To ask if all windows are still open at your DC's schools?

[Holis]

So there is a parent in DS3 (year 5)'s class who is very covid conscious- big follower of independent sage and people like Deepti Gurdasani.

She's constantly been in contact with the school to demand more covid 'protections' in the school- this has resulted in DS's class having to have windows open at all times, masking, distancing etc even when these measures have no longer been required elsewhere in the school.

It has now come to a head due to the current temperatures as the teacher has closed the windows as she and the DC wee freezing. The parent has been straight into the head to complain. As far as I know there are no health issues in either parent or DC.

Are windows all still open at your DC's schools and are parents reasonable in demanding they be kept open in class?

And what about the poor kids with asthma? I think I might have been in grave danger sitting in a classroom with the windows open in this weather....

Even when it's cold a bit of ventilation is still a good thing - would you want to be the last class in my room at the end of the day and still breathing the same air 150 other pupils have breathed?
It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Heating on in DD's primary. Windows closed and the rooms are aired at break times.

Five minutes to air the room at break times should be enough

@rainuntilseptember surely then you do something like first kids ready to leave open the windows, last kids of new class in close them. No need for constant "ventilation" which only wastes energy.

I'm not in the room at break time to do that. I'm having my break, and the only chance I get to speak to adults. Nothing wrong with leaving a window or two slightly open.
You have to climb on desks to open the windows, not something I would be happy letting pupils do in case of accidents, though that might work in some schools.
We all have co2 monitors and they alert me when the level is too high, which it often is if the windows are shut.
Do none of you open your windows at home during the winter?

Do none of you open your windows at home during the winter?
yes, for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes after lunch. It's -5 deg outside today, I'm not paying to heat the garden!

The rooms get aired briefly every hour door open and window.

Fresh air is great, but not in this kind of weather.
I open mine in the office for 2 minutes every hour or so otherwise it gets stuffy. But it's too cold, especially if people aren't moving around to keep warm.

I'm fairly sure they're not as dd is always coming home boiling after having to take her jumper off. How miserable it must be for children having to sit still in the freezing cold all day. I remember the winter after lockdowns when they weren't allowed to wear coats in the classroom, but then they locked down again before it got too ridiculously cold (at least secondary schools did).

We open the bathroom window while showering, and I open my bedroom windows wide open for about 10 to 15 minutes on weekend mornings. I don't open windows when the heating is on.

Can't believe the Head is so weak to pander to a parent.

It is possible that there are health reasons you don't know.

Either way, if it's affecting your child, speak up.

Of course the windows aren’t open! That’s madness. Why is one parent being allowed to dictate the schools policy on this? She sounds unhinged.

Just asked my two- primary school, different classes. Windows are open. Apparently its not cold but I am cold thinking about it!

Windows are closed in my classroom (year two). If the CO² monitor gets a bit high or it starts getting a bit stuffy then we open the external door for a time. In terms of infection control, they're still learning not to pick their noses/chew their fingers and then touch everything (majority are age 6) so having windows constantly open isn't going to make much of a difference.

Why don't you suggest to the school that they get a HEPA filter for the classroom as well as airing occasionally during the day? It's not good for children to be trying to work in stale ale, there are some really really serious bugs around at the moment (not just covid) and paediatric A&Es are completely overwhelmed (contributing to the deaths of children recently). Lots of health conditions are invisible so it may be that she is, for example, on immunosuppressants for an autoimmune condition. You just don't know. It is really really cold at the moment, so I can understand why you feel as you do, but try also to see her perspective. There is literally no downside (bar a small initial outlay) to having a HEPA filter in the classroom and it could address both your concerns (her infections, you cold). It can be pretty lonely to be concerned about covid and other infections, so I'm sure she would welcome your support if you lobby with her for a mitigation that meets both your needs.

Also, rereading your OP, I am very surprised that your HT has agreed to mandate masking for year 5s at the moment. Masks have never been mandatory in schools even at the height of mitigations and they were never implemented for junior schools (at least in England, not sure about the other nations). This is very odd. Is that what you are saying? Or do you mean that her child is choosing to wear a mask?

Windows are open apparently. This is good - who wants more viruses than necessary? I asked my DC and they said it was warm enough.

I am very sceptical that you have mandatory masks if you are in the UK?

Windows open makes a massive difference to all airborne viruses.

@Holis Is this you on another thread last week saying that your DS wears shorts to school and never complains of the cold? Either this is a reverse (I don't think so) or there's something a bit odd going on. I know that it's got a lot colder in the last week, but it would strike me that looking for permission for your child to wear long trousers instead of shorts might be a useful, supportive compromise in the first instance. Although if your son isn't bothered by the cold, perhaps he wouldn't want to adapt his attire

Holis · 07/12/2022 18:46
Personally I don’t think there’s an issue with it at all. DS3 is in year 5 and similarly to the poster above, has to wear shorts all year round to school. I’m sure he’d rather wear trousers but has never complained of being cold. They wear long socks in winter anyway.

I think there are a lot of good arguments for boys wearing shorts to school. No new trousers needed constantly and it’s a good rite of passage and sign of growing maturity when they move to year 6 and are allowed to wear trousers.@

The external door gets opened at various points of the day (opens directly onto the field), main door into the corridor is always open, classroom is fairly big with a vaulted ceiling. We're doing just fine for air circulation.

If you are doing fine for air circulation, then no you do not need to open windows, but obviously ventilation is to be encouraged and has nothing to do with picking noses.

People do need to stop lying to themselves about airborne viruses. Fresh air is really beneficial for avoiding catching stuff.

I.am a teacher. I try to have my classroom ventilated. The need for this might have Bern removed but the virus has not bern informed so the infection risk is still real. If a pupil is sitting near a window they may close it if they ask politely forbid this is not possible because it's too fussy, they have the option to move

Yes windows are still open in the school I teach in. We monitor the CO2 and adjust the windows to try to get a balance.

It was 14 degrees in my classroom at 10am today.