Children could also be kept at home and banned from playing outside, as schools have said they struggle to concentrate in the heat. Parents of children at three primary schools in Herefordshire have been told pupils ‘will not be allowed outside to play’ and there will be no PE lessons. “We are also giving parents the option to keep children at home on Monday,” said a letter to parents at Marlbrook, Little Dewchurch and St Martin’s Primary School. Hereford Academy is changing its timetable, starting the day at 8.30am. and sending students home at 2 p.m. Clapton Girls’ Academy, in east London, will send children home at 12.30pm. on Monday and Tuesday. In a letter to parents, Anna Feltham, the headteacher, wrote: “Already, many classrooms are too hot, even with fans, and students are struggling to keep cool, drink enough water and maintain concentration in lessons.” . The rooms would be “unbearably hot” by the end of the day next week and there were not enough “cool” rooms to move classes, he said. Earlier this week, pupils at Les Quennevais school in Jersey were sent home early because staff could not open any windows in the building, which does not have air conditioning. A Met Office orange warning for heat that could be “life threatening” is in place for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Temperatures could break the current national record of 38.7C, which was set in 2019.
