The government needs to give “urgent” thought to improving the state of school buildings if hotter summer weather continues to be the norm, a headteachers’ union warned today.
James Bowen, director of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that “poorly ventilated” classrooms were “inconducive” to work, as well as being the “perfect environment” for the transmission of viruses.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning of extreme heat for Sunday 17 and Monday 18 July, with temperatures in the UK possibly climbing to over 35C in the South East.
And teachers’ leaders have said schools may cancel sports days to protect pupils and staff while a heatwave warning is in place.
Mr Bowen said: “If, as it appears, warmer summers are going to become the norm, then government really does need to give urgent thought to improving the state of school buildings.
School buildings ‘need to be conducive to learning’ in hot weather
“Whether it is air quality or extreme temperatures, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for school buildings that are conducive to learning all year round.”
In its weather warnings, the Met Office said that population-wide adverse health effects are likely to be experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to potential serious illness or danger to life.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the weather will make it “potentially dangerous” for youngsters to take part in physical activity in the sun.
She added: “Schools will prioritise safety and wellbeing.
“It is potentially dangerous to take part in vigorous physical activity in extreme heat, with the risk of heat exhaustion and even heat stroke.”
She said headteachers will be “checking the local weather forecast and using their professional judgement to cancel or reschedule any activities involving strenuous exercise so as to protect children and staff”.
Mr Bowen said school leaders will be “thinking carefully” about how to keep pupils and staff as “safe and as comfortable as possible” as temperatures rise.
He added: “Whilst there is no legal ‘upper limit’ for temperature in schools, they will certainly be doing all they can to mitigate the effects of such high temperatures.”
Schools will make adjustments, such as limiting break times in the sun, ensuring pupils can access additional water, adjusting uniform expectations where appropriate and ventilating classrooms as well as they can, he said.
“Given that there is no specific upper limit on school temperatures, widespread closures would seem unlikely at this stage,” he said.
“No school will want to have to close after their experiences during the pandemic, so this would very much be a last resort. Such a decision would only be taken where absolutely necessary for the safety of all concerned and following a rigorous and thorough risk assessment.
The government announced plans to commit £1 billion to rebuild 61 more schools as part of a renovation programme this week.
The School Rebuilding Programme was launched in 2020 with a commitment to replace or refurbish buildings at 500 schools over the next decade, but the Department for Education revealed on Tuesday that it had received nominations for 1,105 schools to be part of the scheme, meaning over half will miss out.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said the rebuilding plans lacked “ambition” and “funds”.
And Hayley Dunn, business leadership specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while she “welcomed” the funding announcement, she was ”disappointed” that it would “not go far enough in meeting the major requirement for repairs and refurbishment across the whole school estate”.
Education secretary James Cleverly said this week that the rebuilding programme was “already making a difference to the lives of pupils and their teachers”.
“It is creating greener school sites that are fit for the future and that local communities can be proud of,” he said.
“We know how important it is to have high-quality school facilities. That is why we continue to invest billions in our rebuilding programme.”
