How Can Schools Stay Cool During Increasing Heatwaves?

Schools face challenges managing rising temperatures as heatwaves intensify. Solutions range from air conditioning to passive cooling and even adjusting term dates.

Challenges of Heat in Schools

Our schools were not originally designed to manage extreme temperatures, prompting the question: what solutions are available?

With another heatwave this week, parents face renewed concerns about potential school closures due to excessive heat.

A primary school in Berkshire reported that during the latest heatwave, temperatures reached 326C early in the morning.

While 326C may not seem excessively high, this temperature was recorded at 06:30, well before students arrived.

As temperatures rise, many schools, constructed to retain heat rather than dissipate it, struggle to maintain comfortable environments.

Some schools are even considering adjusting the academic calendar, potentially moving the long summer holiday forward to May to avoid the hottest periods.

The Pines, according to its website, is "a spacious primary school in the heart of Bracknell, with extensive outside areas."

Built 50 years ago, it features large windows in every classroom, low flat roofs, and poor ventilation, all factors that contribute to difficulty in controlling indoor temperatures.

"It was 326C when staff first arrived at the height of last month's heatwave," says Headteacher Kate Davies, who closed the school for two days due to the heat.

"Then it went way over 35 through the day. So it was hot classrooms and, with children in it, it got even hotter, so it becomes really stuffy. There's not a lot of air flow so it's really hot to work in."

"Pupils struggle to maintain their concentration in extreme heat, making it harder for teachers to keep them focused on their work," she adds.

Kate Davies suggests that a more radical approach may be necessary if conditions do not improve.

"If things don't change we're going to have to look at the term times," she says, proposing moving the summer holiday earlier into May, similar to practices in other countries.

"I'm a real believer that air-conditioning needs to be in every school. I think that is a more sustainable option. In the long-term we have to educate people on climate change, that's really important."

Headteacher Kate Davies is wearing a green sleeveless dress with a lighter green Pines Primary School lanyard round her neck. She is standing in front of a large window with the light streaming through it despite the vertically slatted blind that's pulled partially across it. — Image caption, Headteacher Kate Davies closed her primary school for two days last month because of the heatwave

Differing Views on Air Conditioning

However, opinions vary regarding the installation of air conditioning units in schools.

Jack Pringle from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) comments: "If you're having to take children out of a classroom you probably want to nip out and buy an air conditioning unit. But it's an emergency fix, and it's not great because it just makes our climate conditions worse."

"We don't want to be chewing up electricity to cool buildings that could be cooled in passive ways using zero carbon."

Jack Pringle founded the charity Article 25 twenty years ago, which works to reduce temperatures in schools in countries such as Tanzania.

He explains that established architectural principles, like positioning windows away from direct sunlight and enhancing ventilation, have successfully lowered classroom temperatures by several degrees.

"Building passive schools with double roofs, with ventilation going through them, helped drive down the internal temperature by up to 76C without any use of power at all," he says.

"It can be done. Those are very special schools, they're very specially designed, and they work incredibly well."

Two brilliant white air conditioning units sit alongside each other outside a building. The only thing you see behind them are the corrugated steel oanels of the building itself. — Image caption, Opinions differ on whether air conditioning units should be placed in all schools

Adapting Passive Cooling Techniques

While constructing new schools with heat-resistant features is feasible, upgrading existing schools presents greater challenges.

Jack Pringle suggests simple measures such as increasing shade in outdoor areas and installing umbrella-like shades outside windows to allow light in while blocking excessive heat.