Children could be returning to school during another heatwave in September.
Despite hundreds of schools shutting early due to scorching temperatures this summer, the Government’s plans to deal with extreme weather appear to be two years away.
In a landmark report published in May, government climate advisers said air conditioning should be installed in all schools and a maximum indoor temperature should be introduced, warning that more school days could be lost without action.
The i Paper understands the Government is considering the recommendations by the Climate Change Committee as part of its fourth “national adaptation programme”, which is due in 2028.
That suggests a national heatwave strategy for schools is two years away, leaving teachers and pupils to contend with two more potentially unbearable summers.
‘They need to go further and faster’
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said a strategic plan to deal with heatwaves is needed as they become more frequent due to climate change, but “there is little sign of urgent action”.
“We’re aware of comments from the Government that they will consider proposals from the Climate Change Committee around maximum temperatures, and also keep school timetables under review, but they really need to go further and faster,” he said.
“There is currently a maximum temperature for transporting cattle but not one for children and staff in schools, and we do not think it should take much consideration to determine that this should change.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the Government needs to “do more to improve and modernise buildings”, including a “focus on ventilation, solar panels, improved insulation, measures to ensure buildings are watertight and potentially air conditioning too”.
The Government set out updated standards for new and refurbished school buildings in England in February, but they do not include mandatory air conditioning.
Instead, they emphasise overheating risk assessments and require ground-source heat pumps to be installed to deliver cooling.
More than a third of schools in England do not have air conditioning, according to Department for Education (DfE) data obtained by Tes.
Cuts to building maintenance funding
The Climate Change Committee said using heat pumps to provide “active cooling” would be acceptable in lieu of air conditioning, but education leaders warned that more funding was needed to roll out the measures.
The DfE said it is equipping schools to deal with heatwaves via its £710m renewal and retrofit programme through to 2029-30 and almost £20bn through 2034-35 to rebuild over 750 schools.
Whiteman said additional funding was needed to ensure schools are “future-proofed against the risks of climate change”.
No funding is available specifically for air conditioning, so any schools that want to buy permanent or portable units have to use their capital budgets, which are for all building maintenance.
However, the DfE will have its capital budget cut by 1 per cent a year from this year until 2029-30 to pay for increased defence spending, which unions warned would leave less money to retrofit schools.
The Climate Change Committee warned that pupils would lose 8.2 days of learning per year by 2050 if no action is taken.
Their report warned that high temperatures would harm exam results, saying that taking an exam on a 32°C day leads to around a 10 per cent lower likelihood of passing, compared with a 22°C day.
One of the Government’s climate advisers, Baroness Brown, is among those calling for GCSE and A-level exams to be moved earlier in the year.
Current guidance
The Government’s latest guidance for schools recommends opening windows early in the morning or overnight to let heat escape from buildings, closing windows when the outdoor air is warmer than the air indoors, closing indoor blinds or curtains, keeping electric lighting to a minimum and using mechanical fans if temperatures are below 35°C.
The guidance says adaptations can vary but that many schools are taking measures such as increasing water breaks, using different areas of the school for lessons, making greater use of shaded and cooler spaces, adapting physical education and outdoor activities, relaxing uniform requirements, moving activities to cooler parts of the day and adjusting start and end times.
The National Association of Head Teachers issued its own guidance that included these and similar recommendations like offering easy access to drinking water, improving ventilation where possible, moving desks out of direct sunlight, moving PE to cooler times, reducing physical activity, and reminding parents to send children to school with hats, water bottles and sunscreen.
Some schools have been cancelling after-school clubs or moving them indoors, having staff start extra early to open windows and doors when conditions are coolest, and altering cafeteria menus to offer colder school lunch options such as salads.
Di’Iasio said: “School and college leaders are fighting an uphill battle when so many buildings are without air conditioning or other ways to lower temperatures, and there is no way they can operate as normal.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Climate change is a universal issue and we are taking action to understand the potential impact on all areas of life, including education so we can prevent disruption to learning.”
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