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School Turns Off Radiators On One Of Coldest Days Of Year To 'Save Planet'

School Heating

Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 06/12/11 11:42 GMT Updated: 06/12/11 11:42 GMT

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A head teacher has been called "barbaric" after turning the school heating off on one of the coldest days of the year - all to "save the planet".

Robert Benzie, head at Ansford Academy, Somerset, defended the move and said "everyone seemed happy" with the experiment.

"We cut the heat to see if we can lower our carbon footprint. We let pupils wear as many jumpers as they liked", he said.

But others weren't as impressed with the new eco-friendly initiative.

"It was beyond stupid," the Daily Mail reported one teacher saying.

"It was absolutely ridiculous.

"I've never worked in such cold. I'm all for saving the planet but this was barbaric."

The teacher claimed "nobody" cold work properly and the children "could not even grip a pen through their gloves."

According to Benzie, the idea was thought up by pupils from the school's student eco-group. The head added there was only one complaint and so he hoped for another eco-day next term.

"I'd like it to become a regular event. We have too much heating - sometimes I have to turn it down as it can make students fall asleep."

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A head teacher has been called "barbaric" after turning the school heating off on one of the coldest days of the year - all to "save the planet". Robert Benzie, head at Ansford Academy, Somerset, d...
A head teacher has been called "barbaric" after turning the school heating off on one of the coldest days of the year - all to "save the planet". Robert Benzie, head at Ansford Academy, Somerset, d...
 
 
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oobuc5
12 Fans
08:16 AM on 12/21/2011
what about a child with diabetes ,they have to be kept away from cold because of circulation issues,
who ever took that money saving on should be sacked without pay ,people like this in charge of minors should be monitored closely ,what was the rational for the train of thought ?was there an incentive like saving money ,how much money did she save the local authority ,this needs looking into .

what would have happened if the temp dropped to 5 or 6 below ? and a child got taken ill with hypothermia ,you can bet your rs that the local education authority were basking in 20 deg !
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oobuc5
12 Fans
08:29 AM on 12/10/2011
They don,t turn off the heating to save the planet they do it to save the money ,
its about the money,money money ! what should happen here is ,the person or persons who made that desion should be made to put up a notice at the school and on the schools web page naming the people who took that decision,will that happen [no chance ]:
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SecondTime
51 Fans
04:23 PM on 12/08/2011
What conceit, what arrogance, what abuse of power! A glimpse of the arbitrary decision-making/imposition imposing we might expect if more of such people gained enough political power. It is bad enough already, and they are mostly on the sidelines and in the lobbies.
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Andre Lot
0 Fans
12:48 PM on 12/08/2011
This is just child abuse from a borderline sadistic headmaster. It is no different than other forms or non-sexual abuse that sometimes happen in schools, fortunately these days less than in the past, like obliging kids to stand in humiliating positions in front of their colleagues, or to perform heavy duty exercises under rain because they were "mean".

I hope the headmaster is sacked, without pay, for his acts of abuse.

What if I children had asthma and his/her condition worsened because of cold exposure? What about children with difficulties to breath? What about the simple fact the average human body is not fit for getting concentrated into intellectual tasks for hours outside a narrowly defined "thermal comfort zone"?

Is this a school or an army boot camp?

I find the story horrendous, and unacceptable. Of course, on this day they just turned a number of future adults into skeptics or haters of the "green movement" by taking stupid measures like this one.
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Daniel Edward
0 Fans
09:03 PM on 12/08/2011
I go to Ansford Academy, it was not cold. The temperature was 17c and people were actually taken off their gloves, jumpers, etc. Today the BBC came around our school, filmed it and put it on points west. We had no complaints and we could easily grip pens without gloves. Anyway how could it possibly get as low as 1c, windows would start to freeze and we would then start complaining.
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earlsspg
61 Fans
12:29 AM on 12/07/2011
Not fair on the children or the staff'
There is legislation about minimum temperatures that even heads need to obey
If the heating had broken down I have no doubt the parents would have found the school closed.
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Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
06:54 PM on 12/06/2011
Saving the planet more like saving on fuel bills and indoctrinating the kids with the ethos of paying ridiculous taxes for the rest of their lives! This is an academy and fuel economies are another great con. With (Head) teachers like this we are all doomed!
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jimgibson10
0 Fans
08:22 AM on 12/17/2011
Ha. You're right. If the people teaching our kids believe all this rubbish about man made climate change what chance has anyone got. biggest scam of all time, and almost everyone has fallen for it.
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TSB UK
31 Fans
 
04:49 PM on 12/06/2011
It was one day. I dare say they survived it. And I bet the children learned a great deal about how comfortable their lives are compared to others who live without proper heat most if not all of the time.
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