Should I send my child to school during the heatwave? Schools set to close next week

As in workplaces, there is no law setting out maximum temperatures allowed in classrooms, and head teachers make their own changes

Forecasters have warned lives will be at risk as health chiefs declared a national emergency over Monday and Tuesday’s potentially record-breaking heatwave.

London is forecast to hit 38C on Monday and Tuesday, close to the UK’s highest recorded temperature of 38.7C, recorded in Cambridge in 2019.

Tuesday is predicted to be the hottest day, when temperatures could reach an unprecedented 40C in the southeast.

Children are at greater risk of heat stress and exhaustion than adults because they sweat less than adults and cannot regulate their body temperature so well, according to official guidance.

The government is not advising schools to close but the forecast has led schools and nurseries around the country to plan to close early, in many cases around lunchtime on both days.

And some are advising parents to keep their children at home, organising online tuition.

A number of schools will relax uniform rules early next week, suggesting pupils wear their PE kits instead.

UK weather – live: Heatwave national emergency declared for first time

Thomas Bennett Community College near Crawley, West Sussex, will conduct remote learning, via Google Classroom, with pupils expected to follow their usual timetable.

A small number of staff will go into the school only for pupils who have no alternative, the school said in a letter to parents.

Oxted School in Surrey, which has almost 2,000 pupils, is also switching to online tuition on the two days and has cancelled trips to Thorpe Park and Port Lymne.

Steyning Grammar School, also in West Sussex, will close on Monday and Tuesday, and Wivelsfield Primary School says it is “strongly advising” parents to keep their children at home.

A spokeswoman for the 213-pupil school said parents could send pupils in if they wished but that they had issued the advice in view of the heat.

Other schools, including Fairfield High School, in Peterchurch, Hereford, are closing early on Monday and Tuesday.

Our Lady Catholic Primary School in Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, appealed for marquees so staff could provide children with extra shade in the field.

Many head teachers have postponed school sports days for fear of children becoming ill from heat exhaustion.

Schools are subject to the same rules as workplaces in heat - so there is no law stating a threshold at which children must be sent home.

It is up to individual school leaders whether they close, relax uniforms or make other adjustments.

The government’s Health and Safety Executive says employers have a responsibility to ensure only that conditions are “reasonable”.

The guidance reads: “In offices or similar environments, the temperature in workplaces must be reasonable. There’s no law for maximum working temperature or when it’s too hot to work.”

Employers must stick to health and safety at work law, including “keeping the temperature at a comfortable level, sometimes known as thermal comfort” and for “providing clean and fresh air”.

The National Union of Teachers expects schools to have plans for extreme temperatures.

Its guidance states: “Other steps may also need to considered such as closing classrooms which are unacceptably hot and teaching classes elsewhere, or even sending pupils home, provided reasonable notice has been given to parents.

“If in doubt, 26°C should be used as the trigger for these measures.”

The NUT also suggests dress codes be relaxed - for example, the removal of blazers and allowing students to wear shorts or skirts rather than trousers.

“Other steps may also need to be considered such as closing classrooms which are unacceptably hot and teaching classes elsewhere, or even sending pupils home, provided reasonable notice has been given to parents,” it says.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “There is clear government guidance available online to help school staff look after children in the hot weather, including the use of ventilation, keeping children hydrated, and avoiding vigorous physical activity for pupils.”