To think closing schools or making them "optional" during the heatwave is putting pressure on working parents and is just a bit silly?

So many answers on here from people who have no idea what it's like in some schools this week (or lack the imagination to realise not all schools are the same).

The temperature in our class today was 5 degrees hotter than outside all day, glass on three sides. No fans. Absolutely zero learning was done, they weren't even allowed outside as we have no shade at all. The morning was bearable to be fair but the afternoon was hideous for the children. Not fun for the adults but we coped much better. And this was with about 1/3 of the children kept home.

I particularly enjoyed the change of tune from the couple of staff who branded it ridiculous that we were giving parents the option to keep children home, snowflake generation etc. By 1pm they were lauding the head teacher's decision to close for Weds/Thurs.

Parents working should not take priority over children's health, especially as a lot of the time they have no idea what they're talking about.

On a side note, I can't believe new schools are still being built without aircon. A brand new school locally was shut from today as it has so much glass and no air con. That to me is bonkers, it's less than a year old and cost £££. All new public buildings should have aircon as part of building regulations. Totally different for existing older buildings obviously.

This stupid comparison again.

Children aren't chefs and they're not workers. They are children and are supposed to be going to school to learn. Why do people actively want to treat children so poorly 'because chefs work in hot kitchens'?

It's not about the teachers.

We’re talking about children not adults

Children can’t manage heat as well as adults. Their bodies heat up much faster and they are less efficient at cooling down. They rely heavily on caregivers to manage their environment, hydration, and clothing.

Several biological and behavioral factors make children more vulnerable to heat:
Less Efficient Sweating: Children produce less sweat per gland and require a higher core body temperature before they even begin to sweat.
Higher Surface-Area-to-Mass Ratio: Children have a larger surface area relative to their weight, meaning their bodies absorb heat from the environment much more rapidly.
Higher Metabolic Heat: Children generate more internal metabolic heat per kilogram of body weight than adults, causing them to get hot quicker.
Slower Acclimatization: Children take longer to adjust to sudden shifts in temperature compared to adults.
Limited Awareness: Younger children often do not recognize the early signs of heat stress, may not stop playing to drink water, and depend entirely on adults to keep them safe.

It’s a tricky call for HTs and I think they can’t win with this!
At least they’re allowing parents some autonomy in deciding what’s best for their child/family circumstances in this instance. If your child has asthma or other health conditions or allergies it might be better for them to be at home. But if you’re at work with no childcare then they’ll stay.

You’re ok with your DC’s getting overheated, feeling unwell and uncomfortable in a school building not equipped for red alerts?

I agree completely OP. My DD school hasn’t even offered that, they are to be at school with measures determined by the SLT. Which I am fine with. I have a job that is absolutely critical in hot weather. As many others do. I understand the knock on effect of staff having children etc but I don’t get the day off if my child does !

But is it any hotter than in a kitchen full of chefs and other workers?

No, I'm sorry, but it's total bullshit.

I worked 12 hours in a nursing home yesterday and I should be doing it again tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
It's fucking hard work at the best of times, and stifling hot at all times, even in winter. We were understaffed, as per usual. The residents still needed looking after. I had to wash, dress, bathe, feed very vulnerable, mostly bed ridden people, plus change adults who had been doubly incontinent. Do you know what it's like to be constantly doing that job for 12 straight hours? now imagine it while being punched and kicked and verbally abused. Now imagine all of that in 35 degree heat, while you are sweating buckets, and the residents, because they are also baking hot, are even more aggressive than usual.

Don't come here and tell people "you go and stand in a hot classroom and teach 30 kids". I genuinely have the upmost respect for teachers but I would 100% take their job over mine right. Even just to not do it for 12 hours straight would be enough for me. I'd take their wages over my minimum wage too tbh.

But now, on top of all that, my kids' school decided to tell me at 4pm that they are going to close tomorrow, which means no breakfast club and no after school club and I am expected to find childcare to cover me for all of those hours, as a single mum with no partner.

As if my job wasn't stressful enough, if I wasn't already dreading feeling as sick and faint and drained as I did yesterday, I now have the added stress of last minute childcare, or the risk of loosing 12 hours pay.

So no. It's bullshit. If I can work in it, the teachers can. If my extremely vulnerable residents are expected to suffer it, then the children will be fine sitting in classrooms with fans on them.

And do not say I don't care about my kids. Don't you dare. I'm not working this shitty job for my own sake.

And I bet that fuckwit Ed Miliband would have something to say since he wants to ban aircon in private homes.

What’s your cut off point ? 35 degrees, no air conditioning, no blinds or curtains, no shade outside, 30 children in a small classroom?

It's actually pretty expensive to install and very expensive to run.

Labour back in the day had a massive programme to rebuild all the most dilapidated old schools as modern buildings. George Osbourne stopped the programme so the buildings just carried on getting more and more dilapidated.

Well yes, the government should be paying for it. They’re not, though.

What when it's only one parent though?

Absolutely there are options. The most suitable option for most at short notice will be taking a day’s emergency leave. Which as I said, will impact on other services. And then you get people on MN moaning that their Tesco delivery has been cancelled 😂

@orangegato I supply in primary schools. With no exaggeration I am yet to work in one in which each child has a glue stick due to budgets. It's lucky if there are more than about 5 for a class of 30.
So aircon? No chance.

Tons of schools are modern refurbed millions spent on them. Wouldn’t have killed them to include aircon it’s a fairly old invention.

Small price to pay rather than being sued if someone gets seriously ill or worse from being made to teach or learn in 38 degrees.

New government offices have aircon so why are we making children and teachers boil alive?

This is so tone deaf and privileged 😄. Yes it isnt a big deal for you because you are a SAHM, you dont have a nasty commute on packed awful no- AC public transport, you dont need to struggle through a stuffy office all day...read this thread and you'll find out about pregnant teachers vomiting in classrooms with 37 degree heat because they have heat exhaustion. You can stay in your home in the shade.

Heat exhausion and heat stroke are no joke which is why there are threat to life warnings.

So are many workplaces but they don't all shut

If both parents work AND can't afford a day's emergency childcare at minimum wage something's clearly gone very wrong with the cost of living crisis.

There are options for those who want to find them.

I imagine those who 'can't afford childcare' just don't want to cut back on luxuries and would prefer for teachers to work in unsafe conditions babysitting their kids.

Most schools can't afford to get fans in the classrooms.

Because schools are struggling to buy the basics.

It would cost about £3500 per classroom. Schools are struggling to pay for glue sticks where are they supposed to get this amount of moneys?

Its hysterical- schools and unions have repeatedly said how investment is urgently needed
for school buildings, the Tories pulled allocated school building funding but somehow it’s still the fault of schools when buildings can’t keep kids safe!!

Because we can’t fucking afford it. Because successive governments have slashed our fucking funding

I’m sure they’d love to! Who is going to pay for it?