Schools in the UK are considering closing Monday and Tuesday next week due to health and safety concerns from the scorching temperatures.
It comes after the Met Office issued first-ever red weather warning for extreme heat, with forecasters predicting a potential record heat that could break the 40°C barrier. One warned that the warning ‘should be treated as seriously as a hurricane forecast’.
Alan Roe, head teacher of Dr. Challoner’s High School in Buckinghamshire wrote to parents on Friday that “due to the deteriorating weather forecast and the red weather warning (which was orange this morning), we have decided to close the school Monday and Tuesday for health and safety reasons.”
He added that the school would open Wednesday morning as scheduled and close at noon for the whole year.
Mr. Roe continues: ‘Many of our classrooms are very uncomfortable when temperatures are in the mid-20s.’
He added that with temperatures expected to reach 40°C on Monday and Tuesday, “we are unable to keep the temperature in many of our rooms at an acceptable and safe level”, adding that this decision was made in conjunction with several others. local schools.
Teachers would arrange cover work and activities for each of the two days, he said, but there would be no livestreamed classes.
‘This approach allows students to work when it suits them and perhaps when it is a bit cooler, and employees do not have to work when it is exceptionally hot.’
Costello School in Hampshire has written to parents that following ‘the extreme temperatures expected for Monday and Tuesday next week, we have made the difficult decision to close the school on these days’.
Altwood Church of England School in Maidenhead announced it would close on Mondays and Tuesdays due to the ‘extreme heat’, as would Three Rivers Academy in Surrey.
Kemnal Technology College in Bromley, London, wrote to parents to say that under the guidance of its trust and the Ministry of Education, ‘we have made the unprecedented decision to close the school and ask students and staff to work remotely’.
“We apologize for the late notice but we have been monitoring the weather constantly over the past few days and we believe this is in the best interest of the school community,” added the letter from Headteacher Emma Wride and Executive Headteacher Stuart Smith .
Ms Wride and Mr Smith noted that this was a ‘last minute decision’ that could cause ‘excessive stress’ for parents unable to arrange childcare, and so a staffer would keep the school open to parents who have no alternative.
They said the remote work would be set up through Google Classrooms, with the students expected to follow their schedule.
Marlbrook, Little Dewchurch and St Martin’s Primary School in Herefordshire will give parents the option of choosing whether or not their children will be admitted on Monday 18 July.
The NEU Teachers’ Union issued a statement saying it would “support headteachers in making professional decisions to cope with the red warning, including in some circumstances to close or partially close schools.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said: ‘Clear government guidelines are available online to help school staff care for children in hot weather, including using ventilation, keeping children hydrated and avoiding strenuous physical activity. for students.
“Individual school leaders are responsible for managing their own local conditions, but we are not advising schools to close.”
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