year 11s sat on high stools for the rest of the year, all have back ache after one day

[bimblingonagain]

Hi be grateful of some guidance on this. All the year groups are to stay in their bubbles, sat in one classroom with teachers coming to them. This is intended to last until next May. They were in school on Monday, will be in again today and are back 5 days/week from next Monday.
The year 11s are in the science block. This is high benches and high stools. Great to science practicals (which are actually banned for this academic year). But to write they have to lean forward. The boys and long legged girls cannot put their legs forward. They all have back ache after one day. Many of them don't want to go in today.
Surely the school (and yes I know it is difficult times etc etc) have to ensure that they have an ergonomic learning set up in place?
Any suggestions? Its a massively underfunded state school (we are in an area that receives the lowest amount of funding per child in the whole UK).
thanks hive mind

fundraiser is a great idea.

Is there an assembly hall that could be used?

For those wondering how the school could afford to improve things: well one solution would be to utilise Exam chairs and tables, and even the spaces in which exams are sat. These are all "extra" to the usual chairs and tables, and far more ergonomic.

Is the problem lack of knee space? It sounds as though they can’t get their legs under the bench. In our (university) lab his could be solved by removing cupboards. I would raise it with the school to give them the opportunity to look for a solution.

Would more cushioning on the stools help? And footrests? That could maybe be achieved fairly cheaply?

I used to find them horrendously sore for an hour in technical and science, feel for them being stuck on those stools all day - that’s awful . I’m dyspraxic so used to spend the entire time panicking I’d fall off (and did, frequently!)

For those wondering how the school could afford to improve things: well one solution would be to utilise Exam chairs and tables, and even the spaces in which exams are sat. These are all "extra" to the usual chairs and tables, and far more ergonomic.
Wow - is that common these days? My DC aren't at exam stage yet so I don't know what the school does. But when I was at school they just used the desks from the classrooms as exam desks as the seniors weren't in school. Seems odd to have desks and chairs that are only used once/twice a year.

YANBU, I’m a science teacher and when we do training and I’m sat on stools I find it uncomfortable after a few hours, they were unbearable when I was heavily pregnant. They’ve probably done it because the rooms will be larger than average classrooms (and Yr 11 are probably the age group at highest risk of covid when you think about the size of classes compared to sixth form), they may also be hoping they can do the required practicals for GCSE that way. I hope they can find a solution, I would be concerned about this as a parent as a long term solution - if it was just a few days I think they’d just have to get through it, but when it’s potentially for a year that does seem unreasonable.

YANBU.

My son's the same - whole year in the science block. By 3 days in he was in tears with the pain in his back.

I've suggested to the school that at least they could rotate the location of the bubbles every half term, but they're not interested. His form teacher says she's going to encourage the teachers to let the kids stretch every 10 minutes or so, but I don't know that this will help to any extent.

I'm worried about serious damage to his back.

Agree not ok, probably hasnt occurred to the school and should be remedied. The exam seating suggestion is a great one.

Both my dds at different schools have drawn the short straw and got the science blocks!! Yr8 and Yr12.
They both had back ache after the first day.
Y8, lots of the class complaining.
Yr12, student next to my dd, apologising to my dd for fidgeting, as her back was hurting!!
Not sure what we can do. My yr8 has hypermobility too, so extra concern there.

I would be sending my child in with a camping chair ( the sort that folds into a tube) and a clipboard to write on. If school comes up with a solution then they wouldn’t need to use them.

I’m in some pain if I have to sit without being able to move my legs forward in a theatre seat, never mind all day, and I don’t have any underlying conditions.

How awful for them! I'm sorry I can't think of a good cheap solution.

Can they at least do lessons outside sitting on the ground when the weather is okay? Not a proper solution but gives them an occasional break from the high stools. Next week is meant to be very lovely weather.

One small mitigating action they could take in the short term, while they are trying to sort out a proper solution, is to find out what exercises/stretches might be best and have frequent breaks to do those.

Also allow kids to stand whenever they want instead of sitting on the stools. Depending on the height of the tables, some kids might prefer to stand most of the time. I believe that in previous centuries it was common for clerks to work standing up, and people would often stand for leisure reading. I'm sure that takes some getting used to, but it might be more ergonomic than sitting on high stools. Or at least it would be a different sort of discomfort and changing position often would be good.

Are there cupboards or something under the lab benches? Labs in my school and my university used to have gaps under to put your legs in, so wouldn't have the same issue you were describing here? I did all sciences at a level (1 maths) so spent 70% of my life on a lab stool and same at uni and didn't have an issue. I imagine I would have done if I had nowhere to put my legs.

Can they use/buy seats with built in tables (exam chairs)? Will they fit in the lab and comply with H&S? Might be more comfy than stools with backrests if there's no other rooms?

@MollyButton

For those wondering how the school could afford to improve things: well one solution would be to utilise Exam chairs and tables, and even the spaces in which exams are sat. These are all "extra" to the usual chairs and tables, and far more ergonomic.

Isn't it likely that these are already in use for another bubble?

YANBU. I used to work in a lab and while I was sat on the stool quite a lot of the day, I stood quite a bit as well. I remember standing in school a lot in science lessons too. Are they allowed to stand at all? That could make a difference while sorting the chairs out.

Perhaps a suggestion that the years' rotate so the science block is used each week by a different year with a deep clean over the weekend and a three day gap to manage COVID risk. That way, the school is only incurring marginal additional costs and no year gets more than a week of ergonomic discomfort.

Good luck.

As pp said, exam tables and chairs.
I doubt the whole benches in the science labs are fixed (as you call them benches and not pods) I'm guessing only sections of them are. Depending on layout, the movable furniture could be moved out and exam desks out in.

Also, if school layout and Covid plan allows, yr11 could be moved to wherever they sit the exams in the summer. But this would mean a whole yr group class usually, so lessons would be very different. Option blocks lessons wouldn't work etc.

Talk to the school, then come back here with their response.

I remember getting back ache in science subjects and also during form time as we were also always landed with a science lab as a form room.

Definitely say something, it's bad enough for one lesson but after a few days after sitting on these stools all day they will have really sore backs.

I don't have back problems generally but a couple of days on a bad chair at work caused back pain.

Many science teachers stand or sit on stools all day. Perhaps the PE staff could give students advice on posture and exercise to strengthen backs. It is unlikely that there is a realistic alternative for the school with a limited number of rooms.
Teenagers will always find something to complain about.

Just write to the school and point it out.

I am willing to bet that no-one knew how bad the stools were when they planned the layout.

As to those saying get different stools, from how I read the OP, the issue is that they can't tuck their legs under the bench when writing to it is an ancomfortable angle?

Give them a chance to put it right first.

There’s a fairly easy and simple workaround - the issue would be cost. You can get proper high Office chairs with adjustable footrests - a bit like this (this is just a quick Google Search so not exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about, but you get the idea) that could just replace the stools.i

Following as The 6th form are in the science block at DC's school now ( and no access to the 6th form block and common room ) . Not heard any complaints yet.