Are hot schools putting pupils and teachers at risk?

School communities are voicing concerns about the welfare of children and staff. Red warning issued for heat wave For some parts of the United Kingdom.

The BBC has heard reports of teachers and students fainting and exam hall temperatures reaching 33C (91F) in recent years.

“My daughter Amelia has a condition that means she can’t regulate her body temperature; last summer she was unresponsive in class,” says Bedfordshire mother Victoria Everitt.

But even children without Amelia’s condition may struggle when schools get warmer.

Michael Conley, headteacher at St Peter’s Church of England Primary School in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, says: “We have encountered children who become overheated, ill or diseased, disorganized or out of control. They fall asleep.”

While there is no maximum limit for temperature in UK workplaces, including schools, this is being “carefully considered”, the Department for Education (DfE) says The Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) proposals to change this.

The CCC’s latest report states: “High indoor temperatures can disrupt learning in schools by causing discomfort, reducing concentration and increasing health risks for students and staff.”

The Union Congress is campaigning for a legal maximum working temperature to be introduced, while the National Education Union says a maximum indoor working temperature of 26C (79F) is appropriate.

So how does the heat affect students’ learning and wellbeing, and what can schools do to cool off?

Teacher Lucio Poli remembers two particularly warm periods at Ely St John’s Community Primary School in Cambridgeshire.

“I remember blacking out in the mid-2000s, and I saw kids fainting too. About three or four of them dropped like stones,” he says.

“I was wearing formal clothes, which taught me not to overdress in hot weather.”

Poli said his school has a very “reasonable principal” who allows staff and students to be flexible about clothing during heat waves.

Says teachers express concerns about 2022 When the temperature reaches 40°C (104F).

“But the message from the district [council] There was no limit on maximum temperature. “Our priority was to keep schools open.”

Cambridgeshire County Council said the DfE had provided heatwave advice to schools, while the council had also sent guidance to all schools in 2022 “outlining steps to take, including a heat checklist”.

“In extreme weather conditions, [schools] A spokesman said he would be expected to carry out a risk assessment. “Very few schools have closed completely.”

Poli, who pioneered outdoor learning, planted trees to provide more shade but says the 1990s school building was “poorly constructed.”

“West-facing windows, black tiles; you can’t really keep the heat out,” he says.

“Even on days in the mid-20s, temperatures can rise quickly. I’m really scared of temperatures above 30C.

“On those hot days, There was no quality education. – just dealing with the weather.”

The school has been contacted for comment.

Back in Rickmansworth, Conley says he has “invested a significant amount of money” in improving the building.

The school purchased artificial turf to cover the black asphalt playground, which reflects heat back into the building, and also replaced its roof, Conley said.

“We installed solar panels as well as air conditioning in half of the school,” he says.

It hopes to make further changes after temperatures in some classrooms reached 40C (104F) last year, making it “unbearable”.

Conley says some children “may have headaches and disengagement in learning”, but those with special educational needs “can’t really cope”.

“They get quite emotional, they cry, they get agitated, they can almost not focus,” he says. “We often have to move them to different classrooms to manage the temperature.

“At a national level, the government needs to seriously consider the long-term impact of school land and start investing more.”

Everitt acknowledges that the hot weather “affects many children with special needs, especially those who use wheelchairs, like Amelia.”

“A lot of kids can’t move to get to a cooler place,” he says. “These kids won’t necessarily say, ‘I’m so hot, I need to cool down.’ It can increase seizures; improve behavior.”

A local charity is helping Everitt raise money for air conditioning at Ridgeway School in Bedford, Kempston, after she had several incidents last summer where she became “limp and unresponsive”.

“The staff is doing what they can: fans, cooling towels, cold water,” Everitt says. “We need a more permanent solution so staff can manage his condition.”

School principal Lulu Stanier-Martin says the school building is more than 50 years old.

“Poor insulation and worn-out windows mean classrooms can become uncomfortably hot, which has a direct impact on students’ ability to learn and organize,” he says.

It calls on the government to “prioritize investments in improving school buildings” and ensure that these buildings are “safe and suitable”.

Problems caused by hot weather usually coincide with the summer exam period.

A parent from Bedfordshire, who wished to remain anonymous, worked as a GCSE proctor in 2023.

“Most of the exams were held in the school gym; when the sun hits it, it gets very hot. The heat waves are unbearable,” he says.

“The examiner taped off the temperature display on the digital clock when he noticed students complaining to the contrary.

“During an examination, I found the temperature in the hall was 33C (91F).”

Architect Jenny Kendall of Retrofit Action for Tomorrow (RAFT), a non-profit community interest company, says: heat “can reduce cognitive performance”“.

“Reducing classroom temperatures from 25°C to 20°C (77°F to 68°F) significantly increased task completion time,” he says.

Kendall says heat-related issues “are directly related to when students are expected to top their exams.”

“These large gyms are designed for sports, not as learning spaces, so they have no ventilation,” he adds.

Kendall says schools “often feel pretty helpless” about managing heat waves.

“Our buildings in this country are not designed for the current and future climate, unlike schools in Europe or Africa that design canopies for their buildings,” he says.

Rebecca Cooper, another architect at RAFT, says schools may “instinctively” consider installing air conditioning, but there are also “passive measures you can use strategically.”

Trees, for example, “can really change the atmosphere and bring shade.”

Using a thermal imaging camera in a London schoolyard, Cooper says he recorded temperatures of 50°C (122°F) on tarmac and 30°C (86°F) under a large tree.

Cooper’s other suggestions include:

• External shading such as blinds or brise soleil

• Reducing dark floor surfaces outside the building

• Keeping building surfaces lighter to reflect heat

• Reducing internal heat – delaying hot water pipes, using LED lighting, turning off electrical equipment not in use

• Ventilation by opening doors and windows during cool evening/morning hours

• Moving students from very hot south-facing classrooms

Even many schools built this decade don’t take heat into account, Cooper says.

He talks about a recent visit to northern France, where he says almost every building has external shading.

“Unless we have a cultural shift that is in the design guide to understanding how to reduce heat, I think we will be building things that are not fit for purpose,” he says.

The DfE said workplace regulations apply to schools and cover a wide range of health, safety and welfare issues, including temperature.

Said you were welcome CCC’s latest risk assessmentStating that flooding and overheating are risks for educational environments, it will evaluate its suggestions.

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