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.

Schools should be given funding for proper air on in all classrooms. It’s crazy. Doesn’t matter if kids all over the continent are sweltering, we’re talking about schools in uk and it’s stupid temperatures that kids have to learn in and teachers work in.

I guess having the option to keep kids home if the parents want is a good idea but not everyone is able to just have time off to have their kids home. Especially just before the summer holidays.

But at home they're not expected to mix with 29 other kids, or to learn, they can flop on the sofa, pop in the paddling pool, keep calm and have an ice lolly. Home is very different to school.

No I do understand that it has childcare implications

When I was a kid in Australia schools used to shut if it reached 40+ but their buildings were much more set up for it and there was loads of shady outdoor space. My classroom windows don’t open more than a crack and we are melting in school at the moment so I am dreading it getting hotter.

You'll get roasted (pun intended) by the "we used to sleep with our heads in the oven in my day, we all turned out healthy" brigade, but I agree with you. Many school buildings are poorly ventilated (due to being built on the cheapest of cheap) and get intolerably hot and stuffy at the height of summer. DS1's Y6 classroom was a health hazard - the children couldn't learn properly as they were sweltering and miserable.

I have a lot of "if only" feelings about education these days. If only we had had a government that cared about children's learning, we would have seized the opportunity during the pandemic to roll out a workable, user-friendly protocol for online teaching and learning which could then be deployed when classroom attendance is precluded - snow days, dangerous heatwaves etc. If only we had funded education properly, schools wouldn't be scrimping to provide the resources and physical conditions for children to learn in a healthy environment. If only we didn't cling to this inexplicable British nonsense view that suffering and privation are character-building, so expecting children to be afforded the right to drink when thirsty/take off layers of uniform when hot/use a toilet when they need to is regarded with suspicion and derision.

Not just that, but in many countries summer holidays have started already. So while it might be 37/40 degrees at least the kids aren't stuck in a room with 30 others,sun shining through the windows and having to do maths and English.

@Chihuahuass
my point is that kids on the continent are able to go to school in such temperatures/conditions, then they’re not “stupid temperatures”.
We are all the same species, remember.

What are working parents supposed to do with their children? For many it's a struggle to cover holidays without having to take random days off because it's hot.
I work in a nursery and can honestly say the vast majority of the children have been fine. Babies have a shaded area but toddlers and preschool have been absolutely fine inside and outside (obviously not outside in the hottest part of the day).

No, but they do make adjustments. I lived in Cyprus as a child and our school timetable changed for the summer months. School started early (like 7am) and finished at lunchtime - we all went home during the heat of the day rather than attempting to learn in mid 30s temperatures.

It's similar to how businesses shut in the afternoons in hot countries and then reopen in the evening. We're mad in this country to try and power through our normal day-to-day when the temperature really rises, but I suppose it doesn't happen often enough for the culture to change.

But at home they're not expected to mix with 29 other kids, or to learn, they can flop on the sofa, pop in the paddling pool, keep calm and have an ice lolly. Home is very different to school.

You know lots of kids don't have gardens let alone paddling pools - the last flat we lived in was hotter than hell in the summer. Also you would really have to shut down the whole country as someone would need to be at home look after the children. The school day is not a long one so it would be pretty unreasonable to shut for warm weather. This heatwave is supposed to last a week. I don't think my manager would give me a week off to home school my DC, and like most parents I am saving annual leave for the actual holidays.

Secondary’s are the worst making them keep their blazers/ jumpers on. Madness.

Oh yes close the schools because single working mums can easily take an extra 8 days annual leave at the drop of a hat just as the 6 week summer holidays are about to begin.

Maybe there should be an upper limit/ rules on safe classroom temperature. But I don’t think you’ll get much support from parents for blanket closure for 30C weather. Not least because lots of them will be going to work in that weather and not everyone works in air conditioned offices

My very jolly autistic child has no regulation in any way including heat or cold. It's a nightmare. He is not remotely bothered by it and quite happy but that lack of regulation means lack of water and not wanting sunscreen on his skin. I'm very worried!

Does the op also think paediatric clinics should cease and children's wards in hospitals should close?

If the paediatrician from A&E gets called to collect her brood because their school is too hot, is that just tough luck for your child in A&E with a broken leg?

With respect, school isn't childcare and it doesn't exist for that purpose. If the conditions in school aren't appropriate for children to learn safely - as in heavy snow, for example - then the school closes and parents have to manage. It's tough, of course - but the problem is antediluvian attitudes to family life and working parents. The solution isn't to keep schools open when it isn't healthy for children to be there.

Blinds would help - it's not fair for the kids to sit in a room with no shade. That's on the school. Sending them home isn't the answer.

The trouble here is that media( like some that shouldn't be named) has done an excellent job of promoting teachers as work shy slackers who will do anything for a day off.

Too many teachers are scared to speak up now and I think we need to start listening. There is a real risk at the moment in schools without Aircon. Having less children in would be the sensible answer. A common sense approach would be to allow parents to keep children off if they so wish without fear of the attendance officer knocking.

Closing schools would have a huge impact on people being able to work. Carers, nurses, doctors, paramedics, even shop workers. They can't all just stay home to look after their children....

I’m so sick of this type of response. People are tragically starving all over the world too does that mean we should too for solidarity? In this country we are not set up for extreme heat and This is extreme heat we have coming over the weekend/Monday. If it wasn’t ot wouldn’t be on every bloody newspaper. We don’t regularly get temperatures of 34plus degrees which means we also don’t know how to cope with it. Our kids are not used to it in the way people in very hot climates are. Schools don’t always have blinds, fans etc all the equipment we’re now being told we need to cope with the heat. It’s ridiculous to say that just because there are countries that have extreme (to us) heat daily we should be able to cope. It’s also incredibly humid here, it’s very hot heavy weather that is hard work and dangerous for the very young and the very old. Have you ever treated anyone for heatstroke/sunstroke? It’s not pleasant and can get fatal.

In answer to the OP, yes, schools should close when it reaches a certain temperature. We protect our vulnerable people from extreme cold, heat should be treated the same.

If the conditions in school aren't appropriate for children to learn safely - as in heavy snow, for example

But heavy snow doesn't actually affect the children. Its usually because staffing is too low as they cannot physically get to the school. The school cannot operate with staffing levels lower than the legal minimum.

The school appears to be well staffed. Therefore they can take the children.

Don't forget that many children live in high rise flats. School is much better for them.

It's the get temps like that more often part you should be looking at. We get months and months of cold. Our bodies, need time to adapt to extreme heat. It doesn't happen overnight.
Tbh getting a text from school that the kids are allowed to remove their jumpers, are not allowed to wear shorts I'm quite concerned myself. The tops are thick polo shirts.

My kid came home today feeling poorly. I had to send him for a cool shower and a lie down.

I don't get the hysteria over a bit of hot weather.

We have actual amber weather warnings over it on BBC weather it says adverse health effects, potential for serious illness or death, changes to working practices and daily routines advised.

Ffs it's 30 odd degrees and it will only last a couple of days before it's pissing down and we will all be at risk of death due to drowning in rain.

We live in Britain where we have access to everything we need, not stranded in the middle of an African desert.

Wear a hat, put suncream on, have water easily accessible, rest in the shade sometimes and have a good day before the weather goes to shit again