to think that many folk in the UK don't understand how dangerous extreme heat is?

[FunnysInLaJardin]

Seriously, telling a teacher to suck it up in a classroom with no aircon and 30 kids at 40 degrees.

I have many times experienced this kind of heat and you have to keep cool, otherwise it is truly dangerous

most people won’t die!

Brilliant. What an anthem for Britannia.

People don't seem to understand when we teachers say it is hot, it is hot! It is hotter inside than it is outside, the problem is the fans are not sufficient enough. Other workplaces restaurants, offices, be it hospitals supermarkets have lovely aircon. Schools don't, we have a fan that reaches the few children sat in front of it. Then having to send them off to do work. So just picture that. So not sure why so many people on here assume teachers just cannot be bothered or are being very dramatic, there's a reason we are all saying the same thing. Schools need to invest in good air con then this would not even be a topic for discussion.

Our primary school has invested in gazebos all across the field so classes can move out side for a bit while blinds are closed and fans put on the cool the class room then they alternate with lots of water drinking.

I'm facing a shift in a boiling restaurant with (currently) no working air con. It hit 40c in kitchen today. Not sure how hot it's going to be when the outside temp is almost that high. Yanbu.

I think the fact she is a teacher played a large part in responses. Had her post been the same but say working in an office I highly doubt it would have been met with the same response.

The July average in the UK is 21c. Tomorrow its predicted to be 40c. So what is your point?

Oooops arguing with myself now Unconfused - actually the daily average HIGH is 21c - this is the first link that popped up when I looked for average July UK temperatures just now.
www.currentresults.com/Weather/United-Kingdom/temperature-july.php#:~:text=Across%20the%20UK%2C%20July%20temperatures%20average%20a%20daily,12%20%C2%B0C%20%2853%20%C2%B0F%29.%20Southern%20England%20Northern%20England

Thank you @TugboatAnnie . most people here seem to think that teachers moan about the heat in school for their own sake, forgetting the 30 or so vulnerable little people that they have to not only care for but also teach.
We know with our own children just how difficult they find it in heat, how hot and tired and irritable they get- and that’s when we can let them flop about, give regular drinks and stay in the cool.
When I taught, my classroom, on an average summer day with outdoor temperature of maybe 24, was usually 35 degrees when I got in at 7.45am. I could get it down to 30 before 9.00 with the doors and windows as wide as possible and the classroom across the corridor doing the same. When children arrived the temperature went up about three degrees and it wasn’t a good idea to keep the doors open for safety reasons. (new build school, no air con, only half the windows opened at all and then only 5 cm. Roller blinds to half-way down the windows, no water available on the upper floors, except in the locked cleaners cupboard )
i just can’t imagine how hot that room will be when the outside temperature is over 30. It’s the children who will suffer most.

Christ.

Not another thread from a teacher claiming how they're too precious to have to work

🙄

At least you're in the shade and can possibly bring a fan. I'll be driving a truck with no working air con and having to get out for 15-20 mins at a time to pour mortar at building sites in the open sun with no shade. Wearing thick work trousers as per site regulations.

And obv still have to be 100% focused while driving as a moment's lapse can easily cost lives. I'd not be particularly worried if I was indoors.

Hospitals DON’T have aircon. It’s an infection control risk in my trust.

I don't know where you get the idea that all hospitals have lovely air con. The M&S simply food at my hospital does, I think the theatres do, possibly a couple of other areas, but the vast majority of the main hospital building and the other buildings are very much not air conditioned.

Hospitals DON’T have aircon. It’s an infection control risk in my trust.
Good point. I'm now doubting myself whether the theatres have air con.

@Badgirlriri

Wtf is this shit about hospitals and air con?

🤣

Have you even tried to open a window in a hospital ward?!

Try showering someone in 'normal temps' and then come back to me op

Theatres Do have aircon!

What about the pupils in these very warm classrooms? Everyone is obsessing about teachers but what about the students? Our children? Do you really think they are going to be happy?

restaurant kitchens don’t have “lovely aircon” either

Yes, who would have thought it would be the teachers moaning? What a surprise.

Teachers don’t themselves any favours do they?! It’s like they are a special case.

god love em

Do people really think schools would be closed to protect teachers? Really? Is that actually what you think when you call teachers whiny when they talk about the classrooms being hot with 30 bodies in there etc? Do you not think maybe it’s the CHILDREN that are being protected? No one is that dense, its just obtuseness.

and as for moving to the hall or finding shade etc, there’s 1000 kids in our school, there aren’t several halls to accommodate them. School ISNT childcare and sometimes has to close

We are the ones who play a huge role in developing and growing your children and spending 30+ hours with them a week so I guess we can consider ourselves special. And on the note of hospitals I guess those hospitals without aircon have staff who have a right to a good old moan too, guess alot of work places need to sort out their air con!

@PenelopeGarseeya yes, they're too busy judging to see the real issue

It's going to be uncomfortable but if you aren't very old or very young it should be ok. Keep hydrated and out of the sun you should be fine it's only for 2 days.

I know that a lot of you are worried about this heatwave but please don’t panic.

My own children went to school in 45+ degrees, that was also accumulative, we don’t have aircon at home, we both work in hospital were we have to wear PPE and since the aircon is for the whole hospital, it can’t be too cold because of elderly and newborn. We found out that there’s only one fan and that’s in maternity, when we were looking for one for a palliative patient.

A lot of our schools, especially primary schools, have a small main building with classes in demountables which don’t have aircon but ceiling fans! Very useful /s

As I have said on so many previous threads, and I think that having lived through extreme heats (every year) and had to work and had to send children to school, I know a small amount about it:
wear lawn or thin cotton
keep curtains closed
if you aren’t at work, take a siesta if possible
drink iced drinks, preferably water, sipping every few minutes
stay downstairs
sleep downstairs
open windows at the coolest time, usually about 2am to air out the house, especially the upstairs windows - I did tell you to take a siesta if you can!!
If you don’t already own thermal backed curtains, buy some! They keep heat out as well as cold!!

Unfortunately in the UK, you have double glazing! Made to keep heat in!!