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).

I tried to upload a photo but failed. I don't mean posh verandas. I mean a roof which goes further than the building so sun doesn't hit the windows. Quite common in places which are very hot.

We're not allowed to bring in fans and the playground is unshaded.

You didn't say whether the buildings are built to retain heat. That is the largest problem we will have. As each day gets hotter, the building will not release any of that heat so by Thursday it will be terrible.

In Cressing Essex Persimmon Homes have built new flats. Massive windows glass doors etc. Sweat boxes i bet

Oh perhaps they all have different brains too.

Shouldn't be up to teachers to buy fans for their school, but thanks for the offer.

Yes, strange how the majority of other hot countries get on ok with it, often for weeks/months on end..but a few days of heat (or snow) and the uk has to come to a grinding halt and everything closes

You've made the point yourself there. A few days.

They might not buy them, I assumed they brought in from home, but perhaps they’re provided

Yes. My son had a heat induced convulsive faint last year in a hot and stuffy classroom.

What do you mean? Can’t schools cope for a few days?

For secondary, where the kids don't need parents at home with them, why can't schools switch to online lessons for the week, like during lockdown? We know how to do it now.

Actually, there's lots of evidence to show that hot countries don't get on ok with it

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/heat-and-learning

Nothing has ever changed where I am and also in all the other hot, Southern European countries. The finishing school term earlier than uk, yes, although it can be red hot by this point already and not wearing uniform

We also know that the kids don't do the work.

Well, you can't have been in the badly-hit areas of the country in 1987, then, because all the schools round ours closed as they'd had roofs blown off!

A few days????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

During the summer of 2022, the UK experienced five distinct heatwave periods ranging from 3 to 16 days in length, which culminated in a historic national temperature record of (40.3^{\circ }\text{C}). 1, 2]
According to the UK Health Security Agency, the five heatwave episodes included:
Episode 1: 4 days (June 16 to June 19)
Episode 2: 16 days (July 10 to July 25), which included the most intense 2-day period of Level 4 extreme heat (July 18 and July 19)
Episode 3: 7 days (July 30 to August 5)
Episode 4: 10 days (August 8 to August 17)
Episode 5: 3 days (August 23 to August 25)
The UK experienced four distinct, relatively short-lived heatwaves during the summer of 2025, each lasting between 5 to 6 days. While these events were brief, they occurred throughout the season and resulted in the warmest overall UK summer on record. 1, 2, 3]
Breakdown of the 2025 heatwave events:
Heatwave 1 (Third week of June): Officially declared in mid-June, lasting about five days in central and eastern England before breaking with thunderstorms.
Heatwave 2 (Late June - Early July): This event lasted about six days for parts of Yorkshire and the Humber and five days in the East. A longer, more intense spell of this heatwave affected London and southern areas, peaking at 34.7°C between June 23 and July 2.
Heatwave 3 & 4 (July and August): Additional, intermittent heatwaves occurred during these months, pushing the overall summer average for the UK to a record-breaking 16.1°C. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

I work as an engineer specifically in building refurbishment to improve climate resilience. I’m keeping my kids off school all week. The government advice is crap (drawing interior blinds only reduces heat gain by a very minimal amount), exterior window shutters and awnings is what is needed to keep buildings cool. That’s what they have in hotter climates (along with thicker masonry walls to keep heat out during the day).

The government and local authorities knew these heat waves were coming and have done nothing at all to mitigate discomfort and protect vulnerable citizens (children and the elderly). There’s nothing teachers can do to keep kids cool in 35 C without exterior window shading or air conditioning.

You didn't look at the paper, did you?

I’m from a European country where it is often above 40 degrees. In the days before aircon our school year was over by the end of May. We had long hot summers at home, where we could keep cool, everything shut down in the afternoons when people could rest in the hottest time of day.

I can’t imagine being in a sweltering hot classroom trying to concentrate, or even worse being sent outside during peak sun at lunchtime. Or walking home at 3.30! I feel sorry for my children having to go to school in oppressive heat this week.

But when you're giving the lesson, can't you see that the kids are in the lesson? On Zoom and Teams you can see who's in the "meeting."

So hysterical! It’s months where we are-relax ffs

I don’t have to as evidence is around and has been for years that everything is ok and schools just get on with it and manage ok 👍

Totally agree Housing associations have also done fuck all

How exactly do you force a kid to log in when they’re at home?

Are you a climate change denier? Have you not seen the news? Paris has shut down hundreds of schools.

Nope.