Several municipalities gave pupils Monday afternoon off. But how does a primary school actually cope with a heatwave? RTL's Céline Eischen headed to Mondercange to find out!
By 8am sharp on Monday morning in Mondercange, with temperatures already in the twenties, the children were getting ready for lessons. A number of measures have been put in place at the school to shield pupils and teachers from the heat as best they can, according to the president of the school committee, Françoise Urhausen, who coordinates school operations in Mondercange.
Urhausen explained that the work begins in the morning, with the municipality involved in airing the rooms early on. Windows are then shut, particularly on the south side of the building, which is also fitted with blinds.
Since children often do not register their thirst, special attention is paid to ensuring frequent drink breaks. Pupils can refill their water bottles at any time from the drinking fountains in the corridors. The school programme has also been tailored to the temperatures, as teacher Julie Simon explained.
Simon said staff were trying to keep things more or less normal in the morning from 8 to 10am, when the temperatures were still bearable, before easing the pace from 10am onwards with more relaxed activities. She added that they were incorporating plenty of water breaks and dialling back the workload, so that the children, who clearly have also run out of steam in the heat, were not pushed too hard.
The little ones, for their part, also know how to look after themselves. Some had brought along fans and even small handheld ventilators.
The school is also aware that fun should not fall by the wayside in the heat. In Mondercange, the decision has been taken to add some more enjoyable activities to the mix.
Urhausen said the idea was to bring a little fun into the situation. The municipality had previously set up water features in the yard, with the caretaker breaking out the garden hose. A few water guns are also doing the rounds, she said, and the plan is to make the best of these days.
For now, there is no school closure planned in Mondercange. Even the youngest pupils are likely to want to stay put when there is water play in the yard.
