School closure due to heat

There’s something about health and safety, risk assessment, insurance, public liability. If the solution were that simple I think the head would have implemented it. Easy to be on the outside with no responsibility and accountability telling experienced professionals how to do their job.

foxie48

The Oxygen Dissociation Curve - that made interesting reading!

When government gives out what many consider to be unnecessary advice during a heatwave it's likely that these biological processes are behind such advice. Easy to dismiss such warnings with comments like, "it's just summer, duh" - which one gentleman on FB observed; however heat-stroke is dangerous and, depending on age, physical condition - and activity levels - can and does kill. I notice that France is warning its younger generation to skip the jogging and exercise during this intense heat as they are not immune either!

Tuliptree
Whilst your response to BN's post might have been curtly dismissive, I believe it was in response to a scathing and rather contemptuous observation on our nation as a whole. And what constitutes 'moaning' or 'making a fuss' is anyway highly subjective.

I saw on the BBC news website a photo of a woman standing under a 'misting station' in, I think, Paris. I believe they're beginning to make an appearance on our high streets.

You can, according to my neighbour, actually buy dedicated misting hose kits which you attach to your Hozelock tap!

HelterSkelter1

I listened to an interview with the head of a 25 school academy this morning on You and Yours...I think.
He said only one of the schools had been built to resist heat.
All the schools had closed even the heat resistant one. The reason that one had closed was because the staff had to stay home to look after their own children.

I don't think he heard me shout at the radio...Why couldnt the staff take their own children to work for the day???

Perhaps on days school is closed, all working parents should just take their children to work for the day ? Problem solved.

(What could possibly go wrong?)

I have the 6yr old in our pool, his 11yr old brother is going to his friends further down our road as their pool is bigger.

According to the school gate mums there will be hardly any pupil in tomorrow morning, those that do turn up will finish once more at lunchtime.

The two GC who go to the other primary school in our road are particularly peeved not to be at home or at ours.

BNs post stated that the UK was making a fuss and that other hot countries were not. That is not the case - many many other countries are very concerned, expressing that concern and taking action. In Malta teachers and parents have been campaigning for years to improve schools in the hot weather with some success eg hundreds of air conditioning units installed in schools. I’m sorry that the tone of my post was seen as unacceptable and therefore deleted. However I stand by my view that BN’s post was inaccurate even if I should have said it in a kinder gentler way. But that’s a two way street isn’t it?

Well said dragonfly.

Tuliptree

GrannyGravy13

Bellasnana’s DD is a teacher in Malta.

I have never seen a post from her which is not polite, even on this thread.

I share her frustration with regards to the U.K.’s response to curve balls whether it be a hot day, centimetre of snow, leaves in autumn (rail tracks)

Two schools in the same road, one allowing children to go home at lunchtime, one carrying on as normal. There is no across the board working.

As she’s a teacher there, she must know about the complaints over the years about the heat and schools and know about the hundreds of air conditioning units installed. It’s a matter of opinion as to her post being polite but imo it wasn’t and my robust responses was deserved as was my comment about her being factually wrong about other countries.

Read the post Tuliptree and get your facts straight. Bellasnana did not say she was a teacher in Malta but that her DD was.
She was also referring to when her four children went to school there before there was air conditioning in the schools.
Maybe you should read properly what people say in future before judging and checking Google to prove them wrong!

We had our DGD all day yesterday as her school was closed due to the heat. It was an added bonus as we love having her but she wasn’t happy about missing school as it was sports week where they get to try different sports with usually a visit from a famous athlete. It was sports day today but I guess that wouldn’t have happened anyway due to the heat. The school was closed from lunchtime Tuesday, yesterday and today. They gave her work to do at home which, luckily, she was happy to do but my daughter is cross because she said if they can’t concentrate on work at school how are they expected to do so at home with the added distractions? Fair comment!

Grandma70s

Schools are not babysitters. Children are the responsibility of their parents.

Good point

While I do understand the inconvenience to parents, schools are not a childcare facility.

Jaxjacky

No Gilets Jeunes?

Pun intended?
(Jaunes/jeunes)

Cossy

Diplomat

I took my O levels in that heat of '76. I'll always remember a girl near me who had a hot water bottle because of period pain!

I too took my “O” levels.

I’ve always find it daft to schedule so many exams in the summer! I get it fits with current school terms!

Public exams are as late in the school year as possible in order to accommodate the results coming out in time for the pupil to plan for September.

Oh dear. 'could get to the train station.' should be 'couldn't get to the train station.'

Diplomat

I took my O levels in that heat of '76. I'll always remember a girl near me who had a hot water bottle because of period pain!

I too took my “O” levels.

I’ve always find it daft to schedule so many exams in the summer! I get it fits with current school terms!

The last unexpected day closure I can remember before I retired was obviously for ice and snow, both for the safety of pupils, but also to make sure there was an appropriate number of staff on site for that number of pupils. A proportion of staff lived in the nearest city which is very, very hilly. Bad weather often meant they couldn't drive to work because of road closures, or their own road was impassable, and could get to the train station.
Anyway as far as the physical state of the school was concerned, at 6am, the site manager/caretaker would report to the Head, who'd then liaise with the Chair of Governors to reach a decision about safety of 1200 people. A broken leg would be a disaster for pupil and school, possibly a court case and bad PR. Shortly afterwards the school became an Academy, and that chain would have become longer and a little different.
I can't imagine the problems of a pupil having a heat-related seizure, particularly if there was already a health issue.

I have one of my minded children (10y) coming tomorrow as her school is closed.
She can help entertain my grandson (1y)!

Ah, thanks Ashcombe I wasn’t familiar with the hierarchy.

Jaxjacky

I don’t understand 25 school academy?

I guess it means that there are 25 schools within his academy trust. My DD2 is Headteacher at a large primary school which is part of a four school academy trust. She is reponsible for most decisions regarding the day to day running of the school but has the back up of the trust. if necessary.

I don’t understand 25 school academy?

I listened to an interview with the head of a 25 school academy this morning on You and Yours...I think.
He said only one of the schools had been built to resist heat.
All the schools had closed even the heat resistant one. The reason that one had closed was because the staff had to stay home to look after their own children.

I don't think he heard me shout at the radio...Why couldnt the staff take their own children to work for the day???

BlueBelle

How did we ever manage as kids !!! I don’t think my school ever closed come heat, snow, ice or illnesses

Totally agree Bellasnana we are a country of moaners nothings ever right we can’t seem to handle anything without moaning
Tuliptree you are very curt Bellasnana was giving her opinion which she’s entitled to

I look at it a bit differently and would question what you and others call "moaning".

Taking heat warnings seriously isn't moaning; it's physics and biology. Our UK buildings and infrastructure are designed to retain heat, not deflect it, meaning indoor temperatures can quickly become dangerous.

Furthermore, young children can't regulate their body temperature like adults do, making them highly vulnerable to heat exhaustion.

When schools close, it is usually because the physical building has become unsafe, not because people can't handle a bit of sunshine.

Mechanical objects, electronics, and building materials expand and fail when they exceed the temperatures they were engineered to withstand. It's about risk management, not a lack of backbone.

... the last para is from AI.

Jaxjacky

Water cannons for cooling 🙂

I threatened two of the GC with turning the hose on them earlier, they were all for it.

Water cannons for cooling 🙂

Jaxjacky

No Gilets Jeunes?

No too hot for them. 🥵
Their jackets might melt! 😆

No Gilets Jeunes?

I drove home from the gym very slowly this morning for that reason.

We have turned the temperature down on the Spa Pool, spent a couple of hours in there with The Imp this afternoon.

Doing everything slowly (apart from drinking 😹)