To be annoyed my child is freezing cold at school

[BlueSkies2020]

My child’s school has all the windows and doors open all day, following govt guidelines on reducing Covid transmissions. I support this in principle, and have sent my child in extra layers as requested. It needs to be official uniform, so I’ve added a cardigan under the school fleece, vest under a polo shirt, tights with socks over, trousers. They shut the windows and doors when the children are outside playing to warm it up.

The issue is my child is sat right next to the classroom door (opens to the playground). Her table is at a diagonal and she is sitting in the draft stream iyswim.

She is complaining about the cold. Says her arms and legs are freezing and I can verify that when I go to pick her up - her face is freezing. Yesterday she felt icy cold and it’s not even that cold outside. She won’t raise it with the teacher - quite shy.

Do I just suck it up and put even more layers on her. Or complain?

Any advice on extra layering and affordable layers gratefully received. We’re quite short of money right now due to husbands work drying up during Covid, so don’t have money for base layers which look quite pricey.

Uniform is royal blue. So any product links would be helpful x

Try mountain warehouse for ski base layers, mine are super warm even on dp's motorbike in November so they definitely will warm enough inside (I bought the more expensive ladies ones but they have the same for kids)

Uniqlo heattech is great, and they have £10 off your first order which really brings the price down www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/kids/girls-and-boys/innerwear

Not everyone goes skiing etc and has base layers to the pp poster. Honestly they are new to me. We are not a sporty family. Oh my you must live in a nice bubble.

Of course I’ve layered her up but it’s not working! She’s not allowed non school uniform.

My DD is 8 and I agreed with the school that I could add base layers that were the same colour of the uniform and she could wear gloves (fingerless). As a result I've had to send in her school bag when they'd prefer us not to, but she can add/remove clothes as needed. I also bought nice warm socks that are hidden under boots. They then moved her away from the window but she's well kitted up now!

My ds is 13 and comes home freezing every day. School have spent the last 3 days trying to decide whether they will allow the kids to wear extra layers. I'm not joking, I had an email on Monday and they told us they will let us know the verdict some time this week Meanwhile the kids are wearing a shirt and blazer and sat in freezing cold in a school in the Lancashire Pennines in November

Keeping wrists warm seems to really help overall body temperature. Fingerless gloves with long wrist bits would be ideal, but you can make wrist warmers by cutting and hemming the relevant bits of an old jumper or cardigan. I do this for myself and it works well.

Ankles also important. So socks over tights pulled up or even leg warmers under trousers.

Would she/be allowed to wear a hat?

Although I also don't think it's particularly fair that the seating can't be rotated eg each week.

If you're sitting still and are cold, it's impossible to warm up if you're in a draught.

Absolutely ridiculous that some schools are not allowing the children to wear extra layers. These are exceptional circumstances.
The children should be able to wear a fleece, a down vest/gilet type thing, hat, fingerless gloves... anything which helps.
Schools shouldn't need 3 days to decide whether this is a good idea or not. You just can't have children sitting around in very low temperatures all day and think that it's ok to make them wear just a shirt and blazer. Utterly ridiculous.

I've also had the same problem, my dc came out of school last week complaining of being cold all day at school.
My dc's school aren't allowing any top layers that aren't uniform, I've purchased a school fleece and some thermal vests. He said he's warmer now but it's only going to get worse during January/February time!!

It is a bit counter intuitive since warm and humid seems to reduce the spread. It's a case of 'being seen to do something despite what the evidence says"

journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238339

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/covid-19-worse-in-colder-weather

A humidifier would make more sense than freezing the kids to death

Sadly it seems to the same in most schools. DC’s school have requested extra layers too. Dd sits by the door too.. which worries me. Thankfully it’s been quite mild where I live but it will get colder 😕

However, DS is refusing to go school in trousers insuring he wears shorts.. and refuses to swear a vest or anything warm apart from his jumper!

My son who is much older (12) than your daughter is also very cold in school. They are allowed to wear coats in the classroom 😳 and he also wears full thermals under his uniform! But he still gets chilly. I think the problem is sitting still - I get cold as soon as I’m not moving. Given that she’s only 6 and the curriculum is more open to small changes the teacher should factor in breaks for bursts of exercise to keep them all warm. This wouldn’t be a bad thing anyway as 6 year olds are always keen to move more!

I don't know if this helps @BlueSkies2020 but Aldi have base layers in this week i believe. Kids sets are £6.99 i think [https://www.aldi.co.uk/c/specialbuys/dates/2020-11-08?sort=popular&q=%3Apopular%3AtransactionalStatus%3Atransactional%3AtransactionalStatus%3Anontransactional%3AEvent%3ASki%3AEvent%3AWinter+Gear&page=5&firstPlacementTotalCount=0&secondPlacementTotalCount=0 link]

ugh sorry i did that wrong - Link

Speak to her teacher about the draft and get her to move. They don't need the doors to be opened! I still have chronic pains on my shoulders after sitting in a area at work for 3 months where there was draft. This was exactly 6 years ago and I still suffer from the pains day to day. Please speak to the teacher as this isn't healthy for her body and can cause long term issues.

You really need it speak to the class teacher who knows the lay of the room, if your daughter is struggling to concentrate etc

@Jeezoh

Speak to the teacher, our local school is rotating the children on a weekly basis so it’s not the same ones cold all the time.

How awful does that sound?

Having to take turns at being in the cold?

We use mountain warehouse a fair bit for base layers ( in sking section) they aren't too expensive and are pretty warm.
M&S do thermal school tights and socks.
You can also get gloves with extra thermal protection.
(We live somewhere really cold in winter so are used to this stuff)

DD is 15 very quiet and would never complain. She is in Secondary school year 11 (GCSE year) so running about just sitting still writing, listening and trying to concentrate from 8.25-just after 4pm as they do revision catch up classes most nights. She also sits next to the window in some lessons. Her school have the windows open before they get in and they are continuously open all day long. The teachers are allowed to wear big coats hats scarves etc to teach in and can move about within their boxes. But the kids can only wear thermals or t shirts under their uniforms but nothing over the standard school jumper (also no hats, scarves or gloves). When she comes out of school she is absolutely freezing. Her hands are like ice blocks, teeth chattering etc and she has never had as many warm showers to warm her up when she gets in. We gave her a thermometer to take to school and she says it reads 14 inside her pencil case.

Aldi online have some very reasonable base layer sets.
My dc will wear them under uniform so school will be none the wiser that they're not official uniform!

All this talk of base layers-isn't it just underwear??

Hat and fingerless gloves, plus base layers? Trousers with tights rather than a skirt/ dress?

@diddl

No. Thermal base layers are not just pants.

[quote WhereverIGoddamnLike]@diddl

No. Thermal base layers are not just pants.[/quote]
Never said they were!

There's more to underwear than pants!

Sounds like you've had a relatively sensible response from the school, OP. But have to say, I'm surprised they're being so strict about extra layers being uniform - at my DC's primary, they've said base layers, inc long sleeves under their uniform polos, don't need to be uniform compliant - and they can also have extra body warmers/fingerless gloves/beanie hats of whatever colour. So if you need her to wear a bodywarmer or hat or whatever to keep warm, I'd feel free to push the school to be more flexible. At the end of the day, they'll get more learning done being warm than they will being cold but in the right colours!