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).

The school day is adapted though. Some countries take an extended lunch break, whilst others might only open from early morning until lunch. We’re a developed country and should be able to get air con in schools.

Over 800 French schools are closing due to the heat , and 1800 are finishing early.

So we are not alone in being under prepared

Also to add - Portugal for example has a 13 week school holiday ( three MONTHS) starting mid to late June.

So to all of you saying “oh everywhere else copes” … do you honestly want school closed for three month in case we have temperatures above 30?

No I didn’t think so.

It’s not illegal. Most school days are 6 hours, if you work 6 hours you’re not legally entitled to a break. If you work over 6 hours you’re entitled to a 20 minute break

Mine says if indoors is hotter than 30o censuius then they have to close. Not sure if this is a school rule or wider one.

Our school year ends this week and returns 2nd week of September.

Hyperbole? One flake of snow?
How does your statement help solve the problem - that isn't going away?

We might not have had water bottles but we had water fountains. We had mature trees casting shade in playgrounds. We had old fashioned school buildings built of thick stone with small windows and deep sills. The building of greenhouses to educate children in came later.

Schools (classrooms and for secondary Sports Hall for GCSE exams), should have air con. Would we as adults consent to working our backsides off in a cramped room of over 30 degrees in stifling heat? To get the best from students and teachers this needs to be addressed and fast.

Does hot weather policy cover change of recipes? Making gazpacho, vichyssoise or salad??

I'd be happier, as a parent, with schools closed but zoom lessons or work sent home than for my child to swelter at school in a uniform. Our school has cancelled all sports fixtures and they didn't do pe today (likely won't all week) plus they have fans but if it's 38 degrees outside fans just push the warm air around anyway. I've bought portable ac units and they're doing a good job in bedrooms - I think my kids would be better sat with them on doing school work than trapped in an overheating building with lots of other hot bodies. I'd not personally be happy/productive in this weather.
As a country we need to find a way round these extreme weather events, it's going to keep happening. It might be air con, or building adaptations or it might be people working from home, changing hours - siesta style, or longer school summer hols (Portugal, Italy and Spain take the whole of July and August and Italy take most of June too). We seem stuck in an in-between where nobody is acknowledging it's an issue and we all plod on as normal.

You need to believe it. It’s a thing and it’s totally ridiculous. I think it was brought in to cut down on “anti social behaviour” but it just means there is zero social and in cases, zero eating time

Exactly. Greece too and probably other Mediterranean countries. I remember being jealous of my Greek cousins with their 3 month summer holiday back in the 80s and 90s so they've long been adapted to this situation.

Day 1.

The majority of my class 5-10min late because they filled up their water bottle despite guidance. I was out there on duty reminding kids to go fill their bottles up, to be ignored as we then had a huge influx of kids all going to fill their bottles up at once when the bell went to get them back to lessons. The stragglers coming in every few seconds 5-10min into the lesson were making the start to lessons impossible to coordinate as every time I started, another one would come in.

Most kids without pens as they were in their PE kit and had forgotten their writing equipment. Handing those out took another 5min off my lesson, as did collecting them back in. At least those that hadn't gone missing.

Room at 35+ degrees by P5. With 30 hot bodies in the room on top. Kids were arguing about my windows being closed (the ones facing the sun, letting the heat in if they were open - the other row was open as far as they go). Kids were arguing about the lack of fans. Kids were asking every 10min whether the lesson was over yet so they could get out of the hot room. 7 requests to go to the toilet. I only taught the one lesson today due to mock exams and Y11 being gone. This was Y9, so not even little ones. I'm not sure much was learned by most, mostly due to the disruption.

Kids were hyper and in boisterous fighting mood all day, especially Y8-10 boys. Screaming and running everywhere, play fighting, and in a few cases quite grumpy and aggressive. Add into the the current world cup, so we had chants (in lesson), flags and arguments over teams to deal with, too.

School really was pretty pointless today. I'm dreading tomorrow on a much fuller day and my worst class on a P5. My only hope is that some might do the sensible thing and stay at home rather than wreck it for the rest of the class.

DS in yr 9. All in PE kits, they had PE which was cricket, so basically standing still.😂. English teacher let them fill their bottles in lesson time. Nobody went mad, work was accomplished.
The World Cup nonsense sounds awful. I'm pretty sure DS would have mentioned that if it happened here.

My classroom was over 30 degrees for most of today.

My DD's school has emailed to say that we can keep them home if we want to and they'll authorise it. Which would be great, except I have to work.

They've said kids can go in wearing PE kit all week, they've cancelled all outdoor events and I've bought her a rechargeable handheld fan so hopefully she'll be ok but I can't see much learning happening.

Except it's not normal. Several kids vomiting today.

It's illegal for working 16-18 year olds to only have a 20 minute break. They must have a 30 minute break. It changes to 20 minutes at 18 years old.

Three months for Irish secondary schools too.

Ffs get over yourself, we have about 3 days a year of 35deg, and you want the world to stop! I lived in usa as a child in the v early 80s we went to school in much hotter weather no air con. I also worked most of my adult life as a groom with horses, a few scortching hot days,bitten to death by horse flies,no one I ever worked for said come inside have a break.

And once more with feeling

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]

Why would anyone give a shit about any of that?

Because op said kids shouldn't go to school as it's too hot for kids and teachers! My examples were, I survived as a child,and an adult in very very hot conditions,no one told me not to go to school or have the day off because it was hot!

Big shout-out to all the teachers! Thank you for doing your best for the kids under very trying circumstances. Teachers are the best! 💐

And to any French people on here, I do feel sorry for you, given that France is even hotter than the UK. I hope you are doing OK. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! It will be over in a few days!

And the same to anyone else on here who's living through the blistering temps on the Continent. Hope you are OK. Just a few days to go. YOU CAN DO IT! 💪