Stupid Question - but do you consider air-conditioning in a school to be important??

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

It is a brand new building, so it surprised me even more when there wasn't any air conditioning. The air in the top rooms felt humid and stagnant. Though I was happy with most other factors there, there were a couple of older teachers which I have heard from some can be a negative as younger teachers are generally more enthusiastic? The principal seemed great but the AP didn't seem to happy to be there, hard to tell when you don't know them and going off first impressions.

[~clover~]

Though I was happy with most other factors there, there were a couple of older teachers which I have heard from some can be a negative as younger teachers are generally more enthusiastic? The principal seemed great but the AP didn't seem to happy to be there, hard to tell when you don't know them and going off first impressions.

I wouldn't go by age hun. The principle here is a grandmother in her 60's & is more enthusiastic & fun than DD2's 25ish year old infants teacher. Its the personality, not the age. DD1's kindy teacher was also in her 60's & a great teacher.
I've found alot of the younger ones (around my age) can be quite stuck up at times. Not sure if they actually are or its just me, but they just don't seem as fun either. There is a male teacher at the girls school who the kids are loving in his early 20's, but the others the same age I know of they don't relate to as well.

[Bathsheba]

I tend to agree with clover regarding age based generalisations. At the schools where i have worked and sent my children the older teachers have been excellent. Full of enthusiasm and generally more knowledgable and tolerant of children with special challenges. Some of the younger ones who hadn't had children themselves didn't really understand how homelife impacts on a child's learning... the fact that Mum might be pregnant and too tired to help do the reader every night just an example. So yes, it's more about teachers as individuals rather than age. I have also known young teachers from large families to be very understanding about hectic home lives too for example.

[Kazbah]

In Brissie our school didn't have aircon - but then again most of the houses don't. If you're acclimatised to aircon all the time, then sending a kid to school without aircon is difficult for the kid.

Also depends on the design of the school, IYKWIM? My Brissie school (private) was built by convicts, and the architecture was wide verandahs so the sun didn't hit windows, and the breeze could flow through. But without that design it would have been unbearable - I find that buildings down here in Melbourne are hotter than in Brissie cause there's no verandahs, no eaves, no cross-breezes ...

[Bathsheba]

So true Kazbah! People think Melbourne is cool pretty much all year... it is so NOT! Not enough deep verandahs... too many box like buildings...crazy. That's why i love old architecture... the coolest home i have lived in in melbourne was a 100yo terrace house in inner melbourne... thick stone walls to keep out the heat of summer... no a/c but walking inside onto the cool marble tiled foyer was such a relief on a hot day.

[LoveKnowsNoBounds]

I will take on the age comment. I'm glad to hear that older teachers can be fun and enthusiastic. Has anyone found air-con to be a negative? I.e. child getting sick from being too cold?

[Bathsheba]

DH gets sick from the a/c all the time at work. It's mainly because it dries out the mucous membranes in your resporatory system (inside your nose and throat) and this makes the area easier for germs to grow as mucous is a defence against them. Also if the body is subject to extreme changes in temperature it has to work harder to regulate itself... this also exhausts the bodies natural defences. it's always better to adjust the temp gradually... not step from a hot place into a cold room and visa versa... when you have a/c it makes the change too sudden. So yes, people in a/c spaces often do get sicker but you have to balance that with the potential for dehydration and illness associated with heat fatigue. tricky.