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.

Children should be home inside where it’s a lot cooler. My son was at school when it was very hot he was so badly burnt by the sun and collapsed due to heatstroke by the end of the school day. The school headmaster couldn’t be bothered to keep him indoors he has pale skin ted hair and green eyes. All schools seem to be interested in is attendance figures for the ofsted reports. I used to help
out at a local school what a eye opener 😢

Cu they have air cons. I know cuz i grew up in one of those places and my school did have air cons

Don’t prepare,
Sunday will pour down with rain and Monday will look miserable, just like every single day in this country. stop panicking ffs
Every other country have 30 degrees every single day of the year, is not apocalipse day.. get on with it
lol

Some parents will be at work so their children will be going to school regardless of the temperature.

I think it's about being pragmatic. Definitely not ideal for kids to be off when they've already missed so much school. It would be very disruptive to working parents too. However tell them to go in their own clothes or PE kit at least. Tell them they can go fill up their water bottles when needed. Let them muck about with water to cool down at break times. I'd far rather rules were slackened a bit and no kid passed out or worse.... No it isn't the apocalypse but it could be harmful if we don't use common bloody sense

@Nahimjustaworm , if it was up to me they would go with shorts but the school threatens them with detention and my son doesn't want to risk being that or being told off

I worked in a nursery in a European city where for all of July and August it hovered between 34 - 39 degrees.
No air con in the building at all. Just three plug in fans(I also had no air con in my apartment)

Every baby and toddler showed up as usual, not a second thought about their attendance being related to the weather.
The only things we did differently were only taking them outside in morning shade and offering extra drinking water and cold cloths to play with throughout the day.

Everyone had to work. Life went on.

It hit 32 in our class around 10:30am that’s with three fans on windows open blinds down. Sod the kids I’m hot n sweaty enough being menopausal don’t need to add any more heat to me thanks 😊

Better that you should lobby for air conditioning. 30 degrees is going to become the norm, at the least, fairly soon.

I live in the southern US, where 30 degrees is perfectly normal summer weather, but air conditioning is the absolute normal in all homes and businesses...and schools. Today our temps went to 32 degrees and will be higher over the weekend. Something over 38 degrees. Which is why ac is the rule here.

We are not discussing 30 degree weather are we? 🙄 the forecast is 38/39 for some parts of the SE on monday

30 degrees isn't that bad. Teachers can take kids outside (thats what our teachers did when I was younger, remember '76), keep the windows open, use fans. Also parents need to ensure they send kids to school suitably attired.

Buildings in countries with a hot climate are better designed for really hot weather because they’re used it. UK houses and schools (different for offices etc) are designed to retain heat. There’s also a higher level of humidity in the UK, which means it’s harder for the human body to keep cool. That’s why 25C+ without a breeze is unbearable in many parts of the UK but feels perfectly fine abroad.

Do hospitals shut when it's too hot?

I have to say I'm not looking forward to next week teaching in my classroom. My room is always a few degrees hotter than outside. It's upstairs with high ceilings and lots of glass. School do not provide any fans, and even though I take in my own small fan for the desk, that's no good for the big classes in front of me. The poor kids have already been struggling this week.

@KalvinPhillipsBoots no, but people don't generally die from missing school like they do from not being in hospital

My friend teaches in the Middle East.

Schools are air conditioned and built with lots of space and shaded areas. Playgrounds have lots of shade built in such as sun sails over the play equipment. Children are not sent out into the sun regularly.

Uniform is a short-sleeved shirt.

They break up for summer in June.

School runs 7.30-1.30 every day.

Nobody walks to school, they are all driven in air conditioned cars (terrible for the environment of course, which is a whole other thing, but still relevant).

Everyone I know who teaches in international schools in hot countries has a similar set-up.

Oh and I forgot the most important thing - they do close - when it rains!

People will die in hospitals if the doctors and nurses can't go to work because the schools are shut and they've got no childcare.

It does have a knock on effect, maybe try thinking of the bigger picture?

The title’s out of date. Monday and Tuesday are predicated to be 38 and 39 respectively.

Exactly. We’re getting to the stage where we’re closing schools because it’s dangerous for teachers kids in anything other than perfect conditions.

How will kids be cooler at home than they are at school?

Exactly. We’re getting to the stage where we’re closing schools because it’s dangerous for teachers kids in anything other than perfect conditions.

The temperature on Tuesday night literally be record breaking in some areas, so I don’t think crappy snark is justified. I doubt anything will happen but at the very least this should merit a review of air con facilities going forward if these extreme heat waves are a given every summer now.

I think that there should be an element of common sense in it, certainly. Sadly, common sense appears to be less common than it should be.
Parents should not be penalised for keeping their children home, in this heat, if they so choose. The amount of productive learning happening in school, will be minimal anyway. Schools should be better equipped to manage the temperature as well. Years ago, walls were thick and buildings kept relatively cool. Now, we seem to be building glass houses, with no air conditioning, which really doesn’t help. At the very least, blinds and fans should be common place in these rooms. Covered areas outside.
Closing the schools completely is really quite impractical though, with so many parents working. We can’t just decide that it’s too hot and we are not going to work. We can’t afford to lose the pay, and with school holidays approaching most of us will have maxed out our annual leave and have very little flexibility for making up any time in lieu taken now.
In Kenya, where the temperatures are high, lessons are carried out outside, under canopies and trees, maximising any breeze.
Children/ students should be encouraged to drink plenty of water. Having regular short breaks to remind them to drink.
The heat IS manageable, but takes some planning for.

I'm not sure we can fit 1000 kids under the few trees we have.

Kids in Kenya are acclimatised to hot weather. It takes a while but most people do the same after a few months. My DH lived in Jamaica and if it dropped under 25 everyone had jumpers on, him included.

But we aren't acclimatised. And it's going to be 36+ next week.

Let's just hope there's no unnecessary deaths but there probably will be from those who carry on and don't mitigate for the heat.

We have to change for the future as the climate warms. And yet our new school which is being built has no Aircon and is 3 storeys high and loads of glass so go figure what's that's going to be like!!

Yes!!! I grew up in the south of Spain and the weather is, partly, the reason school there ends at the beginning of June!

30 kids in a classroom generate a lot of body heat.
There’s no shade on the school field or playground, so we’re contemplating keeping them inside all day, but it seems really cruel to confine them to a hot classroom for 6 + hours.
We’re cancelling PE lessons, but don’t envisage being able to do any maths or English with them instead. I’m sure their brain, like mine, shuts off when it’s too hot to think straight. Not to mention that everyone’s tired and tempers are short due to it being the very end of term.
So what are we going to do with them? Probably put on a film and let them do colouring. Effectively, baby-sitting. The year 6s we’re going to do their end-of-school play to the whole school on Monday, but (hopefully without being outing) the poor year 6 teacher has chosen perhaps one of the most inappropriate plays for the summer…. several children have to wear animal onesies! Can’t see that going ahead.
I think they’d be much better off floating around in their own homes in just their pants or knickers (as mine tend to to in v hot weather), taking a dip in the paddling pool or flaking out on their bed for an afternoon nap.