Can schools issue fines for absence during very hot weather?

[CanTheyFine]

I’m planning to keep my dc off tue/wed/thu due to the heat - can schools actually fine for this ? Or is it only for holidays that they do this ? Or do you have to have at least 10 unauthorised sessions ?

All this open the windows is such bollocks! If it’s 35-39 degrees outside you don’t want the heat to get in - keep the windows closed.

It will be interesting to see what impact this hot spell does have on school attendance.

Especially with England playing late tomorrow evening!

Lol. Yes indeed.

X

The summer of 76 drivel is getting really fuckin old. I was born in the 80s and survived riding in car boots and smoking 20 second hand fags a day. 'We survived' isn't really a safety standard is it. Move on ffs.

Anyway, I'd keep them off.

Hahahahahahahahaha. Do you have much experience of uk schools?

Our school have cancelled lots of fun activities planned for this week and I heavily suspect they along with other schools in our area will actually put a notice out that they’re closing on Wednesday. Ours is secondary and travel to from school on buses is bound to be absolutely awful. I don’t think they miss much this time of year anyway the exams are nearly always done it’s just winding down now isn’t it. At least at home I know mine will happily stay indoors with a fan it’s a lot cooler inside our house than out. I’m quite worried actually that despite teachers supposed to be guided by the powers that be I’ve not come across one single teacher to date with much common sense.

Yes.

What school has chilled water and erects extra shade in the playgrounds? Most classrooms don’t have a sink never mind chilled water. Who is putting up this extra shade and where is it kept the rest of the time?

As we all know, it’s up to parents to provide sunscreen so what happens when it’s not ‘applied regularly’ because they don’t have any.

6 year olds are great at applying their suncream regularly 🤔

You'll be surprised at the lengths primary schools will be going to this week.

All the precautions I have listed are happening.

I am very surprised.

So, where are these chilled water and extra shade precautions happening?

At my school the water is from thw tap and nowhere near chilled. And no extra shade erected in the playgrounds. We have hardly any shade. So the only thing the head can do is not let them out for as long. Which means sitting in hot, stuffy classrooms for most of the lunchbreak. But our head doesn't care she has aircon in her office and didnt come out of there today

Chilled water machines are available every day so the children can fill their water bottles up.

Your concern that classrooms dont even have sinks just isn't correct.

2 extra gazebo shades have been erected. The school (or the PTA) purchased them a few years ago.

At my grandchilds school sports day last week I noticed they had a massive gazebo.

I imagine (and hope) schools are much better prepared than you assume.

Nevertheless some parents will be concerned and if they feel their children should stay at home that's their right.

There's just a limit to how far any building not designed to safely hold hundreds of kids in 38 degree heat can prepare. Takes more than cool water and sunblock.

Chilled water! You’ve got to be joking. Where is that coming from?
There is no extra shade erected in my school. The most we can do is repeatedly tell the children not to run around (as effective as telling the tide not to come in) and ask them to wear a sunhat (which about 1/4 of children will not have in school).
A large proportion will not have sunscreen on.
They can’t stay inside at lunch - we use the hall for school dinners. We can’t leave them unsupervised in their classrooms.
Our playground is asphalt (no grass) with 1 tiny sun sail for shade.

Well as long as you’re alright then…

You must understand that not all classrooms have sinks. Not all schools have the resources to buy gazebo’s (ours can’t afford glue sticks).
I’ve never seen schools with chilled water dispensers. Who pays for them?
Your school must have affluent parents and an active fund raising group. That’s not the case for most schools.

I laughed at this too. The only thing our school is great at in hot weather is growing flies in the sanitary bins.

If you really feel the need then just say they’re unwell? No need to make a huge issue of it.

You're talking about one particular school and you think that means every single school in the UK has chilled water machines and gazebos purchased by the PTA...

things are a bit tough so they don’t have to go to school even though the school is open and their classmates are there?

You haven’t come across one single teacher with common sense? Great to know the gratitude and respect is there!

If the heat wave had struck while GCSE and A Level/university exams were taking place, they would not have been cancelled and rightly so.

Sometimes you just have to get on with it.
Water does not have to be 'chilled' for heaven's sake. You just need to be drinking water! The body won't discriminate the temperature, which is why people still drink tea in hot weather (look at Morocco!)

We’ve only just started to apply sunscreen to our dd (9yo) because of her eczema and it’s only because I’ve finally found one she can tolorate. Before that she’s wear long sleeve tops and leggings under her uniform & pe kit but obviously that’s extra layers. She would be covered in weeping wounds and her clothes would stick to her from the bleeding wounds in the past. I would absolutely keep my dd home if she was going to struggle in the heat, in past years I would have done but she’s happy to go in and the schools taking plenty of precautions.

i also have 2 children with asthma and lost family members to asthma attacks, I would again keep them home if I felt I needed to.

You can’t get fined if they are sick, just call in sick for them. My DDs school wouldn’t be overly strict but I know some schools can be ridiculous and inflexible.

For those saying children will be no cooler at home. I've worked in many schools, some classrooms are very small and cramped for the number of children. Some class sizes exceed 30. Some classrooms are built or positioned in such a way that they trap the heat in more. Our schools in the uk were never built for these sorts of temperatures. Some schools in my area (Essex) are going to close early. So if children can go home early, of course they'd be better off. At least they won't have 30 overheated children around them making them hotter. And if parents can't do an early pick up, that's ok too but at least the option's there.