AIBU to question calls for schools to close during hot weather?

first YOU can refuse to go work in circumstances that you find not acceptable
kids don't have a choice

I am sorry your house is 40 degrees, mine most certainly is not, and I don't even have fans.

Has never entered her mind so why are parents pushing this to give their kids an excuse to not be in school and ultimately it not transverse into working life of not having an excuse to not go to work!

no.
I can manage my work commitments very well, but thank you for your concerns.

The school year need to changed to adapt to the heat, it's not that difficult to understand?

And buildings should be improved, too many schools are completely unsuitable for hot weather. Too many hospitals too as it happens.

I think we should change school hours possibly after May half term to 7-1. Or even after Easter if they want to tie it in with when they can wear summer uniform. Very similar times to school in hot countries.

How is your house so hot? I’ve just had to turn the fan down as I was feeling nippy. It’s 29 degrees outside, no doubt hotter in my children’s classes.

The other week, our school listed amongst the reasons why they were deciding close, that they couldn't keep drinking water at a reasonable temperature. They have drinking water stations in every class room so clearly this isn't actually a solution unless you do go for expensive options that allow the water to be kept cool as well...

Depends on the school and its location I think. Also an option could be closing earlier.

I kept my 8 year old son off during the first heatwave the other week but he seems to be coping ok this week. Some godsend parent provided air con units to the school (it's a small school). Obviously if he comes out of school feeling heat exhausted I'll revert to keeping him off

She didn’t even say her kid said that did she? Even if they did, they clearly still had a good day at school and felt like they learnt something.

’Lying’ would suggest a deliberate intention to deceive which I don’t think was the case. Doubting the report of something reported via a primary school child isn’t accusing anyone of lying.

My assumption is that the teacher is actually far more sensible than to continue teaching the curriculum as normal. I wouldn’t expect a young child to actually know or report in fine detail what happened versus what was planned.

I didn’t say there shouldn’t be, that’s not what that little part of the discussion was about. It was about Nobel suggesting the poster was lying about their kid still being taught in the heatwave.

Our school (sweltering south east) has stayed open but with very low attendance for the red warning days and the Head and class teachers have been very vocal about how bad it is that parents have kept their children off. Mitigations are PE kit and no sports day.

Why would this be useful?

Of course there should be upper temperature limits.

The primary school I work at didn't close during 37/38c heatwave, so they aren't going to close at 30c! It was horrendously hot, and there were several times when I went home feeling unwell.

I went to work and plodded on, like many others had to do!

My child’s classroom reached 36c inside. Home was a cool 23 thanks to a portable air con unit. We also had fans, ice lolly’s, paddling pool and fans. I decided to use the time wisely and have a 1:1 afternoon with my school aged child watching Toy Story at the air conned cinema. I rarely get this time as littlest is always here. Littlest happened to be at his lovely modern air conned nursery.

Same here in West Sussex, we break up on the 22nd, I really wish it was the Friday before..

likely just redid old lessons as practise went home told mum they did math and phonics.

My hardy son who is phased by nothing and super chilled out fainted in class when it hit 35°. Since then I’m fully aboard team send them home.

It is but with very limited budget and and a 250 year old building options are very limited. We did everything possible but it hardly touched the sides.

We didn’t shut, as a primary school we would be unlikely too unless very dangerous but it’s still not good for anyone.

We had to fight to get leaking windows replaced. We aren’t getting air con or anything else any time soon and most schools will be in the same position.

The options that will make an difference are to change school term dates so we break up in June, change the timings of school in the summer so they start earlier and finish earlier in the day, or to retrofit classrooms with air conditioning.

A fan and closing the blinds really doesn't cut it in most schools.

I realise that, but I bet there is more that your school could do with a bit of planning.

Like it or not, this weather is going to become more frequent and we have to take it in our stride somehow.

Absolute rubbish. There’s no way I’m teaching a class of 5 phonics just to redo it the week after.

Yes they are mad over attendance nowadays but presumably parents can cite that they feel their children will be safer at home due to the heat being unmanageable at school rather than at home? Especially without adequate provisions to keep them cool?

Oh my , my sympathies are with you in that case!

Yes, wish OP had to teach in one of the hotter classrooms (lovely for her kid if it's cool, but not all classrooms are like this), often without breaks, and dealing with kids with profound needs. Sure it's the same as wfh where she can get iced drinks out!
Teachers, I respect you and couldn't do it. But you shouldn't be expected to either.

I think we know the answer to that question 😂

I had a conundrum a couple of weeks ago with my daughter in the last heat wave. My daughter had heat exhaustion first thing, we got her hydrated again and monitored. She wasn't well enough for school when she woke up at 5 but by 9 o'clock she was perky and looked fine. I now had no concerns about heat exhaustion but contemplated keeping her at home. The school building is cooler than our house so I sent her in mid morning. She came home at 3.15 on the edge of heat stroke with a body temperature of 39oC. I managed to get her body temperature down and fluids into her which stopped it escalating and needing urgent medical treatment. Whilst the school was cooled than at home, I would have been more intune with my daughter than the teacher is. 1. I know her better and she is very good at masking and 2. I only have her to look after not another 29 children.

The teachers were pushing water but hadn't noticed that she had stopped eating, this meant that whilst she was taking on hydration she hadn't replaced electrolytes. This is something that would have been more obvious at home and I also would have had a greater range of food options to tempt her to eat.

I spoke to the head about how they managed the weather and she said broadly it was the Friday that school was the hottest but this was actually the day my daughter struggled the least so the changes they needed on the Friday needed instigating for my daughter in the preceding days. In future warm weather I will keep her at home if she is struggling with the heat and, when she is in school, the school will do monitored snack times to ensure that she is eating as well as drinking.

🤣🤣🤣