Small classroom without windows and one door!

[majorcrowdpleaser]

DS is in yr 6, in a small school of around 100 pupils.

Up until now the classes have been mixed years but this year the head has decided that each year should be on its own.

However, there were not enough classroom so DS's yr, being the smallest (17 pupils) has ended up in a room off of the assembly hall (next to the kitchen).

Not only is this room very small, it has no windows (apart from a sky light) and only one door which leads into the assembly hall. Ds says although there is air-conditioning, it still gets hot because the sun streams in through the sky light.

I am also concerned that if there was a fire in the assembly hall there would be no escape route other than through the sky light!

The head seems nonchalant about the whole thing. Am I being unreasonable to be a little concerned?

Not much you can do but we had a similar set up. I don't think that they thought through the hormones and BO associated with yr 6.

How can a school with 100 pupils afford 7 teachers?

Wouldn't have thought that room would pass fire regulations as there is no window in which to escape from in case of fire.
When I was young there was a fire in our school and only way out was through the classroom door then into the central hall to the front door. When school was fixed fire doors in every classroom were fitted as having one escape route wasn't enough. And that was the 80's, fire regulations have tightened up since then.
How big is the room ?, there is usually a maximum pupil number to floor space allowed.

Surely the skylight is similar to a window on 12th floor? I don't think it is dangerous just unpleasant. I have windows that just let heat it and are too small to climb out.

I would be concerned. Especially given the proximity to the kitchen. It also sounds just a bit miserable.

It is the fact its so near to the kitchen which does concern me.

I am going to have a word with the other parents see what they think.

Crazy.

Ask them what risk assessment they've done to comply with fire safety orders and healrh and safety at work legislation.

The Health and Safety Governor should have a look and see if they advise the HT to make any changes.

If the head is not listening and we are concerned who do we go to? The governors, Ofsted, the local authority??

DH is a firefighter. He says contact local fire station and have them refer you to Fire Safety Enforcement who will inspect the room.

No natural light is not acceptable. If you put a plant in that room it would die. Human skin needs light too! I would not allow my child to continue in that situation for very long, I would change schools if I had to.

major can you contact the council instead and ask them about this? Rather than the school and other parents?

I mean they may say immediatly NO this is not on...

The council without a doubt will have a list of strict regs for class rooms

first of all you need to establish safe room parameters, so ask council, ask them, as a matter of urgency.

Thanks all, I will contact the local authority and the local fire department tomorrow for their advice.

Thanks all, I will contact the local education department and the fire department tomorrow.

opps! don't know what happened there!

Also drop a line to the school governors.

Another consideration would be how noisy it would be next to the hall. I am thinking about PE lessons etc.

It is possible that the set up does meet fire regulations. But it does sound very unusual (I used to work in this area), so fire service is probably best. They really do know what they are talking about. Governors can be helpful, but quite often they just follow the Head's lead.

I like to think that schools comply with health and safety legislation, but I know from experience that isn't always the case. A local secondary tried to implement a genuinely dangerous evacuation strategy to reduce the inconvenience of false alarms, and it only got changed back because the teachers point blank refused to implement it.

Even if it does meet safety requirements, lack of natural light cannot be conducive to mental wellbeing of young children.

Those numbers must be wrong- if the smallest class is 17 there will be well over 100 kids.

why? it might be a junior school with only 4 yr groups

To put your mind at ease til it is sorted though, schools are actually surprising low risk for fires starting. Particularly primary schools, and particularly during the school day. They are covered in fire detectors which go off for even a very small fire, leading plenty of time for evacuation. In addition, school children evacuate far quicker than (for example) adults in an office. It is worth pursuing, but don't panic too much.

I can't imagine that the class teacher likes it much either!

OP didn't say the school had 7 teachers. Loads of schools near where I live only have three or four teachers.

But yes, the classroom sounds awful.

I was taught in a similar classroom at secondary school in sixth form but at least it was just for a couple of hours twice a week, not all day.