to be cross with school for sending primary kids out at lunchtime in heat yesterday

[busyhouseof8]

So, it was 33 dgrees in this part of Essex yesterday. When I picked up my 9yo DS from school yesterday he had heat rash everywhere and was really uncomfortable and distresed.

AIBU to think that the school was wrong to insist the kids went out to play at 12.30 in that heat - albeit that they had hats and sunscreen. There is very little shade in their playground. Every year the advice on the telly is to avoid the sun in the middle of the day - the teachers stayed inside!

Contemplating making a fuss with the headmistress, so please let me know if I should wind my neck in....

ok wait... playing in the sun is one thing... but spaghetti hoops?? bleah!

Yesterday I instructed all my Y4 class to remove the thick sweaters they had worn to school, brought them back from assembly via the water fountains and reminded them (both before play and lunch) that as it was hot they needed to wear hats/drink water/play in the shade and try to conserve their energy.

Not a single child had a sunhat with them. Half the class had thick sweaters (as in fleece-lined, we don't have uniform) and every single boy came back into class red-faced and dripping with sweat as the result of running around for 45 minutes in the blazing sun.

After lunch we spent a while talking about the merits of wearing cotton clothing (including looking at labels to see what their clothes were made of) and bringing in extra layers such as cardigans and rain coats instead of eskimo-friendly sweaters. Today more of them wore loose, cool clothing and brought water bottles in but, it's up to the parents to send their children appropriately attired. I do what I can but 9-year-olds and sense aren't always aligned in the way one might like.

definitely! and fyi..it's your responsibility not mine to make sure your kids have suncream on! Amazing how many parents send their kids to school without sunscreen when hot weather has been forecast. They're allowed water, and there's always some shade. kids HATE being stuck indoors, fresh air and some vitamin D. (p.s teachers are inside because we are still WORKING!!!! trust me..i'd much rather be outside enjoying some sun!) :)

YABU imo.

It was hot I don't deny but children have access, or should have, to water at all times.

Better than today when outside and it started to thunder and lightening. DS was not impressed by that.

Another example of teachers being damned if you do, damned if you don't! I think I've reached the stage of feeling no matter what I do, someone is going to complain that I've got it wrong.

FFS shut up about the heat and the sun!!! i live in Scotland. we haven't seen a ray of sun since April. More chance of the DCs drowning in the playground than getting sunburn!

if he has a heat rash when you picked him up then it was from the very hot classroom he was in for the afternoon rather than being outside...you should feel sorry for the kids I taught on Monday in a room with south facing windows (that only open an inch) and 32 computers but no air conditioning as the room was never designed as an ICT room and no fans available - that would have caused several heat rashes!

Oh good lord - the UK a hot country. Hahahahahahaha.............

Who would be a teacher?

I'm going to disagree with ...just about everyone and say yanbu. I'm from Florida and from about March until November we have that kind of heat all the time. You need to be sensible about the heat, yes children should be out in the sun shine but midday is a no no. Especially if the children aren't used to the heat! Heatstroke is not nice.

I am very surprised so many people are saying the op is bu. They should have had the option: inside or out. I'd be annoyed if they were told they had to go out.

But children going outside for 30 minutes dressed appropriately, drinking cool fluids and having some shade to retreat to aren't likely to get heatstroke in this weather.

It's about 30 degrees, not 45.

Many people that get heat rash aren't wearing suitable clothing - I did a child imms clinic yesterday and had babies and preschoolers being brought in wearing vests, fleecy sweatshirts, jeans, socks and trainers etc. It was about 28 degrees outside! I know school uniform can't be modified that much but natural fibres, no jumpers and sandals are cooler.

'who would be a teacher?'.... Errr - hopefully people who actually care about the kids? Especially in a primary school!

Re the clothes - sometimes you can't always tell early in the morning what it is going to be like all day. Also it's not the childrens fault if the parents haven't dressed them appropriately, no excuse for allowing them to be uncomfortable.

Sidge - it's not about them getting heatstroke, but if a 9 yr old is uncomfortably hot they should be allowed inside!

Cat98 if the school chooses to offer an outside and inside option then the lunchtime supervisors have to be rethought. There might not be enough of them to go around. If a child felt a little unwell I am sure there would be somewhere for them to sit quietly, but allowing a whole group inside would mean rearranging. When it's raining, then everyone is in and they will have a contingency plan but the UK isn't a particularly hot country, they can't employ somewhere extra for 2 days of the year when it gets to 30 degrees, especially with the current school budget restrictions. That said, they might have been able to make a plan (assign one classroom and disallow certain areas of the playground to split the inside/outside group), so it might have been possible I suppose.

I do think though that the school needs to reevaluate their lack of shade and the OP could be focusing upon this. Also, I wonder if the OP had entitled her post

'Would it be unreasonable of me to ask the school to allow children inside the classroom on hot days'

then she would have got a lot more support.

They wouldn't let my youngest DD out in that heat because she DIDN'T HAVE A JUMPER WITH HER. I am lost for words (she did have sun cream on!)

"Errr - hopefully people who actually care about the kids? Especially in a primary school!"

They did care - they let the little bleeders darlings run around outside in temperatures which, for the human species, are best described as "pleasant" instead of cooping them up indoorsin stuffy classrooms.

And then precious parents come along and whinge.....

Who'd be a teacher?

Cat98 I was responding to posters who suggested that heatstroke was a possibility.

Also I imagine that children would be cooler outside than inside as long as shade was available. Just about all the schools I have been in are boiling as they are not well ventilated as a rule!

Great idea about the PTA gazebo thing. perhaps something more like a shaded wooden structure with pretty planting around it or something.

Schools are supposed to try to get outside for 'outdoor lessons' as much as possible so by having an 'outside classroom' area, this would provide both a working area and more shade.

They will obviously send them in the heat but I'd only complain if they were allowed to not wear hats etc.

Havent read the whole thred, but a shade realy isnt that expensive. We are in Spain and use these on our patio in the summer
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/outdoor/17895/

YABU, compared to Europe its not THAT hot.....sun cream n hats and water.... good heavens they will survive for 20 mins...surely. dont be a woos!

33 degrees is not that hot.

It gets above 40 here and the kids are still out playing.

Hats, sunscreen and plenty of water.

belgo - been told different about Australia - they still have play time and lunch breaks, but wearing a hat is essential. No hat = no play. And I have definitely seen children playing outside in the heat in the US and in France.

Believe me, most children would have rather been outside playing int he sun than stuck cooped up in our hot and stuffy classrooms where the high up windows only open a small amount and generate very little druaght at all. I know where I would rather have been - and it wasn't in those classrooms on Monday and Tuesday!

Have only had heat rash once - how long does it last?

I'm not sure if Australia is the best example of how to cope with the sun. They have sky high skin cancers rates.