, that high risk children will be safe etc doesn't disappear because the guidance from the DofE says close the schools.

@OhNoItsThePinkyPonk I, like you, am a key worker and, by the sounds of it, you're medical too therefore needed to be at work in business continuity. I think schools should remain open to KW children, as they did during covid.

We got a message at 12.20 to collect the kids from 13.20. By the time I got there at 3pm 75% of the class had left and they’d spent the entire afternoon watching tv. Nightmare. But tomorrow I’ll take DC to work with me.