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).

My children (12 and 15) are being told to go to school in a relaxed uniform and to take two water bottles. If they run out of water then they can refill them.
They’re given extra time before breaks to put suncream on and staff are patrolling outside areas to make sure the pupil stay in the shade.
I feel that many teenagers, if not at school, would be at a higher risk as they would be out in the sun, would forget to use suncream or drink enough and so are better off being at school.

just got a mesg from my child's school (secondary) that they'll be closing at 12.15 tmw and Thursday so they're home before the hottest part of the day.

Yebbut here children are bussed in by private companies so rearranged schedules aren't so easy. Personally I'd just keep them off.

No learning took place today from about mid-day onwards. Not for lack of trying. Fans on (but fire doors had to stay closed), all blinds shut, only windows on the non-sunny side open, relaxed uniform, water allowed all day.

Some kids were play fighting, some obsessed with their fans, the rest just wanted to sit and talk. Every excuse under the sun why they needed to be out of the classroom every 5min.

We had an official visit today, so had to be extra stringent on rules, but it just wasn't happening. School should have been closed. It wasn't and it won't be for the next 2 days, either, but it was pointless and just ended up raising my blood pressure to dangerous levels from the heat and the stress of trying to just keep the kids in their seats, let alone attempt some work.

This is what gets me about the closures in the 'red zone'. Schools aren't places of learning well before the temperature gets that high.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of children are “ill” or even genuinely unwell tomorrow due to the heat of today.

Our school told us that students weren’t allowed out of lesson or in between lessons to fill up water bottles and that they would be brought water to the classroom instead. That didn’t happen.

They had two lessons both 60 mins back to back where some of them couldn’t get water, despite sending multiple emails and SLT to get water for the poor children who were red in the face. I wonder if parents actually knew some of the rules we had to abide by in school due to SLT/lack of leadership from councils and government, would they be happy to send their children in at all.

I think at the moment a lot of parents seem to think that teachers just want days off and don’t realise that our job is to teach and safeguard children, which is what we’re trying to do by suggesting safety measures.

I recognise that there are jobs where the heat will be more hellish (before anyone bites my head off), but my god, teaching in this heat really is a special type of hell. Or should I say ‘teaching’.
The thing that baffled me today was Y7 lads coming to the lesson after lunch with sweat POURING off them as they’d been running around in the sun. Really brings it home that their brains are not at all fully developed.

A/Cs work like heat pumps; they absorb hot air from your home and dump it outside. In densely populated cities, millions of units running simultaneously pump this heat directly into the atmosphere, making outdoor temperatures noticeably higher and increasing night-time heat island effects.

Yes this will happen. Not really talking about schools but generally more trees and greenery lower outside temps.

Really brings it home that their brains are not at all fully developed.

My boy is insisting on going into Central London in a bit to watch the football with his friends in a pub. On the boiling tube. He is 20 🙄🙄🙄

In fairness if that was my hobby I’d do it too. I dislike football, but if my choir had a rehearsal or gig I’d be there. 61yr old woman.

We are currently working with the fire brigade to stop our chemicals cupboard catching fire. Alcohols combust at about 35 degrees - it's about 34.5 in there. Some v ingenious (& some just plain stupid) ideas being used. Every prep room is doing the same thing (I hope !!!).

'Teaching' today was patchy. Sweat was running freely on all. Roll on tomorrow.

Is being allowed to fill you water bottle with water a priviledge in this school?

I think noone is thinking about childcare. In most countries children start schoold at 6 or 7 years of age and just go home and look afterthemselves.

Exactly. I’m not sure why it’s so hard.

Where were you in the US that you went to school in weather much hotter than 35C, considering that most states the school year ends late May/early June? Also bear in mind that the US school day typically starts and ends earlier, avoiding the hottest part of the day. And of course US schools aren’t built like greenhouses like so many UK schools are.

And not meant to negate yours is solar. There's always something, isn't there? 😵‍💫
I'm just using tower fans in all the rooms at home. Obv electricity and its associated aggregate issues.

My classroom (also science) was 30 degrees most of today - our building retains heat so tomorrow will be awful. I wasn’t teaching period 5 but I saw and dealt with some of the behaviour of kids after lunch and quite frankly really think we should be sending them home at lunchtime this week, I doubt any decent learning occurred. Some of them get buses quite a distance too. I felt a bit woozy by 3pm and made an early exit.

Rather excitingly I’ve got a fan for tomorrow, and so now we can enjoy the hot air being blown around and the kids fighting over it…

What was the concluded solution please?

Did it involve freezer blocks and corrugated cardboard?

(genuinely interested in this kind of thing 😄)

My classroom has no windows. Which is fun.

Lucky you, no windows, no sun coming in. Lovely!

I do have a door at least. Small mercies.

Also no air.

Still here. We are trying to borrow/beg an AC unit for a few days. We can't just put stuff in fridges as cleapps wont like it (we asked). Currently there are 10 fans, some bowls of ice and us all constantly monitoring temps. Thinking of sleeping in the IT room tonight ! It has AC (but can't put chemicals in there - rules are quite tight.

We have sent out for another round of ice creams.

That's what the door is for. Stick your head out every so often and take a deep breath.