Dozens of schools across the country have shut their doors this week due to the blizzard.
As children anticipated a return to school on Monday after the Christmas holiday, an Arctic blast swept across the UK, bringing snow, ice and chaos.
The disruption saw flights grounded, roads closed and dozens of schools shut as per travel advice amid freezing conditions.
Today (Tuesday), hundreds of schools kept their doors closed for a second day, affecting youngsters across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England.
Now that the Met Office warns further adverse weather conditions, including harsh winds and snowfall in certain parts of the country, is forecast from Wednesday through to Friday this week, some schools may decide to cancel another day.
While the legal requirement for classroom temperatures, which was set a minimum of 18C (64.4F) was scrapped in October 2012 by the School Premises (England) Regulations, many take guidance from the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
The governing body, which is concerned with employment and educational institutions, establishes a minimum heating standard.
It says temperatures must be “reasonable”, defined as “normally at least 16C” (60F).
However, the National Education Union (NEU) requires school premises indoors to reach at least 18C (64.4F), including non-teaching spaces and during standard school hours.
Meanwhile, government guidance says it’s down to the individual school to decide when it should close in the event of adverse weather conditions.
“Schools will make every effort to stay open in adverse weather conditions, including storms, flooding, snow and heatwaves.,” GOV.UK states.
“However, the safety of pupils and teachers is a top priority. On rare occasions schools do sometimes need to close or operate at a reduced level.”
The government guidelines continue: “It’s up to schools to decide on whether it is safe for them to open or close based on their own risk assessment and taking local issues into account.”
As such, parents should watch for communications from their child’s educational establishment during challenging weather conditions.
GOV.UK continues: “Schools will have their own approaches to contacting parents, in many circumstances they have their own apps and/or messaging services. Schools will try to give parents as much notice as possible but sometimes decisions will be made quite late as circumstances change.”
In Wales, the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 stipulate that local authority maintained schools must possess heating systems capable of maintaining specified minimum temperatures. These are 18C (64.4F) in most classrooms or 21C in medical rooms and 15C in sports halls.
