Tag: heat

What If We’ve Got It Right? An Open Letter to a School Leader on Heat, Safety and Climate Resilience

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

The first letter in this series was written in frustration — in response to a school communication that seemed to confuse the effects of heat with the effects of relaxed uniform. This one comes from a different place. During the same spell of extreme weather, another school made the difficult decision to cancel an outdoor trip and postpone a community event during a red heat-health alert. For one parent, it stood out as an example of calm, child-centred leadership under pressure. What follows is a lightly anonymised version of the note they wrote in response.

Empty classroom with wooden desks, a jacket on a chair, a notebook, pen, and water bottle on a desk

What If We’ve Got It Wrong? An Open Letter to a School Leader on Uniform, Heat and Behaviour

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

A school in England, facing a run of very hot days and a national heat alert, wrote to parents to set out its expectations. There were some adjustments - small ones - but the overall message was clear: standards would hold, routines would remain, and any loosening of uniform would need to be carefully controlled. There was also an implication, lightly but unmistakably put, that where uniform had been relaxed in the past, behaviour had slipped. For one parent reading it, that last point stuck. So they wrote back....

How to Use Carbon Brief’s Attribution Interactive Part 1 – How Climate Change is Impacting Extreme Event Trends

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

This mini-series offers teaching ideas for using Carbon Brief's Extreme Weather Attribution Interactive Map, focusing on climate change's effects on extreme weather. Part 1 is a resource to guide learners through analysing data trends in extreme events like heat, storms, and droughts using spreadsheet apps like Google Sheets.