Education outcomes set to be increasingly impacted by extreme weather
The half term break has coincided with record-breaking high temperatures for many parts of the country, including southern England. The record for the hottest recorded May temperature in the UK was broken, with a temperature of 35.1°C recorded at Kew Gardens in London on 26 May. The previous record of 32.8°C was set in both 1922 and 1944. The heatwave coincided with the half term break for the vast majority of schools, but has once again raised the question of whether a maximum safe working temperature should be introduced. There is currently no legal limit on how hot or cold a workplace should be, with employers required only to ensure temperatures are ‘reasonable’.
Research last year from the Department for Education (DfE) – conducted as a collaboration with the Met Office and University College London – found that without action pupils could potentially lose up to 12 days of learning per year on average due to climate change. However, this figure included days lost to other effects of climate change, such as flooding, as well as extreme heat. The same research found that on average some schools may already be experiencing one or two days a year when indoor temperatures reach 35°C, making learning very difficult and with particular concerns around the impact on the summer exam season.
Last week the UK’s independent adviser on tackling climate change, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), published a report advocating for the introduction of maximum temperature regulations in workplaces, which would include schools and colleges. ‘Maximum working temperature regulations would address the increasing risks that high temperatures pose to workers’ safety and incentivise the deployment of the necessary cooling’, it says.
The CCC report also projects that the average number of days per year that indoor temperatures reach or exceed 35°C in 20,000 English schools will increase by 70 per cent compared to the present day, leading to 8.2 average days per year of learning lost per pupil. They also note that taking an exam on a 32°C day leads to around a 10 per cent lower likelihood of passing, compared to a 22°C day – so increased temperatures will lead to lower educational outcomes. The report proposes a target for 2050 of the internal temperature of learning environments remaining between 16°C and 25°C.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, echoed the CCC’s call for the introduction of maximum temperature limits for schools, saying it would ‘encourage investment into making schools heat-resilient, with mitigations such as air conditioning, which would protect learning, the important exam period, and keep staff and children safe and comfortable’.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that schools were already acting to mitigate the effects of high temperatures wherever they could, including ‘straightforward adjustments such as limiting the time spent in the sun during breaks, ensuring additional water is available, making adjustments to uniform expectations where appropriate, and ventilating classrooms as best they can’.
Meanwhile Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, argued that many school buildings were ill-suited to high temperatures. ‘A big part of the problem is that ageing school buildings often have poor ventilation, leading to uncomfortable conditions that can result in lost learning’, he said. He called on the government to invest in the school estate to mitigate against extreme temperatures as much as possible. Mr Whiteman also called on the DfE to act ‘urgently to improve and modernise school buildings’, with ‘a focus on ventilation and, potentially, air conditioning’.
The government currently publishes guidance online for schools and early years settings on looking after children during hot weather, including recognising the symptoms of heat stress, heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Schools are encouraged to relax uniform rules, especially during amber or red Heat-Health Alerts, and to encourage children outdoors to stay in the shade as much as possible.