To think closing schools or making them "optional" during the heatwave is putting pressure on working parents and is just a bit silly?

[Suchevilforebodings]

This doesn't actually effect me directly as neither of my children's schools have closed.
But some of the schools iny area are either closing or are making school optional IE: it won't be marked as absence.
I mean.... Really? Do kids actually need tome off because it's hot?
And is it fair on working parents to send out an email the day before to say school is closed? This heatwave was forecast last week.
Even making it "optional" puts the pressure on as the kids will want to stay off and many of their friends will be.
I just think it's bullshit tbh

Erm, my 5 year old was absolutely fine at school today (zone 2 south London). It does not have air con. She skipped out perfectly normally at 3.30 happily talking about her day, seemingly oblivious to the heat.

I’m not sure that fact brings anything to the debate, apart from highlighting that the degree of issues experienced in schools during a heatwave is very building specific and blanket polices (or opinions) aren’t helpful. I don’t doubt some schools are clearly struggling and should close, but closing my kids’s school would be entirely unnecessary (and I say that as someone very happy and willing to keep her at home the second her school tells me it’s necessary).

How do you know that because your 5 year old was ok that all children in all classes at the school were ok?

One of the kids in one of my classes was still wearing a blazer and seemed completely oblivious to the heat but the rest of them were very much affected by it.

So when people cant get an appointment with a GP this week because the GP has had to ring in as their childs school is closed and they need to be at home with them the general public will be understanding will they.

I doubt it very much.

I don’t know how helpful “have you seen the Met office alert/the temperature/the forecast” is at this point.

Yes. We’re all aware of the alert, the forecast, the temperature outside and inside, we all have phones, and eyes and skin, we’ve seen the news, and the Facebook posts, and the various MN threads.

It is hot. Some kids are better off in school. For others it’s just more convenient. People have jobs they can’t just not do because of the change in temperature, or don’t actually have the facilities to keep their kids as cool as they’d like.

But I think it’s safe to say, yes. We all know what the weather currently is and is expected to be.

Ok I’m going to get shot for this but here’s my honest opinion

schools exist for our children to get an education, not to look after our kids while we work.

so if the school says they need to close, we look after our kids. It’s not their responsibility

Actually i need to see a GP but im leaving it till next week as the heat exacerbates my bowel issues (ive been ill with it for the last week) so going to a stifling GP surgery with no air con is too risky so im leaving it till next week.

Convenience? It’s how they pay the bills, keep the lights on. Survive.

People get fired for not working when they are contracted to work.

People die if some professions fail to turn up to work.

Making it optional is the worst, laziest scenario.

Either its safe for kids & teachers to be in, or it isn't.

An optional approach tends to disadvantage the poorest, most vulnerable children, and those who already have weak attendance records. They are kept home & miss out on more learning, while children of working professionals tend to be sent in.

Ok do you want to tell that to our bosses though? Not everyone has the freedom to just drop everything and not show up to work. We have to work to keep a roof over our heads & food on the table

I think if you drop your kids off in a short walk or air con car it’s a different life to bus or tube commuters

That’s awful. Someone needs to send the pregnant women home - they should have a risk assessment

Then maybe employers need to be held to task and be more considerate?

It’s pretty ridiculous to expect schools to say what the plan was last week: we all know it can change in a flash! They couldn’t say they were shutting a week ago - can you imagine the uproar.
People are however capable of warning employers there is a possible heatwave coming and they’ll see what happens nearer the time with the schools.

You are entitled to parental leave. Whether your employer likes it or not

@Tulips94 Yes absolutely - even if you're a teacher.

Eh? My point is that for kids at that school, who have very hot homes,it's almost definitely better to be at school. That might not be true for all schools. But I'd wager that almost all schools will have areas cooler than a 30th floor flat where the windows don't open, even if you keep a cool zone in the hall and a couple of other places.

Do what you like with your own kids, but don't say it's the 'sensible' thing to do for all parents. Which plenty of posters have said.

Not to paid parental leave. Parents need to earn.

It's unpaid for most people though. A lot of people will find it very difficult to lose almost a full week's pay.

School isn’t childcare

People love to trot out that "school isn't childcare" line when it suits them, don't they?

School is childcare when you're on UC and they decide the hours you must work/look for work because your child is now of school age, or your benefits stop because you'd child is in school now.

School was childcare during COVID when they decided to only let the children of keyworkers into school so their parents could work.

But when you have to go and work in a swelteringly hot, high pressured environment, and the teachers decide they can't handle their swelteringly hot high pressure environment so need a paid day off - school's not childcare! You're on your own.

And the parents, the ones that have to rush around finding childcare, or take the financial hit, are in no way entitled to moan, apparently.

Nrtft

No I don’t think it’s silly. Every school and area is different, the safety of the children should be paramount to a parents work commitments.

As my DDs high school has stated most of the building was built in the 1960s, their is no modern air conditioning, they are doing their best to keep the school open and taking as many precautions as possible but there is only so much they can do. They have asked that we keep checking messages in case they have to close.

People are just unhappy, miserable, cunts these days. As you say, optional - meeting all requirements, and the horrid "complain about everything whether it affects me or not" brigade are all here.

I am UK born and bred. The people here these days make me utterly embarrassed.

Suchevilforebodings

Just FYI.
And for the idiots at the back.
Teachers don't make the decision to shut the school.

You know why this is though? It's because of misogyny. The underlying presumption is that women should take time off to shore up a state failing (in this case, lack of a safe learning environment) and they should shut up about it. Because it's kids, it must be for women to sort out. That's why you don't see the same conversation about other infrastructure, only schools.

It's not a gender-neutral issue.

Maybe the Head reads Mumsnet - "My poor darlings will surely die as they only have 3 opportunities to top their water up" vs "I have to work, what the fuck am I supposed to do" - and tried to create a happy medium.

Nasty, lazy Headteacher. What a fucking cunt trying to ensure all families are catered for, and no child penalised. What a bastard!

Honestly!