To think schools should shut in 30' heat

[dragonflyglaze]

I'm a TA in an Infant School in the South East, we break up next Thurs. This week has been tough, the little ones can't cope in the heat and as much as we try and keep them indoors, hydrated etc some of them are just not coping. Never mind the staff who are doing their best to support the children whilst slowly melting.
Next week we are forecast to hit 30' and there's an extreme weather warning. We have to close if its too cold e.g. heating not working, or too windy. I can't understand why there's no rule for extreme heat.

The answer is for schools to be funded to install air con. Yes it's costly but it only has to be on for a fraction of the year and it doesn't have to make things arctic, just a comfortable 24 degrees or so.

And in any case, schools in Spain shut for June, July and August. It’s customary to send children to stay with their grandparents for a good portion of this time.

These days most grandparents of younger kids are still in full time work.

During heatwaves for my little one years ago they kept the kids outside in the shade most of the day. In the shade the temperature is fine.

@CoalCraft absolutely both sets of our parents are still working full time

Context such as one single day with an extreme heat warning? Which isn't even supposed to peak until 5pm.
Or context with the school day being only 6hrs long?

You're right, the UK isn't built for the heat. But the heat isn't going anywhere. Heatwaves like this are becoming part of UK summers from now on. We need to adapt. Stopping everything anytime the weather is a bit unusual just isn't a plausible solution. Teaching your child how to take care of themselves in the heat is.

Are you mumsnetting while teaching? Kudos!! 👋

Goodness me.
No, they should not shut down.
Would you still expect to be paid?
What would parents do re last minute childcare? What do parents do if they can’t get time off work jus my because school has shut down.

Seriously, it’s not even that hot.

We need to adapt.

Why do I suspect that “we need to adapt” is actually ‘kids just need to go to school, swelter all day and learn nothing so that nothing needs to change’ rather than ‘so we need to update school buildings to be better ventilated and temperature regulated and come up with plans for adapting the school day in case of extreme heat’.

If people think that education is important and that’s why kids need to be in school, then they need to start fighting for better schools because very little education happens when it is really hot.

I think we do need hot weather protocols when temperatures reaches certain levels . Some schools/ offices , hospitals etc that have an entire wall of windows facing a certain way & heat up to temperatures way hotter than outside. No one should have to work like that and there needs to be different solutions for each case, either a film applied to the windows, shutters, better blinds, outside shade and it should be a legal requirement that something is fitted and is also in working order .

I think sending them home should be the last resort. The temperature is no different at home, often hotter for those in flats with no outside space. Even if the teaching is relaxed a bit, then surely that’s better than no teaching at all.

Problem is, work doesn't close down.

But yes, next week we are due to have the hottest day EVER on record. Safety has to come first at this time.

I agree that it unacceptable for children and adults to be so uncomfortable but closing isn't practical. I think solutions need to be created (and funded..looking at you government):

• High quality fans/air con units/air con installed for when it's so hot


• Ban school uniforms- my kids go to a non uniform school and are all SO much cooler than kids sweating on polyester uniform. Just let them wear shorts and a t shirt or a floaty sleeveless summer dress (primary and secondary)


• More breaks, encourage water


• Primary schools to have water play ++. Our kids primary is a city suburb so no massive playing fields but they have water fights, water play etc outside a lot in the heat. If it's just plain water whatever gets wet dries v v quickly so no issues

We do need to adapt but that doesn't mean accept being uncomfortable.

Don’t be ridiculous a good part of Australia would have schools shut for months if that was the case. And no public schools don’t have air con.

No. What on earth are working parents supposed to do? I'm still expected at work no matter how cold or hot it is. You'd put sensible measures in place so relax school uniform rules, allow them to forego blazers etc. Maybe have a non uniform week? Let kids have water bottles at their desk have older school years bring cordial or water around the classrooms. Longer term schools need to have air con installed.

I completely agree with everything you have said reguarding protocols, heat regulation and updated school buildings. Absolutely the whole country needs to adapt as the summers get hotter. But this will take time and funding so is not achievable overnight.

In regards to this particular heatwave, I suspect schools will be taking precautions and implementing all they can to ensure children are kept as comfortable as possible in the heat. As I said in my pp the heat isn't expected to peak until later in the day so, although you may have to pick up a very irritable child at the end of the day teaching our children how to keep safe in the heat is a much more immediate and beneficial approach than telling them that if they are too hot they don't have to do anything.

Air conditioners consume large amounts of electricity, and the fluorocarbons they use as refrigerants deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. Not the best way forward.

I agree with NobleGiraffe, we need to look at equipping schools so that students and staff manage well in the heat but in a eco friendly and innovative way.

This heatwave is different to the 1970s one because of social media.

Unfortunately air con ultimately makes climate change worse.
We do need to adapt our buildings and lifestyle. Learning from the continent, window shades, external shading on South facing windows. Maybe even earlier school hours in summer to avoid the highest heat.

School buildings, need air conditioning and parents should be given the option on whether they send their children or not. Some children can handle the heat better than others. Until, schools such as my dc schools, install air-conditioning (I don't know where they would get the funding from). A temporary solution until a better long-term solution is funded makes more sense.
Than saying let's make some children suffer, for a, b or c.

When I worked 'on the continent', a Med location, from about early May until the end of September we finished at noon, on the beach by 12:30!

The cost of installing air con for a few days a year would be prohibitive. All those who think they should keep their little dears off school because of the heat will probably be expecting the teachers to cope with their catch-up too!

If we made classrooms appropriate to teach kids in, it would be best. Shaded window blinds would be a start.

Can’t posters of the ‘don’t pander to kids’ ‘they send kids to school on the continent’ variety see how ridiculous they sound? Yes, kids go to school on the continent in hot weather, with the very mitigations you claim are too indulgent for our kids. 6am starts, ventilated and shaded classrooms, having all of July and August off, water fights in the shaded playground.

Unmitigated, prolonged exposure to excessive heat is extremely bad for people. That’s why people die in heat waves. When you say ‘they’ll live’, quite literally no, not everyone will. It’s not taking a multipack of crisps on a school trip.

We didn’t ‘have this in the seventies’ either btw. It’s highly likely new temperature records will be set next week and none of the existing records are from the seventies.

I often thought about this when I was at school. It had massive windows,& the outside was clad in metal,indeed it was known as the tin can school, summer was unbearable, humans cannot properly function in this heat, I'm ok with shutting a school

Wish it were a joint effort... have had three with no water bottles and 18 with no hats today (despite the Head reminding all parents yesterday).

My niece and nephew went to school in a southern country of Africa. School hours were 7am- 1pm because of the heat. I for one will keep my children off school on Monday and Tuesday, it's predicted 35 on both days and I have never ever gone against the school's attendance rules. It's not a decision I take lightly.