Hitzefrei at RSH

Trying to contact my mom, but she’s at work. May I leave the school grounds? Where’s my sister? It was summer and hot. In fact, some of us have headaches from the heat. This is what the school calls “Hitzetag,” when the school leadership decides to send students home for their own safety.

Sometimes students get off school early ‘Hitzefrei’, but how does the school decide when to call it too hot? A “hot day” is called in when, due to temperatures, it’s difficult to learn and concentrate. Sometimes it can be unsafe too.

How does school leadership know if it even is a ‘hot day’? The answer is simple. They measure the temperature in different rooms.

If the temperature has reached a certain limit, the school comes

together and discusses possibilities. If it is too hot to learn, administration will let students know that they can leave early that day.

The things taken into consideration include:

- Are the rooms so warm that it is not possible to learn anymore?

- Is it a long or short school day?

- Is it worth calling the end of the school day already?

- Do the children have the possibility to tell their parents?

Interim principal Mr. Friesen said, “you absolutely need a temperature tolerance and at about 25C° - when it gets warmer, the teachers open windows or maybe do the lesson outside”.

Playing outside is also sometimes a bad idea in the heat. Friesen believes that students often overestimate themselves in the heat. Some drink too little water and dehydrate.

“Hitzefrei” is actually specified by the district governments for schools.

One of the rules that come with a ‘Hot Day’ is that the class teacher has to watch over students. Teachers can’t just leave.

“We notify everyone over the speakers, but at the end of the day, supervision is still their responsibility,” says Friesen.

The school also has lunchtime supervision for children that can’t go home. Some play board games with each other or the supervision.

But getting let out of school early is not a pass out of school. Teachers and students are responsible for making up material on the next day. Friesen says, however, teachers are not allowed to give extra assignments on hot days, because the students probably cannot focus well at home either.