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

You can not work in a more deprived area than me. And I see you've left teaching so ......

May I suggest t everyone. Do not poke a teacher tonight. We are v v angry about what we have had to deal with today. Irritable teens who were too hot, too angry and v fighty.

But hey, the BBC said it wasn't really that hot and everyone was skipping in the sunshine.

PS the chemical cupboard is currently at 35. But tonight I frankly can't give any more shit.

Genuinely, please tell the BBC’s weather team, they’ve given that accolade to Glossop.

We remember Covid differently. I had a whole cohort of vulnerable kids in a deprived area that I knew were better off at school than at home.

I didn’t begrudge going in to teach them, at any point in the pandemic, because I’d have rather that than them being out in the community.

Those same kids would be better off in school this week too.

Schools are absolutely not pleasant places, most of the time. If it isn’t the weather, it’s the bureaucracy and overall bullshit. Let’s not pretend it’s a walk in the park the rest of the time.

But my job was to teach kids, and to safeguard the ones who needed it, and whilst it’s absolutely more difficult to teach through pandemics and heatwaves, that doesn’t change that responsibility.

Unbelievable, but call me a liar if it makes you feel better. Yes, it was hotter today than 2022. Was 38 outside, felt 42 according to weather app. And inside a badly built building meant to hold heat in it felt much hotter.

What on earth can a union do ? There is no legal max temp to work.

The lack of reality of what is actually going on in schools is staggering. Reminds me of Covid - all
those single kids on desks and social distancing 😂😂. Maybe we just need some magic temp tape for on the floors.

Our peak was 38, the classroom temp will have been higher.

The BBC claims that today’s peak was 36.1 in Glossop. So as much as I appreciate the school’s temperature was higher, it can’t have been over 40 outside of that school, as otherwise the BBC have been mislead. By the weather.

You were hotter than 4 years ago, the weather was actually cooler.

I just honestly think it’s interesting, genuinely, that there aren’t any/as many threads about nurses wanting hospitals closed, chefs demanding they don’t have to work.

I get completely that the presence of the kids changes that conversation, but if parents are concerned, they’d keep them off, and there wouldn’t be 30 kids in there.

Rather than looking at whole scale reform, do you not need to take up with the union and your employer the fact you work in a fabricated sweat box that they’re not interested in closing? Nobody else can change that.

When in 2022 was it this hot ? I too worked in 2022 and hottest we got was 37. Since then some idiot has put cladding on our building which traps even more heat.

But yes, it's totally safe to have 30+ people in a non ventilated room over 49 degrees. And we haven't shut because our CEO is a total knob who works in an air con office.

As a society we need to decide what we want going forward as this will become more common. Schools have humans in them and they can't function at this heat.

Other work places are tough too and they can fight their own battles. The race to the bottom is not needed.

I taught in 2022, so I will have.

My mum is currently working a 12 hour shift in a factory without aircon, fans or windows on the line. She’s 64.

Like I said, it isn’t pleasant, but many, many people do jobs that aren’t pleasant in this weather.

If it isn’t safe to have the kids in, shut the school. Otherwise, surely teachers are just joining chefs, factory staff, cleaners, care staff, nurses, in working in unpleasant conditions.

Have you done a 40+ degree classroom ? I never have before. And it's a whole new world of shit.

Not doing proper lessons?

I can assure you we definitely are, in my secondary school at least.

I don’t think it is guilt tripping you for keeping your kids off, if you’d chosen to.

They’re your kids, send them or don’t.

I’m not really interested what other people choose to do with their kids. Mine has gone in, and will do so as long as the school remains open. Not because it’s convenient, I could take the day off, but because it’s better for him to be there during this weather.

You can keep yours off, I’ll send mine in, nobody needs to care what the other parent thinks.

The kids being off randomly in June does put pressure on working parents, I agree it’s a pressure they’d have to deal with, but not everyone can take adhoc days off without there being an impact.

I have been a teacher, I have encountered a sweaty stifling classroom. Lots of jobs are sweaty and overbearing this week.

It depends on the area and how cool they can keep it inside. Have you been inside a school when its 35 degree? It’s dangerous.
Giving the option is great as it also means fewer bodies in class. You do realise theyre not actually doing proper lessons in this heat? Mine spent the whole day being hosed off and eating ice creams and playing wirh water in the hall. My little one‘s nursery is closing midday because toddlers collapsing with heatstroke isnt fun.

Yes as a country we need to adapt our building with air con and potentially start ‘tropical hours’ like other schools. It’s not the 80s anymore where the maximum is one day of 30 degrees. 40 is very different.

Going the the OPs title it's absolutely guilt tripping people who agree the schools should close or have the option to stay at home saying it's putting pressure on working parents and us a bit silly. Prioritising the children's health and welfare is not being silly. When you become a working parent you should know you will have to accommodate sick day, school closures, it shouldn't be a surprise, they are your kids not the schools

So if they are your kids and not the schools then why are parents fined when they decide to take them out.?

I’ve kept my two off today with no regrets. They are teenagers though.

Just not worth sending them when it’s this boiling. I’ll send them tomorrow when it cools slightly.

Well they obviously didn't contact your parents because you weren't that ill if you could go to the school fate😂 In the 70s and 80s kids were sent home sick, deal with it because it's the truth it's not a new thing.

Going the the OPs title it's absolutely guilt tripping people who agree the schools should close or have the option to stay at home saying it's putting pressure on working parents and us a bit silly. Prioritising the children's health and welfare is not being silly. When you become a working parent you should know you will have to accommodate sick day, school closures, it shouldn't be a surprise, they are your kids not the schools

If id been picked up that day I'd have missed the school fete so hardly unlucky.

Wrong by your experience maybe, not my own

You where unlucky because you weren't picked up. Your argument is that children weren't picked up in the 70s and 80s and that it's a new thing. 🙄 and spent all day in the sick bay. I'm telling you that that wasn't true for the majority of kids in that era and you don't like being proved wrong

I would love to watch the people who say it’s ridiculous try and teach a class of hot, miserable children. It’s not rocket science to understand that sticking 30 humans in a confined space where it’s measuring 30+ degrees for extended periods of time is dangerous. They are not just a bit warm, it makes lots of children and teachers feel really unwell. How much learning do you think is possible in these conditions? We closed at 1 (some classrooms measuring at 35 degrees in our Victorian brick oven) and parents were very supportive; we are trying to keep the children and the staff safe. We gave parents the choice and of 360 children only 29 remained in school. Luckily we do have two or three air conditioned spaces.

I grew up in a country where 43 degrees was the norm in the summer.

School didn’t close. Ever.

We didn’t have air conditioning.

We didn’t take time out of lessons to eat ice lollies.

For assembley we were still expected to wear a blazer.

And sports day went ahead as normal.

People seem to think that schools in foreign countries are air conditioned. More times than not they really aren’t.

As for the argument that school isn’t childcare, I agree with that when it comes to out of hours, schools being expected to provide breakfast and after school clubs etc, but education is a legal requirement. Added to which, if you’re going to take the attitude that schools have the right to close as and when they see fit and the parents should suck it up, then you need to accept that parents should have the right to remove their children for holidays as and when they see fit, without being faced with fines and sanctions for doing so. You can’t have it both ways.

People are accepting that the schools are closed because it’s just children.

But what about the safety of others? Would it be ok for your bank to close for the safety of its workers? No call centres? No ability to manage your money?

What about all the local shops?

Where does safety become expendable and at what and whose price?

I don't think it's unreasonable to be surprised that the school is closing because it's summer.

Going the the OPs title it's absolutely guilt tripping people who agree the schools should close or have the option to stay at home saying it's putting pressure on working parents and us a bit silly. Prioritising the children's health and welfare is not being silly. When you become a working parent you should know you will have to accommodate sick day, school closures, it shouldn't be a surprise, they are your kids not the schools