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

How do you know that?

Not in my school, most of the pupils are sent home at mid-day but staff have to stay in school and ‘work in the cooler rooms’

And I don't remember any " life threatening " heat waves when they were at school tbh

Do you not think that's because they weren't happening?

@Thechaseison71 Thought as much. There's this "thing" known as climate change...

Well there is week, it's literally the point of this discussion

Adults 2 of them in their 30s and another is 22. Why?

UABU - my children went to school today and we had to collect the eldest as he was so unwell from the heat!
They’re both primary aged and were only allowed outside for 10 minutes and not allowed to run around.
They won’t be going in tomorrow as I think we’ll have the same again and eldest was not himself all afternoon and had ice packs and calpol and was still hot and queasy at bedtime. 🙁

I think optional would be best for all schools - then some parents, who are able to, can keep them off and it means the ones who need to be in school for childcare are in a room with less hot bodies.
They will not be learning or retaining anything in this heat.

YABVU
The students in old buildings without any ventilation or Aircon have been baking.
They have resorted to soaking their shirts through at breaks then moaning to me.
Bottles needing filling up and toilet demands, fatigue/sleepiness/heads on desks, nausea/heatstroke, inability to focus, pretend fainting, stinky sweaty stifling classrooms
Nope.
You wouldn't leave a dog in a hot car.
So whilst it is inconvenient for some, it is reasonable to close. They do it in other countries.

@Thechaseison71 How old are your children?

Oh I did take my eldest 2 out of school in term time to go on holiday -WITH the schools permission At the time it was at the discretion of the head teacher

And I don't remember any " life threatening " heat waves when they were at school tbh

@echt Another of the many reasons I got out of teaching when I could. 22 years of it was enough, and the job used to be reasonable!

Oh you are the kind of parent who takes them on holiday in term time but won't take them out when a life threating heatwave is affecting kids in the classroom 😯 got it

I'm sorry to hear it.

@echt The unions are, in essence, rubbish. Overwhelmed as you can imagine, but also simply not as proactive as they should be.

Unless things have changed, teachers can only campaign about their pay and conditions, not the buildings they are in as these are individual. I would imagine that individual cases involving H&S could be brought by the union(s).

Most people dislike teachers as they're very lazy and fail to prioritise everyone else's children - sometimes even before their own. They don't deserve any respect as a profession - either from parents or students.
This is popular opinion.
Ask me how I know.
And yes - I am disgusted by it.

You have to rememebr that even during covid the goevernment gave more time/meetings and recognition to a group of parents that were annnoyed aabout having to parent their kids.

It is also very likely that the second school closure wouldn't have happened if the government had listened to the teachers.

Our little 9 year old and his smaller brother 7 came home early today, school gave option either way but the older boy has epilepsy and we worry as heat can be a trigger for a seizure

On that note, AIBU to be a bit pissed off by this comment from my SIL when I told her that we're currently in a red area and lots of schools are optionally closing in the afternoons here?!! 😄
Btw, I'm an ex primary teacher - 24 years in education and still going!
"Madness to have aircon for the odd heatwave. Just needs more common sense and proper hydration!"

Have you sat in a room that’s 40”

It reached 43 degrees inside my daughters classroom yesterday and if she had been in school today i dread to think what it would be as we are 8 degrees higher than yesterday and forecast 39 outside tomorrow, I wouldn't want to sit in it so why should she? As for work, i work to live and not live to work, just unfortunately one of those things. Sure you wouldn't say the same if you couldn't get to school or work because of snow.

Perhaps one good thing to come out of this is people will start to begin to realise just what a joke funding is in most state schools.
Once again I'm so grateful to be out of teaching after 21 years in.
I bet the DfE's offices are lovely and cool.

The thing about the government (any flavour) is that they really don't pay much attention to teachers or the teaching unions.

can teachers and unions not petition for money for air con in schools? It would improve conditions for staff and pupils. Wouldn’t that be more beneficial than the talk of petitioning for max temps. (Which obviously wont be approved before air con is, because otherwise we’d have hospitals and care homes closing en masse in heat waves and that’s vital)
I know there’s ’no Money for glue sticks’ but it’s sickening how little is given for buildings like schools and hospitals. Wonder what burnams thoughts are. Worth pointing out that govt grants for public building decarbonisation were also quietlyremoved recently.

What’s silly is government owned and operated buildings not being fit for purpose; heating, ventilation, lead free pipes, wheel chair access.

And maybe you could remember that schools are tough places to work. And not bash teachers.