UPDATE The whole school is now closed on Wednesday 24 June and Thursday 25 June.
The heatwave has prompted a Brighton school to part-close for two days – tomorrow (Wednesday 24 June) and Thursday.
Longhill High School head teacher Rachelle Otulakowski said that it was a matter of putting safety first – in part because the school’s main building was a heat trap in summer weather.
The decision was made after the Met Office weather warnings and the red heat health alert from the UK Health Security Agency.
It was, said the head, “a proactive, targeted partial closure for Wednesday and Thursday to guarantee student and staff safety.”
Mrs Otulakowski said: “While the school will remain fully open for Year 7, Year 10 exam cohorts and vulnerable pupils from any year group, students in Years 8 and 9 will transition to remote learning for the two-day period.
“The decision comes due to the specific architectural design of the school’s main building.
“The heavily glass-fronted structure retains heat intensely and fails to cool down overnight, with internal classroom temperatures projected to breach a dangerous 40C during the peak of the heatwave.
“While the school has already secured investment from the local authority for a major window-replacement upgrade scheduled for this summer, the current infrastructure cannot safely accommodate the entire student body during this extreme weather event.”
She added: “Our absolute priority is the health and safety of our school community.
“While we have implemented every possible mitigation – from moving to PE kit as uniform and maximising ventilation in all spaces – the infrastructure of our main building simply cannot keep everyone safe when classroom temperatures reach above 40C.
“By moving Years 8 and 9 to remote learning, we can utilise our limited air-conditioned and naturally cooler spaces to keep our youngest, most vulnerable students and our vital GCSE exam groups safely on site.
“We know this causes disruption for families and we haven’t taken this decision lightly but we will not compromise on child safety and we are grateful for the support of our families with this decision.
“The school is actively supporting families during the two-day partial closure by sending vouchers to families eligible for free school meals and providing structured online learning tasks to keep children safely sheltered indoors.”
Normal school opening is expected to resume on Friday when temperatures are forecast to be a little cooler.
How refreshing to see a school putting safety and comfort first! Good for Longhill. I’ve been there on visits as my daughter is starting in September and I have no doubt that it gets extremely hot in the summer, so much glass!
It’s highlighted to me there being a real gap in regulation about maximum safe working temperatures. As we are seeing hot weather more often, this will need to be addressed legalistively over the next year.
Agreed. We need to take this much more seriously as a country. Do we have to have deaths on the scale that France has suffered before we act?
Seems like a very reasonable and responsible approach, great to see from Longhill.
Longhill is a good school. I don’t care about its inherited bad reputation, the staff are excellent and the head is a badass.
I never wanted my son to go here, but it has turned out to be the best decision we never made.
I think they are all closing – Varndean and Stringer for sure, not just Longhill.