Call for action on hot classrooms

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Teachers want ministers to introduce new rules forcing schools to make sure that temperatures in classrooms do not rise above 26C (79F).

The National Union of Teachers said that pupils had problems concentrating in hot weather.

Delegates at the union's conference backed a motion urging staff to walk out if the thermometer hits 26C.

Officials said new schools are designed so that temperatures do not exceed 28C (82F) for more than 120 hours a year.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said that every secondary school and half of all primaries were being rebuilt and refurbished to ensure that they provided comfortable working conditions.

I am hot and sweaty, they are hot and sweaty and neither of us are in the condition to teach or learn Pat Sexton, teacher

A spokesman added: "We expect schools to use their discretion in applying all relevant regulations - rather than laying down inflexible guidelines that may deny young people education."

At the NUT's annual conference in Harrogate, Pat Sexton, a maths teacher from East Sussex, brandished a fan as she told delegates that she did not want all her pupils fanning themselves during lessons because they were too hot.

"There are times when the temperatures are well over 80F and that seems to me to be the time when we are less effective," she said.

"I am hot and sweaty, they are hot and sweaty and neither of us are in the condition to teach or learn."

Greenhouses

During the winter, extreme cold weather forced schools to close, so a similar rule should apply during hot summer temperatures, said Ms Sexton.

Dave Brinson, a delegate from Eastbourne, told the conference that climate change meant the problem was likely to get worse.

New schools, such as privately-sponsored city academies, built with large glass windows may "look wonderful" and win architecture prizes but they are "completely unfit for the purpose", said Mr Brinson.

The motion said that teachers should not be expected to work in any classroom where the temperature exceeds 26C for anything other than very short periods.

Jerry Glazier, from the union's executive, said many classrooms built in the 1960s and 70s became greenhouses in hot weather.