AIBU to keep my primary school child home today and maybe the rest of this week?

[TheScreen]

I'm considering keeping my primary school aged child home the rest of this week.

He is really struggling with the heat. His sensory issues are through the roof. He's exhausted as he's not sleeping well. (Suspected SEN but no diagnosis or support yet 😢).

He had sports day at school yesterday which he struggles with anyway but it's done him in. They shortened it to an hour but it was still an hour in heatwave weather.

The school is a Victorian building that holds heat.

He's just miserable and I'm worried he's going to end up with heat stroke. 😔

I know not everyone can keep them home, but the rest of this week I actually could and I'm very very tempted even though it will mean more exhaustion for me (I'm a carer for my older child who has complex sen and is always at home).

If you are in the situation to i would, im a teacher and my school have given families an option for today and tomorrow which i think makes sense.

If you keep him home and actually keep him in the cool/out of the sun then I don’t think you are being unreasonable but a lot of people have kept their children off this week as school is too hot and dangerous yet have had them out all day on the beach or in the garden with no shade, that would be unreasonable

@MyLimeGuide giving the school parents an option sounds like a really sensible route from your school. It will mean less sticky bodies in classrooms too won't it.

@incognito1991 I'd have no chance getting mine out in the sun even if I wanted to (which I don't lol - that would be madness in this heat). All either of them want to do is sit in the shade in front of a fan, with a drink. Which is very sensible of them to be fair. They both struggle in the heat.

I actually love the warm weather and cope well in it. The kids didn't get my constitution but the fair freckly genes that hate the heat. Even for me I still wouldn't plan to be out at the seaside or in an unshaded garden in a heatwave. Some people have zero common sense.

My kids' schools have decided to close so have taken the decision out of my hands (to my inconvenience) ... if I'd have decided to do it off my own back, I'd have been fined... so the answer is to just do what you think is best, you know your kids better than the school.

Our school is letting them go home at lunch for parents who can/want to. I'm going to get mine and we can have a quiet afternoon in front of the fan or in the paddling pool in the shade. They won't be learning anything in this weather at all, it turns brains to mush (they've done studies that prove this). You know your child, if it's too hot for them and they're tired and think it's the best thing - do that. You'll get people saying "when I was a kid in the 70s we walked 25 miles to and from in the blistering heat and all they did was crack a window" but do you really care what other people think when they don't know your children at all, or their school, or wherabouts you live. We all know our kids and can make our own decisions for their best interests. It's important they learn to value their own wellbeing and make independent decisions for themselves, and this is a good way of helping them learn that skill. Hot countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal have most of the summer off school (from June to Sept), we just aren't set up yet to mitigate these temperatures.

The real question is 'why on earth would you send him in?'

Just keep him home if you want,call in saying he's not feeling well in the heat. Loads of kids went home at my daughter's school yesterday due to not feeling well so I think they'd expect it anyway. Our school is closing early today and tomorrow,we're in the red alert zone and already up to 30c at 9am!

We had to send a couple of children home yesterday as they were so disregulated and distressed, I'm sure school know his difficulties even without a diagnosis and will put it as a sick day.

Attendance is important, but it sounds like he wouldn't be getting anything out of it anyway if he's struggling.

Mine is finishing at 1pm today but tomorrow is forecast even hotter here so think I will keep them home.

Even that is preferable to a stuffy classroom which is several degrees hotter.

My ds has adhd and is a nightmare in hot weather, he runs hot as it is and just gets dysregulated and aggressive. So he’s stayed home yesterday and today, also tomorrow, and will see how Friday looks nearer the time. It’s gone down as medical absence as I explained it’s part of his condition. I would rather he was in school but he just cannot learn when it’s like this. His attendance was over 98% up till now so I’m fine with that decision. If I sent him in I fully expect he would get an exclusion and it’s not fair on the teachers to have to deal with behaviour meltdowns on top of everything else, when I know we can avoid the issue.

Make the right decision for your own child. You don’t need permission.

YANBU. I’m keeping my two home Wed-Fri. They are far cooler in front of fans with me ensuring they are kept as cool as possible and hydrated. My eldest felt physically sick and headachy in school, my youngest felt dizzy. For me, health tops everything. Do what’s right for your own children.

I've had to keep my 12 year old home today became she is suffering so much at school, she was sick when she got home and her face was bright red, they have no ventilation in the classrooms and there are 30 children crammed in a room together, I wouldn't fancy it so I wouldn't make my children do it, my younger child has gone to school as they have been better prepared for the heat so she was OK so sent her in.

Yanbu OP. Although overall I think that children shouldn’t need to stay home and that schools should just be a bit less crap- air con/fans for example- in this situation Yanbu at all to keep him home.

I work in an after school club and the school is horrendous in this heat, actually any heat. I'm worried about my youngest as he's not doing too well, so I'm taking it on a daily basis and will make a decisions to keep him off as I feel fit. I say do the same, you know your child the best. I don't think any of the kids are learning that much in this heat, they all seem to be struggling.

My dd is in year 6 class, and so outside a lot this week doing lots of leaver activities as well as sports day. She is extremely fair skinned and takes medication which makes her very sensitive to the heat, and suffers a lot eith hay-fever . But the head would be furious if she didnt show up- tbf she is the class teacher! 😜

My 12 Yr old suffers with migraines and nose bleeds , they are worse during hot weather so he will be home this week