Freezing schools

[Ineedapuppy]

DD8 has cried this afternoon at how cold it is in her classroom with all the doors and windows open. Apparently she’s not allowed a blanket from home and the only response from school is to wear layers under uniform

AIBU to think that this is unkind? At work (large multi National company) staff would NOT work in these freezing conditions. How can it be fair to expect young kids to do it and if so, why make them wear flimsy uniforms?

Op do you have a WhatsApp group? What do other people think about it

We’re ok but I know if dc were crying due to cold it’d be brought up

Surely a normal vest for poorer DC would still work well .Just layers really .

You have the answer

Wear layers

You can get thermal underwear she can use

Or would you rather even more kids get covid and share it

This sounds horrendous and all sense has flown out of the window. It is normal now to air the room every hour or similar. Do you have a small thermometer? You can get tiny ones for a few pounds. If she puts it on her desk, she can make a note the temperature on her hand. She’s little so perhaps tell her to do it every time they change an activity for you so you’d know what you’re up against.

@Chloemol

You have the answer

Wear layers

You can get thermal underwear she can use

Or would you rather even more kids get covid and share it

And what about all the children, whose parents struggle to buy a jumper, let alone thermals.

It’s amazing the comparison between this thread and adult cantered threads about room temperature! Thermal tights with a fleece lining and thermal vest really isn’t going to keep you warm when it’s 5 degrees outside there’s no heating on and the windows are wide open. They’re more effective if you’re moving and generating heat. It’s the poor kids who are right next to the window on the seating plan who suffer most. Perhaps the adults would like to sit outside for a few hours in a school uniform for a taster? I feel sorry for the teachers too although at least they are allowed to move around in the classroom (away from the window) and choose appropriate clothes generally.

@Blueeyedgirl21

Ah, £40 quids worth of thermals and cashmere wrist warmers for every child 2 and over, of course that’s the answer ! Was in a primary yesterday where most of the kids didn’t have coats and wore PE pumps as school shoes, but I’m sure with some careful planning their parents too could afford cashmere and merino base layers

My kids are just wearing their normal clothes under their school clothes. Pyjamas for example work very well. I think you’re trying to be divisive.

Might seem silly but, why not put spider plants in classrooms to help the CO2 levels? Although it it needs 1 plant per person it’s not feasible obviously. If I was teacher I’d also have an air purifier on my desk, good for winter and summer allergies.

@GenderApostatemk2

Might seem silly but, why not put spider plants in classrooms to help the CO2 levels? Although it it needs 1 plant per person it’s not feasible obviously. If I was teacher I’d also have an air purifier on my desk, good for winter and summer allergies.

Funnily enough our school has done exactly that.

You can't have a classroom of 30 kids bringing blankets in from home for goodness sake! They need to put layers on under uniform if they are cold like the teacher has said.

That's true. Plants would be a far better solution.

Maybe all teachers should be given plants for their Christmas presents from pupils this year, especially as there's another thread running about how awful it is for them to be inundated with wine/ chocolates etc!

I don't think the CO2 levels are actually the problem. The monitor just shows that the air quality isn't optimum (not dangerous) which shows that there is inadequate ventilation, which means you need to improve it, which unfortunately in most classrooms can only be done by opening windows and doors. The ventilation is to help dissipate COVID not CO2.

The monitor were a cheap (and publicity stunt) solution by the Government. Air filtering systems would have been better, but expensive, so not going to happen.

Secondary teachers don't get gifts, plant based or otherwise! (For fairly obvious reasons) We are probably a bit warmer than we would be if we weren't in masks.

I’m a lecturer and there’s no way I’m having a freezing cold classroom to teach in. So far my college has been sensible and isn’t forcing us to teach in unacceptable conditions.

We wouldn’t be able to do the work anyway - the subject I teach requires a lot of work with your hands, no opinion of gloves and you just wouldn’t be able to complete the detailed tasks.

I’ll take the risk of covid. If I can go and sit in pubs, theatres, cinemas, and gigs without freezing my arse off, then I’m certainly going to make sure my students aren’t having a shitty educational experience after almost two years of ongoing disruption. They’d be miserable in a freezing classroom.

We're being told to expect snow and ice and a -4C arctic blast soon. Surely schools can't be planning to keep the doors and windows open for that and just ask kids to wear a pair of long johns? How are they meant to write?

I’m a lecturer

And your students are mostly vaccinated.

@Britneyb

I actually really feel for the school staff too because it’s not right that schools seem to be the only places affected by this open window policy

To be fair I've noticed cafés and restaurants doing this too where I am. I was so bloody miserable in one recently that I left after one drink when normally I would have stayed for over an hour and ordered more. My kids are hardy luckily, but if it was me I would be going into school crying every morning! I know that some parents at our school have started to make complaints, and I hope something will be done about it soon. We will have to learn to live with Covid at some point. Teachers should have been vaccinated and children are generally better equipped to fight the virus. So keeping doors and windows open all the day in the midst of winter seems a bit unnecessary and cruel to me.

@moonfacebaby

Funnily enough none of our kids are moaning about it being cold, they appreciate being back at school with their friends, in normal lessons/clubs/dinner hall, and if that means putting on an extra layer they are happy to do so. They are far from miserable. I could barely get my 5 year old into a coat today when it was 2degrees outside.

@BungleandGeorge

It’s amazing the comparison between this thread and adult cantered threads about room temperature! Thermal tights with a fleece lining and thermal vest really isn’t going to keep you warm when it’s 5 degrees outside there’s no heating on and the windows are wide open. They’re more effective if you’re moving and generating heat. It’s the poor kids who are right next to the window on the seating plan who suffer most. Perhaps the adults would like to sit outside for a few hours in a school uniform for a taster? I feel sorry for the teachers too although at least they are allowed to move around in the classroom (away from the window) and choose appropriate clothes generally.

In daughter's school (secondary) they change the seating plan each half term now, although it does mean some kids will be frozen and others will get to sit by the window in summer. They think it's fairer that it's not the same children always sat at the window. When I picked my daughter up yesterday her hands were like ice and gloves /fingerless gloves are not permitted. However they need the windows open so what's the answer?

@moonfacebaby

I’m a lecturer and there’s no way I’m having a freezing cold classroom to teach in. So far my college has been sensible and isn’t forcing us to teach in unacceptable conditions.

We wouldn’t be able to do the work anyway - the subject I teach requires a lot of work with your hands, no opinion of gloves and you just wouldn’t be able to complete the detailed tasks.

I’ll take the risk of covid. If I can go and sit in pubs, theatres, cinemas, and gigs without freezing my arse off, then I’m certainly going to make sure my students aren’t having a shitty educational experience after almost two years of ongoing disruption. They’d be miserable in a freezing classroom.

Exactly. Why is it fine to cram hundreds into other unventilated places, but not schools which are full of people with a low Covid risk (provided teachers have been vacvinated)?

@moonfacebaby

I’m a lecturer and there’s no way I’m having a freezing cold classroom to teach in. So far my college has been sensible and isn’t forcing us to teach in unacceptable conditions.

We wouldn’t be able to do the work anyway - the subject I teach requires a lot of work with your hands, no opinion of gloves and you just wouldn’t be able to complete the detailed tasks.

I’ll take the risk of covid. If I can go and sit in pubs, theatres, cinemas, and gigs without freezing my arse off, then I’m certainly going to make sure my students aren’t having a shitty educational experience after almost two years of ongoing disruption. They’d be miserable in a freezing classroom.

Exactly. Why is it fine to cram hundreds into other unventilated places, but not schools which are full of people with a low Covid risk (provided teachers have been vacvinated)?

Many theatres and cinemas have some sort of ventilation system, they tend to also be more spacious and have higher ceilings than classrooms.

@noblegiraffe not all yet. And tbh, even if they weren’t, I’d still take the risk.

@OnceuponaRainbow18 that’s just one set of kids. I can guarantee my groups would be extremely unhappy to be sat there, trying to perform detailed, fine motor skill work, when it’s 7 degrees in a classroom.

You can pile on and imply it’s pathetic that we can’t tolerate the cold. I don’t care. I’m going on the overall majority of my students comfort and the way they perform in those circumstances, over the risk of covid.

A couple of windows are open - that’s fine. It’s a large space.

And I’d not expect either of my children to sit in freezing classrooms either. Luckily, both of their schools are being sensible over this too.

@moonfacebaby

I teach in a secondary so it’s about 360 kids that I teach, many more that I see in lessons as well

Is there a temperature where people draw the line

If we get -4 to 0 this week and it’s very cold in class, how low would people let it go