Should schools be closed at 35°C?

[DancingThroughLife02]

Not really an AIBU but looking ahead at the forecast for next week and it’s looking like a scorcher.

I work in a secondary school in a science classroom (which seems to get extra hot during practicals) and we have no fans or AC or anything at all to keep the children cool. Open windows don’t seem to help much. The thermostat in the classroom got above 30°C in the afternoon.

The children need to have their water bottles filled at break times and lunch times only and are not allowed to fill them during lessons - which I disagree with as so many come to me saying that they didn’t get a chance to fill theirs up in the 20 minute lunch break.

Last week I had children saying they were dizzy and feeling sick, and they’re made to go outside during breaks. I’m also not sure that anything I taught them during the extra hot days actually stuck in anyway as they all seemed melted onto the desks.

I know there is a legal lower temperature limit for classrooms/workplaces but maybe with the increasing summer temperatures over the last few years we need to start considering investing in ACs as the heat in summer seems to be more prolonged than a couple hot days and in the meantime consider health and safety of the students (and teachers as even I was beginning to feel a bit dizzy).

Ffs. I’d love to see you going and working in 50° heat temperatures Which is what that room will be

No teacher would be able to cope with that

Our buildings aren’t designed for that. And it’s quite normal in other countries to not run schools when they reach this sort of temperature

I can’t actually imagine the level of idiot see somebody has to possess to think any learning is gonna take place in 45 to 50° heat

My Dh is working outside in full overalls, gloves, goggles and boots but he’s not thought about not going in because utilities wouldn’t be working and we’d all suffer. His apprentice is barely older than the kids in OP’s secondary school but he’ll be there as well. Not everyone works in an air conditioned office and like I said the temperature feels the same for all of us.

@Suirren other places like France must struggle with the same issues though so how do their essential workers do it ?

@hay5689 full qudos and thanks to him I always think about the poor people working in the sun however he can still potentially stop and and start and take breaks when he wants.
Get himself water etc.
Teachers do not have that freedom nor kids stuck in school

As an aside I also think all chefs kitchens should have air con as well

My niece's school has just changes to 23 minutes. I think it is appalling for learning, extra-curricular activities, socialising and digesting.

However, there is a point to him going into work, which is the work that he will complete which presumably needs completing.

The kids will not be learning, so what is the point of them being in school?

For younger children the point seems to be childcare - ok so make it childcare and remove any expectation of both attendance and learning.

What is the point for children who don’t require childcare?

I know it's complicated, schools were not built with these temperatures in mind and if these heatwaves here to stay then there's some serious thinking that needs to be done.

All these PP claiming we should just get on with it have no understanding at all of being in a small classroom with 25/30 children and the thermometer hitting almost 30 degrees in class.
What do people imagine is happening in these conditions?
Kids are just getting on with it, maybe sipping a bit more water??
No chance. They are constantly drinking water and filling water bottles ( and then needing the toilet obviously) They're trying to fan themselves with whatever they can find. They are all distracted and so uncomfortable that nobody is listening or learning and they are all constantly complaining.
And I don't blame them.

I was just asking you a question?

Umm no he can’t. They have a limited window in which every job needs to be completed so they can’t just decide to take a break unfortunately. Same goes for most workers, I can’t just decide I’m going to take a break because it’s hot. I could think of so many jobs that don’t let you stop and start. I’m all for closing the schools but only if this applies to everyone else.

It shouldn't require an upper legal temperature in order for schools to not subject children to conditions that can be harmful for health or useless for learning in.

The obsession with attendance over all else is ridiculous.

Yes, basically it’s just a test of endurance, getting the kids to the end of the day.

I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️, that’s not my decision to make. I don’t have any objections to secondary schools closing.
I don’t actually have any objections to any schools closing, I’d far rather be at home with my kids in the heat. I’m running an NHS clinic though.

ETA just to be clear, I’m not anti schools closing. I’m just saying it will require an entire culture change in which employers are far more tolerant of employees taking time off work to care for their kids, and people in general will have to be tolerant of reduced services in all other areas because part of the work force will be out of action. Supermarkets/NHS etc will have to operate on reduced services.

Let’s be honest we know from lockdown that we can function perfectly well without lots of sectors so what’s the point in anyone going in that doesn’t have to?

But your husband isn’t a child? You’re suggesting that children have to go to school in intolerable conditions just because your DH has to go to work and it wouldn’t be fair otherwise?

I can assure you they do, my ds did and he's 25 now.

If it is 39 as predicted then yes I expect the school to close. I need to work but my children's safety is more important. Kids die in a extreme heat and with no air conditioning and a class of 30, I think that's too hot.

I have fond memories of school in the 80s (which wasnt as hot). They used to pit thr sprinkler on and let us play in it right up to 13 years old (i was in a middle school area) and we'd all kust go sit under a shady tree and read a book. The children in the prefabs would go into the hall cos it was cooler. There really wasnt a normal curriculumn running.
I didnt do secondary until the 90s and cant actually remember really hot weather oddly.

His apprentice is literally just out of school after his GCSE’s. There’s kids taking A levels older than him. I don’t see why you object to everyone getting the day off because of the heat? Just all sounds a bit pathetic that it’s only schools that are going to get warm, it’s going to be warm for everyone so if we are closing one sector let’s close them all. I have no problem with schools closing but let’s not pretend it’s any worse for them than everyone else.

and like I said the temperature feels the same for all of us

This is literally, and scientifically, untrue.

Further to @ThrallsWife ‘s excellent reply above, the heat in the UK is also very humid compared to the dry heat of many other countries, and that makes it feel worse 👀

I had a 20 minute lunch. I started senior school in 1987. The school day finished at 2.30. It was referred to as continental hours back then.

My DS has a geography field trip on Wednesday. I really hope it’s cancelled as I think it is going to be dangerous for them to be outside all day.

Schools should remain open
But schools that have strict uniform codes needs to wise up
With their ridiculous rules over blazer wearing in class whilst teachers waltz around in thin fabrics and short sleeves

I agree with you. We don’t have AC in the UK infrastructure generally, because we don’t usually need it.
I think serious thought needs to go into implementing something that is both a cost-effective investment and keeps kids in school as far as possible. I say that because, as PP have said, some adults will find it a challenge leaving work to care for kids who aren’t at school.