Who hasn't sent their children to school or will be collecting early?

[WFHquestion]

It must be uncomfortably hot this afternoon cooped up in a class of 30.

Have you sent yours or will you be collecting early?

Ours aren't doing anything productive anyway so will keep them off today and tomorrow to keep them cool rather than unnecessarily hot and bothered.

Mine went in today and I collected from both schools a bit earlier. Theyre shutting my dds preschool at 12 tomorrow so I'm keeping her off as its not worth it and I spoke to my sons school at the gate and they said keep em off if you want. The head teacher actually said they are only open as they've been told they will be fined if they closed!

All mine went in. One nearly didn’t make it due to public transport so will see how tomorrow morning goes.

My sons primary has air con so he went in.
the older nursery and infants attached don't and they were off.
im glad he went in he's in year 6 and they've missed so much, it would of been a shame to miss the last few days

he said he was lovely and cool. They all got ice lollies at home time to walk home with

DS has got air con in his classroom, when I picked him up he said his seat is under it and he was too cold 😂 He was definitely better at school rather than home!

I kept my DD at home, we were given the options me the school closed 2 hours early for those sending theirs in. Will do same tomorrow. From what I have heard around 1/3 of classes were absent. I imagine it will be more tomorrow with higher temperatures and classrooms measuring over 40 today.

My DS went to school. He had a lovely day. They had lunch outside in the shade and he said it wasn't too hot in the classrooms

Mine has been at the beach all day - took him and his pals a drink at home time because I was convinced they wouldn't want to play out as planned

Wrong - they're not flagging at all. Took the drinks and went off to play for an hour!

They did! Staff bought them ice pops which was kind, both schools have emailed to say they’re closing tomorrow now. I can’t say I’m not relieved!

Collected early though school was open all day. SE England. They were all watching a film when I got there so nothing productive.

Mine seem fine after a day at school

We gave parents the option.

This morning classes had between 22 and 28 in (normally 30.)

Some more went home at lunch.

Tomorrow will be warmer here, forecast to be 42c apparently!

Coolest classroom was 30c inside this lunchtime. Warmest was mid to high 30s.

All these posts on taking kids out of school baffle me.

Don’t you trust the teachers judgment to look after your kids?

We are just out of the extreme heat on the coast. Still hot but not unbearable. Mine went in with watermelon in their packed lunch and ice in their water bottles. They came home fine. They are still doing stuff this last week. But if I was in the red zone I would think twice.

Secondary Closed here
primary was until lunch time. They were outside this morning.

Mine have already broken up for the summer but, had the term not of ended, I would’ve sent them in; they have air conditioned classrooms and an indoor pool that would’ve probably been used in these temperatures. They would’ve probably been cooler and school than home.

With the best will in the world, we can't cool the classrooms down regardless of how good we might be as a teacher/TA.

We can advise the children drink regularly and reduce outdoor time, and asking children not to run about playing. We can open and close windows accordingly and we can draw blinds where they exist. We can share out the handful of fans between classrooms and classes take it in turns to use them during the day in an effort to help reduce heat. We can try to make a decision between windows open and room warmer or windows closed but no fresh air circulating. We can scrap 'proper' lessons and have much more chilled days when the children are hot, sweaty and over tired with the heat.

But if the sun if shining through the window and the heat in the room is building there isn't much more we can do. And if there are 30 children plus adults in a fairly small room there isn't anything we can do to make more space and reduce the temperature. We can't invent blinds were there aren't any. We can't materialise more fans unless staff can bring one in from home. We can't make the windows any larger to let more air in.

All we can do is let parents know what the rooms are like so they can decide themselves if it's better to keep children at home.

Certainly it's nicer for those children in if there are fewer people over crowding the classroom in my experience today.

My house is a little cooler than our classroom - more efficient curtains, blinds, windows, fans, etc due to it being a more modern house.

The best place I've been today was in my car driving to and from work with air con on!

It’s not the teachers lack of judgement- it’s their physical ability to keep them cool. If a classroom has limited ventilation or a whole wall of windows, it’s jam packed with 32 active kids it’s going to be extremely hot. Some playgrounds have no shade (you can’t plant trees in asphalt and no one has time to be watering trees in pots).
At this time in the school year my school can’t afford glue sticks - there is no way we could afford fans or ice lollies. It was roasting today in my classroom. We were getting the kids to put water over themselves at the sink and had lunch in the coolest parts of the school but it wasn’t good.
Oh and to this saying they won’t do any proper work, you are incorrect. We are still doing proper work until the last day as will most schools. Don’t forget the strain staff are under too with sickness levels - we have teachers/TAs off with COVID. It’s really not good at the moment.

It's not that I don't trust the school staff to look after my dc. It's that I think it's better to have them at home where they can strip down, sit directly in front of a fan, cool off in the paddling pool (shaded) when they need to, have as many ice lollies as they want, be in a room with 2 other bodies rather than 30 etc

Plus the ratio is one adult to two dc's compared to 1 or 2 adults to 30 dc's. Much easier to keep an eye on them and make sure they stay hydrated.

I completely understand that many parents don't have the option, they have to work. And also that there are some kids who are safer at school. So I think schools should do their best to stay open. But I can't understand this idea that kids should suffer for absolutely no reason other than to prove some kind of point. If you are in a position to keep them home where they are more comfortable then why on earth wouldn't you?

Before my oldest son started school he went to a nearby private nursery 8-1. On a really hot day at June I went to pick him up at 1 to be told by one of the younger nursery workers "DS has been a little bit lazy today." He was pale, no energy, eyes sunken. I could tell immediately he was really dehydrated and after a number of drinks he perked up. He had a hat, suncream, full water bottle and was fine going in but the nursery workers did not apply any common sense. Not only was he encouraged to spend most of the morning outside, they did not notice he was not touching his water bottle and didn't encourage him drinking They also didn't spot the signs of dehydration. We made a official complaint to Ofsted and pulled Ds out of the nursery with immediate effect. The nursery had also received other complaints, that summer half the staff lost their jobs including the manager and deputy manager after they were found to have serious failings. While most schools should absolutely be trusted, I must admit after my experience I am a little bit more cautious with DS who really does not cope well in the heat. Although I am getting better now he is old enough to know how to be sun aware and get his own drinks etc.

It's so much easier for me to look after three children at home, where they can strip off and eat ice lollies in a dark room in front of a fan, than for a teacher to look after 30 children in a much hotter classroom with no fans.

It has nothing to do with 'trust'.

I know my daughter's teacher and she thinks it isn't safe in school.

I kept mine home today. Apparently it was awful at school and they have now decided to close at lunch time tomorrow.

Think I will still keep the youngest home but give the older ones the option of going in for a half day.

My DD was in today she’s y7 she said it was cold and wants to take a jacket tomorrow they have aircon

I sent my year 7 in and had a call at lunchtime as she was sick and had a headache.
It is a newly built school and is very glass and open.
Their is air con but it doesn't work.

She's been fine since she has been home but looked bright red when I got her.

They're still expecting them to do sports day tomorrow (inside but still) so I will keep her off.

My DSIL is a headteacher and told parents they are open but can choose to keep kids off. The school isn't air conditioned so 15 children vs 30 children makes a big difference in a stifling room.

My daughters' school suggested we take them out of school. Yes, I trust their advice.