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

I know it doesn’t matter what I think, I was literally replying to a poster who asked if I think children should suffer 🤷🏻‍♀️. No I don’t. If they have to close, they have to close. I just know from experience there will then be a lot of complaining about other services that have to close/reduce their services because they’re short staffed, because the parents are at home looking after their children.
If schools have to close for any reason, society also needs to accept that this will have a knock on effect on other services unless some sort of paid term time childcare becomes available. Again, I’m not sure how that’s controversial!

What's interesting is many other countries have employment legislation that people can't work in environments hotter than a certain level (the level people are allowed to work varies by country). In the UK we have minimum thresholds but when the laws were set it wasn't seen as necessary to set maximums because it never got that hot.

Anyway that's a big reason in many countries schools close - because the teachers as employees aren't allowed to work in boiling rooms if there's no aircon.

I'd be really supportive of similar legislation to protect all workers. It's just a few days a year.

I agree that optional is good as some homes would have parents keeping them outside in this weather 😢

People will use any excuse to slag off teachers.

then you don’t have to get them. So surely thats fine.

The only people who have deemed DS primary school here in south London ‘unsafe’ are parents. My son came home absolutely fine with his electric fan and I’m happy the school have it under control.

The class WhatsApp group has some interesting views. I think if children do stay all day it doesn’t make their parents guilty of something.

Do kids actually need time off because it's hot?

I think your perspective is all wrong. The children aren’t needing time off just because it’s hot. Think about why they can’t go to school??

Schools are closing because the school buildings are unsuitable and overheating meaning it’s not a suitable environment for 30 kids per classroom nor a suitable workplace for the teacher to work and deliver learning.

It’s pretty damning that we can’t keep children in education on these hot days due to decades of unfunding schools and a failure to prioritise safe buildings for children to learn in.

I’m in Switzerland at the moment.

France Germany and Switzerland have red weather warnings out aswell and all are closing some schools.

How dare you! This was my reality today.

Given I teach Science and have a thermometer in my room in fact multiple thermometers - the evidence says otherwise. I have two colleagues one who is 10 weeks pregnant and one who is 22 weeks pregnant in my department. Both were very ill. We have 3 technicians one went home (he’s retiring in a couple of weeks - he went home ill).

Don’t you dare call me a liar. I went into work at 7 am this morning and was home at 5.30 pm.
I have taught all back to back teaching today and leaving my room open for my pupils to come and sit next to the large fans during break and lunch. Two students had no water bottles by this afternoon (one lost and one broken) I ended up getting them mugs from the prep room with cold water. CLEAPPS says we aren’t supposed to eat or drink (even water) in our teaching rooms as they are labs - but I said the Headteacher I was overriding it and he said fine and gave us permission. Each lesson is 60 minutes and some are doubles.

We are preparing and delivering on line lessons like we did in Covid starting tomorrow for tomorrow and Thursday and back into school on Friday. I really hope you actually understand reality and scientific facts rather than chipping in from the sidelines of the real chalk face with a mean comment.

The irony of your user name isn’t lost on me @humblekaty

YAB completely U.

There is a red warning of extreme heat. Of course schools should be shut.

Besides I think I’d know if DS had been hot all day, his hair would be damp for starters. He came out at 3.20 like he does any other day. His classroom is part of the new build on the north side of the building which I think helps. .

I doubt the poster is exaggerating - schools don’t have the infrastructure to keep the temperature at a safe level. Schools in other countries with similar high temperatures this week are closing

Sadly I rose to the bait. I forgot we have too many holidays, and too much free time 😂that must be why we can’t fill vacancies in education !! Currently nearly 7, 000 vacancies must be the excellent pay and great holidays.

schools are educators, not childcare providers.
They are giving it as an option to support parents’ other commitments so I’m not sure what the issue is?
Schools are unbearable right now and they are trying to accomodate everyone
and keep children safe. Some people will moan about absolutely everything

👏👏👏👏👏

Do us a favour - pop into your nearest school and spend just one hour in a 35 degree classroom, making 32 children learn.

Then get back to us and let us know what you think.

My son said it was unbearably hot in school today and we’re in Scotland, so nowhere near as hot as it will get in some areas tomorrow. Schools can’t win. Everyone will have an opinion on what they should be doing and it’s never going to please everyone.

This.

I work in a school and have children so am also a working parent.

It's horrendous, no air con, not enough fans, windows barely open, kids that shouldn't run about but do anyway so need chasing. 33° was really hard today, I'm dreading the next couple of days as it goes up.

But where are you? Some parts of the UK are warm but perfectly comfortable.

London is not.

I grew up in a country where 43 degrees was the norm in the summer.

School didn’t close. Ever.

We didn’t have air conditioning.

We didn’t take time out of lessons to eat ice lollies.

For assembley we were still expected to wear a blazer.

And sports day went ahead as normal.

People seem to think that schools in foreign countries are air conditioned. More times than not they really aren’t.

As for the argument that school isn’t childcare, I agree with that when it comes to out of hours, schools being expected to provide breakfast and after school clubs etc, but education is a legal requirement. Added to which, if you’re going to take the attitude that schools have the right to close as and when they see fit and the parents should suck it up, then you need to accept that parents should have the right to remove their children for holidays as and when they see fit, without being faced with fines and sanctions for doing so. You can’t have it both ways.

People are accepting that the schools are closed because it’s just children.

But what about the safety of others? Would it be ok for your bank to close for the safety of its workers? No call centres? No ability to manage your money?

What about all the local shops?

Where does safety become expendable and at what and whose price?

My son’s nursery has asked parents to keep kids at home if possible. The UK isn’t like a Mediterranean country at 30 degrees, it’s much much worse. Everything is insulated and reflects heat, there is no air con really. My uncle is from the south of Spain and really struggles here in the heat, more so than when he was actually in Spain.

DS is also very pale and ginger and you can see him really clammy and fatigued in the heat. We have work commitments tomorrow so he will have to go in but will make sure he only does a half day.

Update: My DD's primary school has emailed, at 6:50pm, to say they are closing school at 12:30 tomorrow, and there will of course be no after school club.
I am working all day and do not finish until 5:30pm. DH will be at work until 4:30pm. I have been there less than a year so I don't get paid for time off. Neither does DH as he is self employed. Our main source of childcare, MIL, is on holiday.
WTF are we supposed to do at this 11th hour?? 😭

I live in a place where weather closures are so normal, they build the days into the school year. If by some miracle we don’t use them all, they just end the year early.

There are always parents who complain, but the reality is that the closures are because conditions are dangerous.

it’s not just about the conditions at the schools. Keeping people home as much as possible helps emergency personnel focus on people who truly have no choice to be out.

Parents supervising a small number of children are better able to watch for signs of stress and provide relief measures.

But surely if you grew up in 40 degree summers you were more used to them? I don’t struggle at all when the weather is below freezing but my South African friend does, to the extent she struggles with even a few minutes outside at that temperature. I’m ok in a thick jumper and jeans.

This thread is actually really sad. People really dont care about kids do they.