Tarmac playgrounds and windows that don’t open: why hot spells turn our schools into heat traps | Harry Paticas

Our schools are a dated mix of single glazing, dodgy pipes and atriums like Kew hothouses. They urgently need retrofitting for a changing climate This week’s soaring summer temperatures have put a spotlight on our schools and their ability to cope, with one in Hertfordshire telling me that it recorded temperatures of more than 40C. So why are our schools struggling? Modern schools often have too much glass, and not enough shading or ventilation to keep out the sun’s heat. During the 1950s, the focus on public health (after the creation of the NHS in 1948) meant that schools were designed to bring in more natural light. Windows often have built-in restrictors that stop them being opened too far, or at all, because of student safety concerns. Some schools have glass atriums, which were a common feature of those constructed during the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme in the early 2000s, but which now give the effect of walking into a Kew hothouse. Harry Paticas is an

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