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.

This. These are normal temperatures in much of Europe for prolonged periods each summer, and as you say most schools on the continent don't have aircon etc. I don't know what the fuss is about? You were suncream and use a sunhat when outside. Close blinds to keep rooms cool when direct sun on the windows, and crack on. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Probably a relief to many kids who feel the cold more than adults and were forced to work in barely heated classrooms with doors and windows wide open over the last two winters! Much harder to concentrate in freezing conditions like that.

There probably isn’t 30 people crammed into one room at home. Also at home there are probably windows, curtains/blinds for shade, child allowed constant access to water, personal fan, child allowed to be in whatever cool clothing they like, have access to a paddling pool in the shade, possible portable air con unit and child allowed to relax and keep cool without the expectation of adhering to school rules.

We have family in Italy and the US and their schools have been closed for weeks.
In Italy they start much earlier in the day and many go home at lunchtime.
Completely different set up.

well you might, but plenty of people couldnt just not be paid

heatstroke and dehydration are avoidable too...as any health professional will tell you. the heat happens every year, its summer!

i remember the droughts of the 70's...i don't think many mums netters would cope if that happened! no water in the tap...lorries bringing it in and rationing it

🙄 This is such a stupid response.

I think we have to be mindful of young children especially being more vulnerable to the heat.

Windows, blinds, access to water, cool clothing, less rigorous rules to allow for keeping cool - all possible and necessary at school.
space for the individual - no any guarantee the home set up will be better than school, that will depend on affluence and many could be in small homes with no gardens.

”child being able to relax” - nebulous and no tangible protection against heatstroke, lets get real here.

My home is definitely cooler than my classroom. It doesn’t have 32 kids squashed into it for a start, and the windows also actually open more than an inch.

Also, at home I can mooch around in a vest and shorts and I’m not expected to teach anyone anything.

@IGotItInTheSales

Yes, but unless your living conditions include 30 other people.....

My room temperature goes by 3degrees within 15 minutes of my children entering the room. Not a problem normally but when the temperature is already 31 degrees, we have a problem.

I have to say (and this isn't aimed at you Gotin) that I am so disappointed. Teachers on this thread are expressing genuine concern for your children and some (not all) natural response is to suggest that it is down to "us wanting a day in the sun". If only you knew.

My DC have been fine. I've sent them in thin cotton shirts & shorts & hats. School make sure they have plenty to drink all day and keep them in the shade.

It's not that hot and most schools take sensible precautions

I CANT afford to not be paid but if I had no choice but to keep them home I would in order to keep them comfortable and safe.

Of course heatstroke is avoidable, you avoid it by taking steps to keep cool like staying indoors with curtains closed, iced water, a fan pointed at you, a paddling pool in the shade…basically not being chucked in a room with 30 people, windows that open a crack with no blinds, no fans, being forced into a concrete playground in the middle of the day, water that goes warm within minutes because the airs so hot, wearing a polyester school uniform, no one checking with if you’ve got a hat or suncream on because there’s one teacher and thirty kids.

I would have been happy for my two to have been home this week, no air conditioning at school and packed in like sardines. But they seem to have been ok with it. I've been collecting them with ice poles rather than making them spend an hour on the bus though.

It's not that hot

The Met Office have issued an extreme heat weather warning for next Sunday/Monday.

All possible and necessary but are they happening? Because it’s not in my kids schools as far as I’ve been told. Are you telling me you’re as cool and calm sat a table with people in close proximity on either side of you trying to work as you are sprawled out by yourself on the sofa in front of a fan?

Agree 100%

But they do actually. I was a teacher in Spain for years. We would close earlier on particularly hot days and schools would close for summer before it got as bad as that (primary age I might add, not with secondary). Early closures would usually occur early June when it was already hotting up.

Very funny, should you still get paid when it's 30 degrees?

Growing up our school, with no air conditioning, slowed down and the primary school classes ceased real lessons when it was 41* or more.

@Bonheurdupasse and all those saying schools on the continent don't close, this isn't true! German schools, at least at primary level, close when it's too hot. The precise temperature and the surrounding rules vary by Bundesland but usually they can close when it's 25 degrees in the shade by 10am or 27 in the classroom, I think. Or sometimes lessons end early. Bear in mind they already start the lessons at 7.30 and end at 1pm latest, so they are working in the cooler part of the day. And they are very used to temperatures like these.

It's called 'Hitzefrei' and you can look it up. If this system is running in Germany, there must be something in it.

School isn't child care, but the law says we have to send our children to school, so parents get jobs because they have a pretty much 100% guarantee that their children will be in school every day bar holidays.
If schools start closing willy nilly when it gets hot, then it becomes unsustainable for parents to work full time.
It's hot, and over the next years it's going to get hotter. We need to learn to live with it. We can't close everything down because of it.

The problem is the weather is too variable across the country. They couldn't close down schools across the country because it's forecast to be 18ish in the NW this week but neither could you shut down all the schools in the SE for a couple of extra months each summer. At times this summer it's been above 10

Posted too soon...10C different between the SE and NW this year.

I agree, unfortunately it is going to get hotter and we do need to live with it. This is why schools, hospitals, offices need to be air conditioned and extreme heat plans put in place because this is going to happen every year.

For rare extreme temps as predicted for Monday yes.

Its not normal.
Other countries cope because it is normal there so they are set up for it (different infrastructures, different school times etc, etc, this goes for hot or colder weather than we usually see)
Other people in other countries who cope every year are acclimatised too it. Them coping doesn't mean will an entire country of people who are not acclimatised to such high temps suddenly all cope with it.

Who is going to pay for all the fans, blinds and ice lollies? Now and in the long term? Who will ensure these are in place ready for Monday?

Clearly we need a long term plan if such high temps continue year on year, but currently it is an unusual and extreme situation for the UK. If it were 'normal' the met office wouldn't be issuing weather warnings.