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.

climate change is likely to be the end of the world.

How can people still be so ignorant about this topic?

Work doesn’t close so no!
Most schools have air conditioning now and it’s the parents job to send their children in cooler clothes and a note stating why they’re not in uniform lol

In France they continue working 30 plus in a class and no air conditioning. Admittedly they are holidays now but the pupils had to sit the Bac.

There's no way that's going to happen.

We have just had a lovely email to say they have put up huge gazebos outside and are buying the children multiple freeze pops and iced water on tap will be available constantly no need for pupils to ask. Pupils can work inside or outside wherever is coolest a variety of fun tasks. To provide hats and suncream shirts and suncream - that they would be working outside in the shade. Towel is so they can wet it to cool them down and they will be doing origami etc and reading at their own pace in the shade. Any child struggling will be welcome to go home. But just to enjoy quiet and no running around etc

Most French schools have thick walls painted white and shutters to keep the sun out and are very cool inside. Old French farmhouses are the best - cool tiles everywhere and shutters

They do actually close the schools across the continent btw. My cousins live in Germany and if it's above a certain temperature by 8am they close the schools

Increasing aircon everywhere leads to a vicious cycle of energy use and adds to global warming, as well as spewing the extra heat to the outside making it even hotter. Buildings need to be retrofitted to be cooler - better sunshades, white roofs to reflect sunlight, better insulation, better airflow etc. it is possible! But needs money…

Mixer thoughts here. I grew up in a very hot country, no ac, no sun cream in those days, bit not once did I feel too hot.

On the other hand, as an older person in UK, I find the heat unbearable at times! Have found it very difficult teaching in a south facing classroom with minimal window opening allowance, 30 plus teenagers who keep spraying deodorants and complaining about the heat yet won't take their blazers off.

As for my own kids, primary school, they seem fine. Hydrated, sit out in the shade, don't notice or care, like I didn't at that age. Fans on, teachers suffering more really.

If temperatures continue to rise to those of Mediterranean where they break up earlier, definitely something to be brought into parliament.

There is a difference here to Switzerland. We have 36 to 39 top temps in summer. BUT I am here in the UK at the moment and I can see unlike Switzerland it is cool until around 11 and the temp drops off after 5pm as it is more northern. whereas it is hot from 8.30 to 7pm in Switzerland. So children could do morning school here in the UK and start earlier then in the afternoon set up a water slide. Schools in Switzerland start at 8am for primary, 7.30 for secondary school and 8.30 for age up to 6.

I live in Spain and the kids have to go to school in that temperature with no aircon. They broke up at the end of June and temperatures are around 29/30 usually, but we had a heatwave and it was 36 degrees. Everyone was fine.

I’m a sec school teacher. We have no air con and over 1500 students, we are not allowed to send them to get water during lessons, only in their two half hour breaks. There has been no communication about what measures will be in place next week and we are quite worried. At the moment students are allowed blazers and ties off. Windows only open about 2 inches for safety, classrooms have already reached 34’ inside when weather outside is still in the 20s, some students have fainted already. Trying to keep 30 students safe and educated in sweltering classrooms is incredibly difficult. School have said to bring in water and won’t provide fans as they just push hot air around the room and don’t help.

I have a primary school aged child with sensory processing difficulties so he is not coping at all in this heat. So I am in agreement with you.

@dragonflyglaze it’s just a mess! My daughter is at primary in the south east and everyday is clearly an endurance for her and the staff. I’m really not sure it’s in the childrens interests to just sweat at school but equally most of the parents aren’t in a position to take leave.

I’m a bit torn on this. I worked in Cyprus for a few years and obviously the temperatures over there were a lot higher, but they had air con, finished school at 1pm and their summer holidays started in June because of the heat.
I now teach in a year 1 class in Yorkshire and my classroom is rather toasty. Thankfully, I have blinds, but it’s still too hot. The kids are exhausted. We have 1 more week to go and to be honest I’m relaxing my lessons next week.
As much as I’d love to spend next week keeping cool at home or sunbathing in the garden, it is a bit unreasonable to close the schools right before the summer holidays. you can buy portable A/C units. Perhaps mention it to your head. Even if they don’t arrive in time, it would be handy to have them in the future.

Hi, no I don’t think it’s unreasonable. I’m also a TA in a school and the heat is making for a very unproductive working environment. The chn at the moment can only go out to play for 30 mins due to the excess heat and are terribly hot and bothered. In addition they are not in uniform but in Shorts and t shirts to cool them down

Schools won’t close and we are doing all we can to keep the children cool following the heatwave advice we’ve been given but it’s rather uncomfortable for the children to say the least!

Do you keep your kids in on holiday then?

I agree that most fans are useless, unfortunately. Not being able to access water freely is outrageous. It’s unsafe for staff and students.

Even before this insane heatwave, we should not be making kids be so formal at school when it’s the high 20s. Blazers and ties are horrid when it’s 28 odd degrees!

A good point about portable AC units, one I did suggest to SLT. Judging by the look I was given I don’t think AC units will be arriving anytime soon! 😂

Wow, that's a very lucky school! If they have air con obviously they are fine in school. It's just that it's really unusual for schools in this country to have air con.

I think for newer buildings it is not that uncommon now - just we don;t have many new schools (thank you very much to all who vote Tory) - in our school the new wing has air con.

I think some schools cope better than others. Where I work we have recently expanded, which means some nice well ventilated rooms, some (not many) with air con and we set up loads of bottle refill stations in the last phase. We have a relaxed uniform and all kids have been told to wear PE kit until end of term and staff told tailored shorts are fine. We’ve been able to move our 2nd floor classes which are in old buildings and very very hot down a floor for Monday and Tuesday. We’ve lots of trees and outdoor shaded areas. My room isn’t great (in 70s block with windows that open a crack but don’t close) but I’m SEN and only have very small groups. I would be happy to close early on Tuesday because it will be very hot and due to overnight temps (low of 21 forecast) kids will be very tired.

My children’s school, with just under a 1000 kids has one water refill station, so kids, most of whom get the bus in, have been told to bring multiple water bottles, which isn’t terribly practical. My dd tells me there are 8 toilets unlocked at the moment, which serves 500 girls for the 40 minutes daily they are allowed to use them, there’s little outside shade and not enough indoor space for kids to all sit down for lunch. It’s awful in the rain too. Their PE uniform is nylon rather than cotton polo shirts. I imagine the smell on Tuesday afternoon will be ripe.

The point is that everyone - not just kids, but their parents who need to make sure they have drinks, hats, train them to stay in shady areas etc - in hotter parts of Europe are well used to high temperatures so they don't have to stop if it's hot. We aren't used to them here (yet), so I think, faced with the really unusual temperatures of early next week, closing primary schools if they can't keep them cool indoors is ok. My son's SS just emailed to say they don't have air con, they have limited outdoor shade and are therefore offering home learning as an alternative to coming in (in practice this means finishing term two days early as most of DS's schoolmates don't get on with home learning - he certainly doesn't). A lot of his schoolmates have conditions that make them vulnerable to extreme heat, and I'm sure many other special schools will close, but I wouldn't judge any school that decided to do this.

The vast majority of schools do not have aircon!

Clearly, it wouldn't be an issue if they did! In fact, it would be positively beneficial for most children to be in school if that were the case.

I have spent many blistering hot summer days in classrooms with 30+ people in the room, the sun beating in through large windows with no blinds and not so much as a fan in the room. It is unbearable, nobody can concentrate on anything. Tempers get frayed. Children feel unwell. All that and it has never been as hot as the forecast 37C! At most, it has been low 30s. The school has no shady outdoor areas to be used either.

I agree with you. My son is in secondary school but he is really struggling. He can't sleep properly at night and says his classroom is extremely hot specially the classeroom that get the sun. He still has got to wear trousers and long sleeves shirts to go school. Thankfully they allowed them to go without a blazer.
In countries with this kind of temperature kids go to school with weather apropriate uniform at least and the rooms are properly ventilated.
Some europeans countries like Italy schools closes in June for summer maybe because this kind of temperature is quite usual.
I might allow him to miss school next week if gets above 30.