TEACHERS should abandon their classrooms and lead their pupils to cooler parts of school if temperatures rise over 26C, it has been claimed.A message is to be fired off to union representatives in Suffolk's schools calling on them to equip themselves with thermometers after Suffolk's branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) called for a coherent policy for hot weather to be drawn up.

TEACHERS should abandon their classrooms and lead their pupils to cooler parts of school if temperatures rise over 26C, it has been claimed.

A message is to be fired off to union representatives in Suffolk's schools calling on them to equip themselves with thermometers after Suffolk's branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) called for a coherent policy for hot weather to be drawn up.

Suffolk NUT's secretary Martin Goold said he would be contacting his members in schools on the matter, adding excessive heat during the summer months was “dangerous” and “unhealthy” for both pupils and school staff.

He said: “The school buildings do get extremely hot and we still suffer from them having been built at a time when glass was cheaper than bricks.

“Teachers have a duty to care for their pupils and they should take their children out of that dangerous situation and seek to find a cooler part of school.

“I don't think our school buildings are well equipped. One of the things I will be doing is reminding our NUT representatives that they need to have a thermometer with them - and not just the chemistry teachers.”

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council confirmed there was no upper threshold for temperatures but said responsibility for the well-being of children in schools was down to school management teams.

He added: “We would expect schools to respond to conditions - and take appropriate action - if they and their pupils were in extreme discomfort.”