School closure due to heat

Basgetti

Baggs

I tsught in Thai schools that had no air con and were hotter than anything the UK has to deal with. Teachers and children coped fine. It's only a 'problem' here (just like snow) because it's unusual. Millions of people live all the time in very hot temperatures.

Which they’re acclimatised to, presumably. People in the UK aren’t.

I was from the UK and became acclimatised within a few months. That is, I copied the Thais and stayed in the shade as much as possible.

You never get used to tropical heat (an African friend told me that too) but you do learn how to tolerate it at some level.

Plenty of UK people go to hot places on holiday all the time by choice. I think the mainstream media just hypes everything up when we have hot summer weather.

Baggs

I tsught in Thai schools that had no air con and were hotter than anything the UK has to deal with. Teachers and children coped fine. It's only a 'problem' here (just like snow) because it's unusual. Millions of people live all the time in very hot temperatures.

What then do you think we here in the UK need to do to deal with this 'problem', and in particular - schools?

Some schools appear to have coped better than others it would seem.

Baggs

I tsught in Thai schools that had no air con and were hotter than anything the UK has to deal with. Teachers and children coped fine. It's only a 'problem' here (just like snow) because it's unusual. Millions of people live all the time in very hot temperatures.

Which they’re acclimatised to, presumably. People in the UK aren’t.

Devising cool areas are the way to go. As in our own houses, good to have one area/room which is kept cool when keeping the whole school/house cool is out of range of budget.

If school/house windows can't be replaced, tinted or shuttered, can the sunniest windows be shaded outside with white greenhouse shading material which would let light in but 50% of heat reflected out. And can be removed in the winter. Or washed over with a white heat reflecting liquid.

It demands a radical flexible change of thinking. At schools, home and elsewhere.

As an interim measure, and so as not to blow the budget, a school could have air conditioning installed in say one or two designated areas, like the hall. In that way several classes could come together to use the space away from stuffy smaller classrooms.

I’m sure I could be justifiably accused of straying from the topic, but I wonder how many of those parents complaining about school closures only book holiday hotels year have air con?
My across the road neighbours took their children to Gran Canaria last week and her comment when I asked how it had gone, was that she was glad her children hadn’t been in school in all that heat. At least the hotel had air-conditioning and a pool.
Something else Schools perhaps ought to get, along with air con in every classroom?

Bellasnana

I re-read the comments I made about your post, although I didn't respond to you directly. On reflection, I think they are uneccessarily harsh and for that I apologise.

I was about to make an observation on this heatwave and how, because of a particular set of circumstances, it is negatively affecting me and then after reading your comment decided against it because I didn't want to be thought of as one of the "some people" who moan! You ended by saying that you were "fed up of hearing about it" Perhaps if you re-read your post you might be able to detect that it could be off-putting to a person who wanted to make a specific point about the current weather?

- that doesn't excuse my harsh comment and, again, I'm sorry I made it. I'm no shrinking-violet so don't want to come across as 'poor me'. However comments from posters who mention "some people" always make me stop and think - am I one of them?

Vintagewhine

No, there's a list of all the schools that have a half day, 8.30 to 12.30 for the whole of June. Seems that's what they do!

Many years ago, I was a pupil in a German school. We had something called "hitzefrei" (heat free), which meant the school was open from 7-10.15am only. We spent the rest of the day in the local swimming pool.

MT62

You would think that newer, more modern schools would have air con, tinted windows, or heat repellent window treatment.
Or older schools have the school windows tinted.

Sorry, my post was in reply to MT62's post

I've worked in a number of schools, and in some of those schools, I worked in a couple of different buildings. A while before I retired, we were given money for a new build, very exciting, one of the last schools to get money before Gove shut down the building programme.
Sadly, the architects were only interested in getting an award for the exterior of the building. They had no interest in education or kids or looking to the future. The airflow was awful, rooms poorly ventilated. Staircases were in the wrong place, maximising foot traffic between lessons, not minimising it. Classrooms were cramped for 30x16 yr olds. The design was a lot of wasted space. And when a good friend from a different county, a senior leader i/c buildings in another secondary school, walked round before we moved in, she picked up on a dozen or so issues that would be a problem. The one I remember vividly was domestic paint being used in the corridor outside my room. It needed repainting within a week from kids' backpacks marking the wall, just wear and tear.
No, I'm not surprised that schools are not able to cope. Gavin Williamson promised an air purifier in every classroom over Covid. That, like this, was to keep pupils healthy.
Do any of these things happen?

No, there's a list of all the schools that have a half day, 8.30 to 12.30 for the whole of June. Seems that's what they do!

I seem to remember my Victorian built primary school had high ceilings and the windows although big were high up so you couldn’t see out - presumably to stop distractions. I don’t remember it being that hot inside although I can remember our 1/3rd pint of milk in special small bottles did go off in the summer if it wasn’t drunk on arrival. In the winter there was a big boiler in the basement that kept the radiators warm.

Vintagewhine

According to AI all state primary and most secondary schools switch to a half day for the whole of June.

Just shows AI has its flaws in its infancy.

It's a shame that Bellasnana was subjected to such forceful responses to her original comment. Let's be honest - it IS a British characteristic to moan about the weather, be it too wet, hot, dry, cold, snowy, etc. It's generally our preferred opening for conversations with strangers.

Well put Ashcombe
Although moans are sometimes part of other discussions e.g. getting thermal vests out again at the beginning of June.
A comment or moan about the changing climate and its impact on our weather is always a good ice-breaker even in midsummer.

According to AI all state primary and most secondary schools switch to a half day for the whole of June.

MT62

You would think that newer, more modern schools would have air con, tinted windows, or heat repellent window treatment.
Or older schools have the school windows tinted.

Many school budgets just don't have enough money for these suggestions to be implemented or to pay the ensuing utility bills. Money spent on such improvements would mean less being available for staffing and other essentials.

It's interesting to read how countries which are used to hotter summers organise schooling accordingly. I expect it will be some years before our fixed routine in the UK for school hours changes, if ever.

It's a shame that Bellasnana was subjected to such forceful responses to her original comment. Let's be honest - it IS a British characteristic to moan about the weather, be it too wet, hot, dry, cold, snowy, etc. It's generally our preferred opening for conversations with strangers!

Vintagewhine

My niece lives in Malta. In June the schools transition to summer timetable ie 8.30 to 12.30 they then close at the end of June for 13 weeks until the end of September.

The last two weeks of June have half days but schools offer a summer school programme from 8am -2pm so not all children are at home for 13 weeks. Parents still have to work.

MT62

You would think that newer, more modern schools would have air con, tinted windows, or heat repellent window treatment.
Or older schools have the school windows tinted.

I think new schools will be built with air con, possibly also with awnings to stop the sun hitting the windows.

Blinds have their uses, but when they shut out the light, the need for lighting doesn't just add to the cost of running the school, but also is another source of heat in an already hot classroom. Try teaching/learning in a computer suite with 34 computers and the blinds closed to keep out the sun!
That was our first air-conditioned classroom even when summers weren’t as hot.

That doesn’t solve the immediate problem however. Schools, including mine don't have sufficient funds to put air con in every classroom.

We are working towards that, but with current budget limits it will probably be 2028 before all rooms are equipped.
I suppose we could get rid of a few TAs, or replace more costly staff with newer teachers, not ECTs as employing them needs extra cover staff.

Maybe . . . Just maybe, Andy will come up with the air con funding, not just for schools, but also for hospitals!

Maybe, since schools in other countries manage by closing school earlier in the day and having longer summer breaks, that’s what we should do.
At least that way the complaints would have a different focus.

Bellasnana, sending you a hug and support, do please return to the good morning chat, I don’t post on it as my morning in Canada is afternoon in the UK but I really enjoy hearing about your goings on in Malta and especially your little twin grandsons.🌼

You would think that newer, more modern schools would have air con, tinted windows, or heat repellent window treatment.
Or older schools have the school windows tinted.

* Marzipan* I agree, I stay with soop's kitchen because I don't get my head bitten off there.

I like dogs, you don't, what is the problem? We aren't fighting over it and we are each entitled to our own opinions.

My niece lives in Malta. In June the schools transition to summer timetable ie 8.30 to 12.30 they then close at the end of June for 13 weeks until the end of September.

The trouble is that the written word comes across so much more strongly than a fleeting spoken comment. You were very daring posting a comment Bellasnana. (For example I hate dogs and though in my daily life I just mutter and scowl about them I have often wondered what vitriol would hit me if I ever dared to start a thread about it. 😃) I've withdrawn from Gransnet several times because of nasty comments but have finally settled down on the Good Morning thread, which is a gentle place to be. Could you not come back to it Bellasnana? I love your posts from Malta. Whoever knew there were firework factories on the island? I didn't until I read one of your posts.

Take care Bellasnana please do not let the harsh comments of an anonymous poster upset you.

Thats so lovely to see. Every school needs a hose, fine spray and a fun teacher.

Hope there is enough in school coffers to put up "sail" type awnings for playgrounds and to shade south facing windows. I think innovation is the word of the moment.