Should schools be open in this heat today?

[DtPeabodysLoosePants]

Thankfully we are not in London but we are still due to have temperatures of around 33 degrees today. Dd2 is still at school. We are attending this morning for an event but I'm then thinking of bringing her home.

The school has no protection from the heat and after attending an event when the temperature was 26 degrees a few years ago and it was unbearable then I suspect today will not be good. I don't drive so would have to walk over a mile to collect her with my 4 year old in tow.

We have asthma and hay fever and I struggle to breathe when it's above 23 degrees so I'm dreading today.

The school also refuse to put suncream on the children or allow them to apply it themselves. We are expected to use 8 hour stuff but after reading about this it's not necessarily long lasting and is banned is Australia due to giving false security.

The event finishes late morning. Would it be shitty parenting to collect dd when it finishes so we can avoid the hottest part of the day? I really think schools should either have cooling systems in place or close but I appreciate this would cause huge bills and difficulties for working parents. I just don't want anyone with heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

If your there this morning surely you can apply more sun cream just before you leave if needed?

I’d do it, if the building is unsuitable in such hot weather. It’s not as though they will be learning anything at this stage, anyway.

my dc's school has broken up but during the last heat wave they were encouraged to take water pistols for water fights during break times.

Dd will not be at the event so we won't see her. I'd have to get her out of class to apply suncream and it still wouldn't last until pick up time anyway. She is very freckly and pale so burns very easily. She says it was really bad yesterday.

DtPeabodysLoosePants

Can you imagine the uproar if a school closed down a couple of days before the summer holidays because its hot?

FYI, I agree with you, most classrooms in England are not built for the current temperatures.

YANBU. schools get ridiculously hot even in the high 20s depending on the building. They won’t be doing any real learning on the last day. I would explain about your asthma and take her home.

The school also refuse to put suncream on the children or allow them to apply it themselves. We are expected to use 8 hour stuff but after reading about this it's not necessarily long lasting and is banned is Australia due to giving false security.

This is ludicrous!! And I would suggest discriminatory to those with skin that easily burns. My D.C. use 8 hour stuff but have burnt once when they missed a bit and there was sports day activities including water. The water pistols idea is precarious in terms of washing off suncream. Thankfully my DC's school lets them apply suncream. I give them a stick for anytime they feel they need a bit extra on top f the 8 hour. Non messy.

And I would be writing a strongly worded letter concerning their policy.

If your going to keep her off just keep her off. Don’t send her in while your busy then take her home!

wrt water pistols - the school was great at reminding dc to put on a hat and sunscreen.
no one got burnt - everyones stayed cool enough to do their (sat equivalent) tests in between.

Primary school TA here. Our building was very hot and stuffy yesterday but we found some breezy shade under trees. Chn are allowed to bring sun cream to school and hats and sunglasses. They are actively encouraged to drink lots of water. In my experience the chn cope brilliantly. I even had to remind some to take their cardigan off. It’s the staff that flag. I spent this week fanning myself with books etc.

I'd keep her off. DD1 is going to a summer school at her new secondary and I'm debating not sending her. I don't want her to miss out getting to know people though so I've told her to text me if it's really unbearable and I'll come and get her.

There are children still at school? Blimey, when do you break up and go back? That's so late!

If you are genuinely concerned about asthma then keep her at home, abit of heat won’t harm your child.

At most they have 2 days left, in sure the school won't be making them work hard. We got out 2 weeks ago so irrelevant in most parts of the country this year but last year it was through exam season and no allowances were made, it was pushing 30 in exam halls! It's freak weather here, before you know it we will moaning about the cold

One of our secondary schools in Norfolk shut for the summer break early as the classroom temperature hit 40 degrees which they felt was too hot so made the decision to close early, its going to be even hotter today.

Last year we attended an awards evening at DS school. The sun was streaming in through massive windows, and the curtaining was ineffectual. They had an a/c machine on while we entered the hall, but then turned it off for the actual event because it was too noisy!
My rambling point is - as long as the children aren't crammed together in a hot space, your dd will be ok.
If your event is like mine was, don't bother.

I miss the days of two full months off!

If you don't have to work today, I'd take her home. It's ridiculous about the suncream. Thanks to reading threads about this on mumsnet I asked about suncream when I visited schools. One out of the 6 or so schools we visited had the same policy as your school op so we put it down last.

I went to school in Miami so my initial thought was to laugh, lol. However Miami is completely set up to cope with much hotter weather than this. I'd be concerned if I was you but I'd talk to the school about what measures they have in place to cope, rather than simply taking my child out.

I would have her take the day off and keep her off till after the summer. It's crazy they are still going.

Our school in Kent is closed today due to extreme weather - lack of shade and access to fresh cold water, predicted to be 39*! We are back in tomorrow for the last day! (We had a 2 week October half term which is why we are still at school now!)

I took DS out on tuesday afternoon as they were doing a football tornament and I thought it was too hot for it. If you think it is too hot then fine. Perhaps go in and attend the event, if you are uncomfortable in the building then take her home.

We live in South Germany and it tends to get hot here in the summer. The school has "Hitzefrei" - days when it closes early if the temperature is too high. If it's going to be over 30 degrees they only do classes until 11.30 and then the children can go home if there is someone there for them (you have to fill in a form stating what time they are allowed to leave/be picked up) - I am a meanie and usually make DS1 stay until after lunch, but at least they don't have classes for that last hour, they either stay inside in the shade or sometimes they go out to a shady area to play outside if it's hotter indoors.

But the kids are responsible for their own sun cream which means they don't tend to put it on - he got burnt yesterday as they took them to the outdoor pool and it had worn off by the time he'd been in the water a couple of times

Yanbu. Take her home!