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).

They have air-conditioning in every classroom and they still shut the school at 35° and in fact send people home from work if it hits 40. Paid obviously.

I'm a retired secondary teacher. The lack of a legal upper temperature has always been a problem, in my view.

My final permanent classroom was in a new build. Air con which I couldn't control - it was set by someone from the council twice a year.

No windows on the exterior wall. A sealed skylight above my desk. Sealed windows to the corridor which caught the glare of the sun.

Hellish. I see that that there are very similar new builds across the UK.

My sympathies to those teachers and pupils trying to get by in similarly difficult conditions

If a kid comes to a lesson with a full water bottle, why would they need to refill it during the lesson?

Yes. Unless we adapt, then schools need to close.

By adapt I mean either they get AC or modify the school day with fans in each classroom and to start earlier and finish earlier eg 7-1 instead of 9-3

The only fan I have at home is a large metal one that I can’t carry into the classroom.

Regardless I would be leaving my DH without a fan in a stuffy hot flat anyway.

I also don’t agree with the idea that teachers should be paying out of pocket for equipment literally meant for children’s safety as well as our own. It takes the onus off of schools and councils who should be providing those legally.

I'm not sure why people seem to think that the addition of a fan will transform a 35+ degree classroom into a suitable learning environment. I can assure you that it doesn't! Particularly when it is extremely humid like it has been recently.

We cancelled our sports day due to extreme heat one year. We cited the heat, the sun, the rock hard ground, children’s safety. Oh the COMPLAINTS! “But I booked the morning off work” etc. Honestly, schools can’t win….

Primary or secondary? Most secondaries don't allow students to leave lessons.

LAs in Scotland have been cutting back on lunch hours for some years. I recall that we were down to 45 minutes by the time I retired - they're aiming to stop children from leaving the building for lunch, we were told. It really is problematic.

My last permanent school was small by comparison with some others, but we had a timetable which included three lunch sittings.

Painting, sun sails, reflective coatings, air con, shaded out door areas …. These things could be helpful, but they all cost money. There is another thread running where people are suggesting alternative pathways and small group support for young people struggling with school, again undoubtedly helpful but they require increased resources.
People need to understand if you want an improved education system and to avoid kids being sent home in increasing temperatures we have to invest more. There are no magic cost free solutions. Our schools aren’t designed for extreme heat. Modifying them will cost.

The problem is more the school policy.
20mins for lunch?
Let them wear PE kit rather than shirt, tie, blazer.

Let them fill their water bottles, bring a hand held fan.
Get some class fans, close some blinds, leave doors open.

The head and heads of department needs to address this.

Any communication from teachers needs to go through the headteacher who was the one who said no children allowed out in the corridors to fill up water. I’m also relatively new to teaching and I know that even when senior teachers tried to raise this issue they were shut down. We have no authority.

So either you accept school has a childcare function and in extreme weather they may not do much in the way of work, or you accept that for health and safety reasons someone will need to stay home with the kids. I’d be happy with my kids being moved to a cooler part of the building to watch a movie if I couldn’t be at home with them.

.... I'd also add to approach the PTA and see what funds they have that could help pay for classroom fans.

I’ll put it like this… we’ve run out of funds for even glue sticks. 4 weeks left of the term.

The issue about children filling up water bottles is that they have 20 minutes at break to do it and then all of lunchtime to do it but they choose to do it right at the end. This sounds really harmless but when you have groups of 30 kids doing it not being in lessons and disturbing learning other classrooms it's really bloody annoying. You wouldn't expect teachers to be filling up their water bottles in the middle of a lesson so student shouldn't either.

As I've said in my previous post, my old department in a new build didn't even have windows to the exterior wall at all. The skylight and windows to the corridor were sealed.

I begged the SLT to do something about the air conditioning, but was told that it was legal and that was that. There were some days that the the air conditioner only succeeded in bringing in smells of burning wood from the nearby industrial site.

In winter, the air conditioning was too damned cold and in summer it was useless.

The fact that our rooms were originally intended as tutorial rooms made it so much worse - 30 children crammed in together.

I wrote umpteen emails of complaint and contacted my union, but to no avail.

You couldn’t bring a home fan in anyway unless it had been PAT tested for electrical safety.

The school should be providing things.

I think you should send an email to the head teacher suggesting that a health and safety risk assessment should be carried out on the safety of the science labs during hot spells. Highlight the heat generated from equipment and experiments, the intense sunlight in windows, the children feeling light headed and being punished for obtaining water outside breaks. Use the thermometer in your lab and your science expertise to show that it is over a comfortable temp of 24 degrees. State your recommendation that it is not safe.

They might ignore you but if a child takes unwell then you have evidence that you raised it and they can’t blame you for not telling them.

I spend a week each summer chaperoning children in an all day outside show.

When it is hot, as it has been on several occasions, I spend a lot of time saying "have you had a drink? No, go and have one" and "sit down between the scenes" "stay in the shade..."
You know what, however often I tell them they're still running round in the sun between scenes with full water bottles - and the older they are the more inclined they are to do that. The younger ones are far more inclined to listen.

No it isn't. If you work more than 6 hours, workers have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during their working day

As an extremely experienced teacher who has lived through 'allow the kids out to fill up their water bottles during lessons', I can assure you that not allowing the kids out to fill up their water bottles is the correct decision. When all the teachers are in the classrooms trying to teach and the kids are having a water fight unsupervised outside, it's not great.

They should, of course, be allowed to fill them up before the lesson, during break or changeover time.

Just been in my school emails. Head has asked all form tutors to remind students to fill water bottles at break and lunch as they will not be permitted to leave lessons as per usual school rules.

I would gladly let my students watch a film and chill but not sure that will go down well on my learning walk!

my dc school has aircon, so I'm happy to send them in. however, they have just finished exams so school is wrapping up.

also school encourages water pistols during breaks (students are not allowed indoors during breaks).

Me too. My DP's classroom is on the third floor of a Victorian building. Where's Mary Poppins when you need her! 😂

In my experience the only place to watch films at school is the hall. These are usually furnace like pits of hell. Especially when filled with people.