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).

@Nannyfannybanny of course they did where was 1000 excess death

I think it was probably more than that. Apparently there was a 20% increase in excess deaths that summer.

During the historic 1976 summer heatwave in the UK, estimates suggest around 200 people a day were dying who would not have perished if the weather had been normal.

https://theconversation.com/the-dangers-of-romanticising-britains-1976-heatwave-260046
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_British_Isles_heatwave

What happens if all 2000 of them want to go? Or they just want a skive? Or they want to squirt someone?

If parents all, today, told their kids that's it's going to be shit but that there's very little their class teachers can actually do, but that they can probably just suck it up for a few days, that would be half the battle.

You do not need to run around at lunch time. You do not need to run up the stairs and chase each other. You do not need to try to wrestle one another. You don't need your jumper on, or your puffa jacket. Just chill; do a token amount of work and everyone's happy.

My life literally just flashed before my eyes.

Not my Y10s, they're probably too lethargic to stab anyone but omg my Y9s....

In most Southern European countries it’s now the summer holidays for children, they have a longer summer break mainly due to the heat! So yes although children do go to school in hot countries the academic year is altered to avoid school in summer

Don't be a dick and do this. Please don't create even more problems for teachers in the coming week.

Instead, be a responsible parent, send your kid in with more than one water bottle and tell them to prioritise refilling it before lessons and at break time.

And for god's sake tell them to sip it throughout the lesson instead of gulping it all down in one go right at the start and then spend the rest of the lesson complaining that they are DYING OF THIRST. And then DESPERATE FOR THE TOILET.

We’ve had hot weather more recently. In London it was 40 degrees. I’m pretty sure dd was at school. Looking it up it was 2022

Well, quite a lot of people died. So there's that.

But it's also worth noting that the temperatures were lower, there were hardly any nights that met the threshold for a tropical night, and most importantly, humidity was nearly non-existent.

i can't remember whether I said it on this thread, or another of the It's Always Been Hot threads - I grew up in a hot country and have lived in others. And I would take 40 degrees with 30% humidity in Western Queensland over 30 degrees with 80% humidity in Singapore any day, especially if I'm having to work in it.

I am teaching creative writing this week as it happens. But a) we're not allowed to take classes outside b) there are no shady trees c) have you ever experienced the furore caused by a single buzzing creature in a classroom?

So windows open the full two inches, curtains closed on the windows where they've not been yanked down, and lights off it will be.

From a very hot country. We had fans. And a school day that ran from 7-1:30 pm so I was home by 2 and napping. All cotton uniforms. Endless access to water. My school in India by the way now has full air conditioning.

I went on the school exchange trip to southern Spain in the 90’s. Finished at lunch time and went home for the hottest part of the day and then back at 6pm for a couple of hours. And that was March. Other countries that are used to heat do actually have things in place.
I remember lessons outside in the 80’s but at a large secondary there just aren’t enough shaded spots for all the kids.

Or, instead of air-conditioning, which costs a fortune to run, we could implement a few basic changes in how we build so its not necessary. It really isn't rocket science.

Yep, let's build all new schools and hospitals. Thats easy. Didn't Boris sort out 41 new hospitals or something? We should get him back.

It depends on the school.

I remember going to school in 32c and my classroom was a very old mobile classroom. It was awful!

New hospitals is funny. Where I live we knocked down our hospital and separate birth unit and combined them. Our city is bigger than when those two separate units where built the new combined unit has less beds.

The math don’t math.

I'm contemplating teaching without a projector this week to stop any more heat from being generated in the room.

Outside lessons is stupid, there's nowhere near the shade, insects everywhere and it's still hot outside.

Water is a concern. We have 3 fountains for 1400 kids. Letting them out of lessons is a green light for the truanters and could lead to chaos.

I'm planning lessons with no actual learning. The bar is low this week.

I notice there isn't a rush to suggest changing the school timetable to fit in with the hot weather like in hot countries. Just straight up closure. Heatwaves have always happened, just like snow days. Should school adapt ? Yes. Should school close ? No.

Government very keen to fine us when we miss school and tell us how bad that is. Why is it suddenly OK to close when it suits teachers?

Yes and my child’s secondary school closed. The primary I worked in didn’t and we had kids fainting all over the place.

I work in a secondary school now and am dreading it.

Isn’t another issue air con just adds to the heating up problem.

I don't know if you've noticed, but they're not closing.

I was a preteen and fainted a couple of times in that really hot summer of 76. I would pass out if I had to teach all day in 35 degrees

I’d be happy with that. Even a few hours in the morning come home then back for a few hours in the evening as it starts to cool.

But then again I work from home in a job where my children being home wouldn’t affect my work.

So far I have seen a secondary near me has posted online that students can wear their PE kits this week.

Will be interested whether my own primary school comes up with any changes. I imagine we will have hot weather play, so will be indoors for lunch and break. We do have school trips however and a sports day this week so not sure whether they will go ahead with those events (trips aren't always easy to rearrange).

Depends on the electricity generation mix.