AIBU to think school closures ignore parents' work commitments?

[OhNoItsThePinkyPonk]

AIBU to think that the school doesn’t take much account of parents’ need to work? Primary school have just announced they won’t be opening for the rest of the week, but it’s OK because they’ll be sending us online work for us to do with the children, and whilst they are sorry they have had to cancel sports day we shouldn’t be too upset because they’ve have rescheduled it for a couple of weeks time. Like, I totally get they have to put the safety of the children first and if it’s too hot it’s too hot, but what do they think I’m
doing when the kids are at school, preparing beautiful dinners, ensuring the craft box is topped up, pining wistfully for the moment they come home? FFS, my job obviously comes second to my children and of course I’ll cancel planned surgeries and clinics where I need to. It’s not the emergency that bothers me, it’s the blasé way in which it’s communicated as though it’s a
minor inconvenience, not a major major f’ing headache with serious second and third order effects.

phew, that’s better. Now to go and get the little darlings…

I would find that incredibly frustrating too. Our school are very much not communicating it like that, thers lots of "we know this might be difficult" etc. They're opening for mornings for everyone and then making the closing after lunch "optional". They are staying open in the afternoons (and for after school club) for those that need to be there, although they do have air con in the main hall and two portable air con units for the small hall though so they have reasonable space for them to have the staff/children (air con was mostly funded by PTA!).

Schools don’t make the decisions lightly and it’s made in the best interest of the children. We know it’s not ideal but we have to put the safety of the children first. We are contemplating half days for the rest of the week because 30 children in 35 degree plus rooms simply isn’t safe.

Maybe we need to close all the hospitals too….

Tbh it's just stats, liability, and them wanting to enjoy a bit of sunbathing in the garden. Seriously, no reason at all to close schools. They just know too many kids will skive or be 'ill' because parents take them on holiday, also the kids who go in won't do any work anyway while it's hot so why bother going in. Think schools should be forced to make it optional going in and not just be allowed to close.

Mostly, they're just worried too many students will skive because it affects their attendance stats. All about stats in the end, sadly.

No, they aren't.

Aircon? How long have we known about the climate and previous summers? Why aren't schools adapting? That's a choice. Can buy standing fans for all rooms in the meantime but no, easier to just close and protect attendance stats.

It’s probably the right thing to do, but having worked with teachers for many years, there will have been plotting in the staff room, and now glee. Yep, very cynical about them as a profession.

I'm sure parents in France, Italy etc are cussing up a storm too. Their schools are closed. It's an extreme event.

Yes, I was definitely plotting and celebrating as I was being sick. Fun times!

As pp said complain to the school and secondly also campaign for better worker rights as there should be a function to look after the children in contracts.

It's very hard and I think many parents don't quite realise the extent of the hassle and interuption of life DC brings. I think its should be messaged far more

Sorry I meant campaign to the school for air con /gov

I agree. We should be surely trying ways to keep them in without closing being the first port of call. These kind of summers are not going to go away.

My class was 30° by the end of the day today. We also have portacabins and the temp in those got up to 36°. It’s insane.

How on earth do they expect kids to learn. We didn’t even have a fan, I’ll have to bring my own in from home tomorrow.

Kids spent the day complaining of headaches and were just soaking leaving at 3:20. Our school isn’t closing but it bloody well should.

I think it's pretty normal for teachers to be pleased they don't have to spend the day in unhealthy conditions with loads of kids.

Why do we think teachers need to be selfless all the time. Office workers relish any unexpected time off too

And I went to a brand new primary school in 1978. All on one floor (except the portacabin that had to be bought to accommodate an even greater spike in the birth rate that had been anticipated when moving from the Victorian combined primary and secondary at that point), open plan areas, thick curtains to separate areas and keep out excessive heat, plenty of natural light and airflow, mature trees left when constructing the site to provide shade (the weeping willows were our favourites in summer, only beaten by the five sakura they'd been donated by Hiroshima, followed by the pear, apple and ancient oak at the back of the field).

Yes, we did have classes of 36, but we had plenty of space.

All funded by the same Labour government.

Stick an advert out. You are free to teach in the classrooms with 32 sweaty bodies in 37 degree heat. Everyone will be pleased for such a trooper!

General teachers have absolutely no say when schools close for snow or extreme heat. Plotting 🙄

Where is the funding coming from to fit this air con? Believe me we would love it but no way will budgets stretch to that. All the fans do is move around the hot air.

it’s not ideal and with or without children staff will still be in but as much as some don’t like it child safety has to be first priority

I don’t understand how the school is too hot but home is fine?! I run a children’s home, I cannot install air con or do anything different to what I would any other day. Where should I send the kids if it’s too hot in the home? Obviously their bedroom windows only open a small way for safety reasons so no doubt they’ll be hot in there, hot in the living room, and hot in the kitchen and garden. But I very much doubt it’ll kill any of them. 🙄

It’s two days (I am a nurse and my husband also a ‘key worker’)

it would be a huge amount of work to identify who has to work etc.

If it was for over a week then it might be necessary but that won’t be the case in this instance.

They probably have air conditioning being a private school - that’s what’s differentiating here.

Does anyone you knowhave 32 kids in their house? And no water access?

We’re not remotely set up for that. As much as you can say school isn’t childcare, if schools started finishing at 1pm, you’d have thousands of parents unable to work (and even if at an individual level that is their problem to solve, I think the economy and general society would notice). Or they’d be using after school clubs until 6pm, defeating the point of starting at 7am anyway.
Moving the dates a little might be better, I feel like it’s often hotter at the start of July than end of August. Although I don’t know if stats bear that out, and I appreciate it’s now only June!

Would it be more expensive than all the lost wages and related tax of the parents now missing work across those days. And the cost impact of the cancelled surgeries and clinics, and the unpaid time off that might be related to the patients who were going to attend it?

Honestly if the school on our road costed up air conditioning and started doing local events to fundraise for it (sponsored walks, fete days, raffles, a well publicised gofundme), I’d contribute even though I don’t have kids that go there. I bet it wouldn’t be that hard to crowdfund for at least a good chunk of schools.

They would need to prioritise it over other school spending needs (I won’t be contributing to them buying more books or getting a new playground for example), but I think people could get behind a capital project like air conditioning. And I’m not sure it’s that expensive… I know it’s a smaller scale but it was surprisingly affordable to have it fitted at home, and we had it piped in through vents - units on the wall would have been even cheaper.

We're open. It's obviously very hot, above 30 in every classroom and hotter in the hall where the kids eat, with fans. Plus well into the 40s for kitchen catering staff.

No plans to close yet, but Fridays forecast is somewhere between 35-39 degrees depending on where you look, so I expect the head will decide nearer the time.

My home is 6 degrees cooler than the coolest classroom, luckily I've only got my two DC here, not 30!