AIBU to be a bit miffed they have closed school "because it's hot"?

[Aethelfleda]

My DC go to a fairly large primary school.
At lunchtime today the parent alert system texted everyone to say school was closed due to the heat, and everyone to pick up their DC asap. Oh and it will be closed tomorrow too. Currently trying to sort out emergency cover with relatives for my three.

Last week we were given standard "hot weather" email/written info about hats, suncream, water bottles etc. Sports day was also cancelled "due to the heat".

Fair enough that they don't want to give the kids heatstroke by doing outside sports day if it's steaming.
But AIBU in expecting a school to have sensible contingency planning for hot weather? Ok, it's 31 degrees today (we live in the SouthEast). It is hot.
But surely all the schools in London/Surrey/Kent/Berkshire/Bucks aren't closed til it cools down, are they?

LaLalyra.... might be!

I must admit I'd rather my kids were comfortable and safe than overheating, especially if there is a structural problem with the school set up. But surely this could have been anticipated: window size is hardly an unexpected feature.... though given the awful cuts most schools are facing I have sympathy if there isn't a ready pool of cash (or any cash) to plan ahead with.

I'm guessing the closure was also partly to avoid attendence figures being affected by folks keeping their DC home.

Fucks sake !

stopFSAM.... er, in what context, dear?

DS2's special school had to shut today. Not heat, burst water main.
No water on a day like today is v dodge

It was 34 degrees in the school office today and I was the only one in there. The classrooms were stifling with 30 small bodies and one or two adults.....

We had five children absent where the parents openly stated they had kept them home because if the heat and several others where I suspect that was the true reason. We had three children throw up in the dining hall and I'm sure it was down to heat....

Not looking forward to tomorrow......

Sorry the school
Shutting . Very annoying for you but I guess they have their reasons

It's easy for me to gripe I work in an air con office

The Victorians had the right idea, their big airy classrooms and halls with high ceilings and tiled floors are a dream in this weather. Anything built since the 70's is like a sodding greenhouse though, loads of bloody windows that don't open properly, carpets, strip lighting, low ceilings. Hideous.

Younger children just can't cope in this weather either, they feel hot, sick and tired.

The temperature of schools definitely varies dramatically. I visit different schools every day, and have been amazed at the differences in temperature over the last week. Surprisingly the older, victorian and post war buildings seem to be coping best, I'm not really sure why. I know lots of modern school buildings were designed to make use of ambient heat - which of course backfires hugely in weather like this. The school I was in today was part victorian and part brand new build. The new section was unbearable.

Schools honestly cannot win - 30 small people and 1/2/3 adults in one room makes for a ridiculously hot environment. Open windows and doors do little to help if there isn't much of an actual breeze outside.

Take them to the park?? Are you joking?! We have to have appropriate ratios to take them off site, and that's unlikely to be made up of just school staff even if you took every child and every adult.

Schools aren't set up for the high temperatures we are seeing now - we have them so rarely that they've never needed to be. Would you rather your child came home with a headache/feeling faint or dizzy/sweating profusely just by being in the classroom? What if they were sick in the day due to the heat and you were called to collect them - would you think they should have just shut the school to start with?

This isn't aimed at the OP particularly, just in general really.

Schools don't take the decision to close lightly, the same as they don't - shock horror - take the decision to close for cold weather or snow lightly either.

There is a minimum temperature that must be reached for schools to open - if a boiler breaks in the winter, unless alternate heat sources can be found sharpish then schools can't open that day. If staff can't get to school because of snow - often not actually in the square mile surrounding the school - how do they teach? If the approach to the school site is dangerous - icy roads, being on a hill etc. - how do you make that safe for everyone? Because make no mistake, if a school opens in snow/ice/very cold weather, and somebody's little poppet has an accident on the way, you can be damn sure the school will get it full throttle from the parents for being open.

You can't really make the comparison to US schools - for a start, lot of US schools are already on their summer holiday, so they won't be at school for the hottest months of the year. They also have plenty of 'late starts' in the winter (in 'cold' states) to allow for bad weather easing slightly. Schools in the hottest states are built for the hot weather, same as in the coldest states people have transport/equipment built for that too. They have more 'extreme' weather so are prepared for it - we, as a rule, don't, as we don't expect it.

If schools choose to close tomorrow, it will have been a well thought out decision, with every possible contingency considered beforehand. Schools aren't doing this to make your life a misery, they're doing it for the welfare of their staff and children.

Sorry if that was a bit rant-y, I've just had it in the neck of loads of people over the years about hot/cold weather and schools.

Aargh!

*off, not of

At my son"s school they sometimes get told to bring their swimming stuff and have a water day. The school has a stash of paddling pools!

In Germany they have "Hitzefrei"...basically no school when temperatures hit xxx (don't know exactly).

It's not unreasonable. Ruddy inconvenient for childcare but better than very very sick kids.

YANBU, especially about closing in the middle of the day.

I wish the school would close, it's was reading at 35 degrees in the car on the school run this arvo, a day splashing in the paddling pool in the shade would be heavenly.

Germany have a system for shutting schools when the temp gets above a certain temp.

I think it's a good idea.

Totally agree, Rockhopper. The pressure to stay open is immense. Heads are responsible for the h&s of 100s of people. It's not a call I'd want to make.

School buildings are terrible in thus weather. I worked in a school with a big block designed for air con. The money ran out. No air con & no opening windows. Massive sheets if glass. It was horrific.

Then there was the refurb of a 70s building by an Academy chain. A transparent plastic atrium roof looked great - like an airport. But all the classrooms & offices that only had windows opening onto it? In summer they were greenhouses.

YABU for being angry with Heads doing their best. YANBU for being mad we don't have properly built schools. Target your anger where it belongs.

And taking a whole school to the park? Absolutely impossible given staffing ratios & risk assessments.

Surprisingly the older, victorian and post war buildings seem to be coping best, I'm not really sure why

^^

better building probably, proper brick walls, high ceilings...our Victorian terrace is always cooler in this weather.

I think its a sensible call albeit an annoying one for w parents. I dont see apart from installing air con what schools can realistically do to cool down the classrooms?

it is not only the health and safety of 30+ bodies in a classroom - behaviour has gone mad today with lots of students displaying inappropriate and often unusual (for them) behaviours that have resulted in a lot of stress for all within school, disruption to learning, students who normally display no issues with their behaviour/attitude now having issues showing on their school record.

Some of the rooms in my school are not suitable for anyone being able to learn, which is the reason they are in school we are not a baby sitting service

Money for contingencies? Planning ahead? Have you had your head in the sand? Schools haven't got money for staff/paper/repairs.

I haven't read through the thread but I think that it's a wise decision.

Children are different to adults and how they cope with the heat. How can you possibly think that it's right that children should be cooped up on a child a class of 30 when it's predicted to be 34 degrees. Not only from a comfort perspective but health and safety too.
Seriously, do you think they'll learn in those temperatures? Schools in the U.K. are not set up for this kind of heat.

I wish ours would shut.

Who guidelines are that a schools indoor temperature should be no higher than 26 degrees for teachers/ pupils. NUT is campaigning for this. I say good on them.

YABU

temperatures in some classrooms are well over 40.

You know heat stroke kills, don't you.

Hundreds on people died in the 2013 heat wave.

I second the comment about schools being there to educate and not babysit children.

I am Australian and born and brought up in Melbourne.

Our school policy was that if it went to 42 degrees or over the school was closed. I can clearly remember several summers when it hit above 42 and the school was most definitely not closed.

But the very hot days...... everyone used to go into the sports hall with all the curtains shut and the aircon on and watch movies.

But, we are better able to handle it..... the atmosphere is drier for a start where I am from in Oz, and we usually have some sort of fan or air conditioning. I have lived in the Uk for 11 years and am finding these past few daysv very hot and debilitating.

(PS- I adore snow days).