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

Yes you're a SAHM, which means you can open all doors, windows, do everything you can so that you and any children at home can stay cool - ice packs, ice lollies, paddling pools...I'm stuck in a classroom full of kids that hits 31 degrees by midday, no air-con, having to try to teach the poor little things while they sit there and melt...it's hardly the same thing.

Err, no? I didn’t say that. I said I am more than happy for schools to close in these conditions. Repeatedly. As long as other people accept a reduction in services. What’s controversial about that?

Optional is fine and seems the best way to go.

Well our schools aren’t closed, but it’s not always that simple. If they did close, for various reasons I’ll have to take the days off, which will cause inconvenience to others. Which I’m fine with, hopefully they will be too.

Exactly.

So you think we should have suffering children instead .

We had a 43 degree classroom today. And no, we didn't stay in it. But all our rooms are over 35 degrees so we are just sweating and kids are v irritable. Had to break up a fight today as tempers over heated.
We are not closed. But we should be.

Sooo your kids always have to suffer because you have to work. They never have time off for illness?

I agree. But equally, society as a whole needs to accept that they will have reduced essential services if schools are closed because there isn’t any term time childcare available. I’m happy to stay at home with my kids, but it will inconvenience certain members of the public due to the service (healthcare) I provide.

Me too. I paid for a babysitter. Other friends have pooled childcare. You find a solution to keep them safe - that's what being a parent is.

I just told my kids no early pick ups as we both work (not at home). They moaned a bit, but they’ll get over it.

You’ve hit the nail on the head, lots of parents now see schools as childcare facilities, then complain about them needing to close etc without ever stepping foot in a classroom!

It’s not so much ‘convenience’, I’d absolutely love to be at home with my kids this week, but I’ve got to go to work.

When you become a parent you accept the responsibility of providing them with an education. The majority of parents choose a school setting for this as it is a free (at the point of sevice) option and provides a safe space for learning to take place under the direction of teaching staff. However, it is not child care and is not a parenting alternative. The responsibility of children lies with the parents, and if a teaching space is deemed unsafe then the role of school cannot be seen as adequate and the children cannot attend. The option to home school or seek alternative education provision (private etc) remains the choice and responsibility of parents.

My 8byear old autistic son refuses to drink his water bottle at school, he only manages a fruit shoot at lunch. Also he won't wear shorts. I'm not sending him in to get heatstroke

I think making it optional is fine. Then if people can’t be at home to care for their kids then they can still go in.
Closures also fine, as long as people accept a reduction in other services due to parents not being able to go to work due to being at home with their kids. There’s another thread complaining about a Tesco delivery being cancelled, but if schools are closed then things like that are bound to happen as a lot of parents won’t be able to go to work.
We’re in a red area and schools aren’t closed. Independent school, no air con. They can go in their PE kit and all sports are cancelled but otherwise carrying on as normal. My kids have said that they had normal lessons and it was ‘fine but hot’.

What would you do if you had 31 people in your living room, it had at least one wall of windows that don’t open and no air con? Would you think that a safe environment for yourself or your children?

Bully for you. Buildings and heat levels differ.

It’s not an exaggeration!!!! Trust me, it’s just horrendous and I’m staggered some parents want to put their children though it for their convenience.

But where you are in the UK is key. If you're up in Dumfries where it's 26 you're in a whole different ballgame

I grew up in a country with weather far far worse than this and somehow I’m struggling a lot. I have been taking my dc out earlier from school and all after school clubs have been cancelled at school. I have 2 portable aircons at home and my dc are much happier. But yanbu for the people that can’t offer this option.

It’s dangerous to be in temperatures above natural body temperature in a climate like ours, as the body stops being able to cool itself by sweating if the air temp is higher than 37 degrees, due to the humidity we experience in our temperate rainforest climate.

With temps approaching 40 degrees outside, it requires careful management like staying still, drinking loads and keeping out of the sun to avoid heatstroke, which is a medical emergency and can kill. Thousands of people will die in this heatwave across Europe. Under 5s and over 65s are particularly vulnerable, but it can happen to anyone.

Imagine trying to keep 30 boisterous primary school children cool, hydrated and still in classrooms built in the 1960s and 70s, with huge single-glazed windows, no blinds and little ventilation.

Then imagine how you’d respond if your child was the one being blue lighted to hospital.

The extremes of temperature we are getting aren’t just ‘a bit hot’. The red warning is because very specific and dangerous things can happen when the high 30s and 40 degrees are reached,

Maybe that's what fuels the debate then. Apart from PE and sports clubs being cancelled everything is normal for us. I am primary and they did maths, phonics and English as normal this morning and then the usual topic subjects in the afternoon. The class are stopped as a whole for drinks breaks, we aren't outside for lunch for as long but the work has not been adapted so it's a normal school day.

Children are far more vulnerable to heat. Loads of schools are old buildings with in adequate ventilation no shade in the playground and no air con. Yes it’s hot in my home but at home my DC have access to cold drinks, ice, cool showers, paddling pools, fans, shade in the garden. If schools can’t adequately control the temp then I think it’s fine if they make adjustments.

No, school closures for extreme weather events do not need to be made up at another time.