4 year old freezing cold at school

[Owlsoutsidethewindow]

Just wondering if anyone would say something to school.
Temperatures are currently around -2c on average where I live. Yesterday DS (4, reception) came out of school looking upset. I asked what was wrong and she said she was cold. She had literally just walked out of a heated classroom.

As the hour went on, what had transpired is that she asked to go indoors or home at lunch time because she was freezing. She was wearing a vest, uniform, jumper, thick parka, earmuffs and gloves. The teacher was dismissive.
She doesn't generally run around when it is that cold because she knows the ground will be icy.

She then said she was cold all afternoon. She was physically cold to the touch when I felt her. No fever etc.
She didn't warm up until she had a bath, then she went to bed with fleecy PJs and a hot water bottle because she felt miserable.

Should I ask the school to make a warm area available for her to go to in these sorts of temperatures? It wouldn't surprise me at all if she was ill today when she woke up.
She probably also has the onset of a cold because 4 people in her class have been off this week, so playing out in freezing temperatures probably isn't ideal.

Full uniform should be the same imo for a state school. As in these are the options available, jumper or jacket, polo, trousers or skirt plus tights, or summer dress. Plain black shoes or boots that can be polished. No boys or girls list.

You just sound like a whinger to be honest, gripe after gripe about the school.

A primary school that doesn't allow black leather boots, but then goes further and discriminates against girls by not allowing them to wear enclosed unisex style shoes, sounds pretty shit tbh.

@Kalevala do any of us actually believe that though? This whole post is a massive drip feed 🤣

Schools are so odd sometimes. -3 is extremely cold and staying inside should absolutely be an option available in those conditions. The same as if it were 40 degrees I wouldn't expect them to be made to go outside.

I was on yard duty all week so I was standing in the cold! Most of the kids were asking to take their coats off. They don't seem to feel the cold.

I do find it unbelievable that a state school would not allow enclosed shoes for girls in this day and age. Boot ban maybe, my child's secondary only allowed office shoes but primaries usually don't go that far. I don't think you can really have a discussion if the OP is disbelieved without obvious inconsistencies though. There's a report button if you suspect trolling.

I don't think she's trolling I think she just wants everyone to agree with her. There's been a handy drip feed for every suggestion or disagreement
No boots allowed
Staff already inside to supervise
Child fell over and split lip on ice
School doesn't grit
The list goes on

It does seem a bit rubbish tbh, as uk school uniform is usually pretty thin and not warm.

As a comparison I have a nearly 4 year old, he’s at kindergarten where we live and it’s currently thick snow and -11 outside, they go outside every day. BUT, every child age 2-6 in the kindergarten is dressed in full on ski wear outside. Inside it’s always really hot so little layers, then Ds has ski salopettes, coat, snow boots, waterproof mittens, buff and hat outside. The cloakroom is large and has heated floors to change after an hour outside. They also have to have rain dungarees the rest of the year if it’s warm but has been raining. Not a single child would be allowed outside in winter without warm waterproof clothing one, they have spares if anyone forgets (but most have full spare set left there).

So yes other countries children are outside in all weathers. We have extreme cold and snow in winter and then hot 35+ for 3-4 months in summer. But we don’t have uniform or strict regulations about not wearing boots in winter. I wouldn’t be happy with my child going out in a thin pair of Clark’s black shoes in minus temperatures

The important word is MOST in ‘Most of the children are totally fine.’.

What happens t9 those who aren’t fine @chocopop123 ?

Well tbh, I’m not surprised by any if those answers. This was the case at my dcs primary school. All of this is quite usual tbh.

No boots, no grit a apart from paths.
My dcs were not allowed to take off jumpers inside either…. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

The falling over was sort if explained in the OP (child worried about falling with ice).

The only one that is ‘unusual’ is the teacher/TA being inside

“My dcs were not allowed to take off jumpers inside either”

When I see statements like this I always wonder why the hell parents tolerate this bullshit in schools, especially primaries. Can anyone enlighten me?

Can you add more layers?

long sleeve vest
tights / long johns under trousers
thick leggings instead of tights under skirt
fleece lined school boots
hat instead of earmuffs
ski gloves instead of wooden ones.
I gave my daughter a ski jacket, hat and gloves!

She might be coming down with Covid, I’ve had Covid twice and felt freezing cold beforehand both times

This.

A school that doesnt allow girls to wear 'enclosed' shoes but boys can

Really?

So a basic brogue lace up shoe, which is a standard type of school shoe for both sexes is not 'allowed' for girls

I need to see the school policy on this

No they won't supply a warm area for your dd. You need to get her warmer layers to put on when she goes outside. There will not be enough supervision for kids to stay indoors. Teachers are not on duty at lunch.

Can they take warm wellies to slip on for lunch and playtime?

How is it any different to staff doing playground duty outside? In very cold or very hot weather there should be an area for children to go if they need to - it’s neglectful otherwise. There’s always a classroom or hall next to the playground it wouldn’t be hard to extend the area at break times to mean that no additional staff were needed for a separate area.

The recent push regarding attendance is all very well but if schools don’t put children first then they’ll never meet these targets! Whilst it’s true that germs make you ill not the cold , the truth is that if your body is working hard to keep warm it’s more susceptible to any germs and it can lower the immune system.

Schools have midday supervisors - when it’s raining they manage to supervise the children inside - it’s no different in other extremes of weather !

I'd buy a set of white thermal leggings and a thermal long sleeved top to go under her uniform. My Foster son wears it under his sports kit. Under armour.

Ridiculous isn’t it !

Most primaries as well are ‘rights respecting’ schools so they teach dc all their rights etc then seem to take other rights away ! I’ve taught my dc that they don’t listen to those kind of nonsense rules - if they are too hot they can take their jumper off , if they are too cold (this happened during covid in class with windows and doors open) they absolutely could wear their coats and hats I made sure they knew that no teacher was allowed to stop them or touch them

Helpirdontthen
The midday supervisors cannot be in both the playgrounds and inside. Most schools do not have enough staff to supervise indoors sufficiently whilst also supervising outdoors.

Well they need to rethink then if we are going to be bombarded by campaigns about attendance like the current one then children need to be properly cared for in schools - and that means access to areas of they need to be sheltered from any extreme weather etc. it shouldn’t be a one size fits all situation . Schools need to up their game to Keep children safe

I can’t imagine it would be accepted if a child went into school in the way the OP described her child coming out of school ? It would be neglect ?

I got these. They are really smart and have great insoles

https://www.humphriesshoes.co.uk/flair/p12324?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2KitBhCIARIsAPPMEhLUO3onMMEqZVrWS8IRokEqg_ZCICVJ-a6st57Osn_sZARXuk8YO9caAtExEALw_wcB

She looks properly old fashioned with her pinafore. I fail to see what objections school could have to a smart, plain black shoe and I'd be really annoyed at having to choose something impractical.