PARENTS and pupils have raised concerns over the uniform policy at an Ammanford school during the recent period of warm weather.

Several parents of children at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman have contacted the South Wales Guardian after reporting that their children were “feeling unwell” as temperatures soared last week.

The unexpected heatwave saw temperatures head towards 30C, however pupils at the school were still required to go in wearing their full uniform.

A spokesperson from Ysgol Dyffryn Aman said pupils were expected to wear their formal school uniform, but that the school does “monitor the situation and weather patterns carefully”.

Four parents described children being “lined up against the fence” at the front gate as they “weren’t properly dressed” during the period of extreme temperatures. This included for wearing PE kits, for not wearing a tie, and for not having their shirts tucked in.

One pupil described this as being “like a wall of shame”.

The children had been allowed to not wear their jumpers, one of the parents said, but they still had to wear shirts and ties with the top button done up – while boys also had to wear trousers as temperatures last week soared towards 30C.

“It’s terrible. Everyone is sweating,” said one pupil, as they described the boiling classrooms.

“It was 24C at eight in the morning when I was dropping [my child] off,” said the parent of a Year 11 pupil.

“It’s not fair to the children. At the end of the day they have a duty of care to the children.

“It’s just common sense. That’s all we ask for.”

Another parent said that they had asked the school if their child could wear their PE kit after feeling unwell due to the heat the previous day. This request was denied.

A parent of another Year 11 pupil said: “Before the summer holidays the school had agreed to allow pupils to wear their school PE kit during very hot weather, but last week we received a notification stating that all children were expected to wear a full school uniform regardless of the temperature.

“We had a week of extremely high temperatures. On the first day of school there were at least two pupils who passed out from the heat.”

Two of the parents said that pupils were not allowed to have their drinks during lessons as they were told it was “a distraction”. This is despite teachers being allowed access to drinks throughout.

“Before they broke up [for the summer holidays], they could wear their PE kits, so I don’t understand the reasoning,” said another Year 11 pupil’s parent.

“It’s a safeguarding issue. They are not keeping children safe.

“The school didn’t think there was any issue in having the children wearing their school uniform in that heat.

“The rooms aren’t ventilated properly and they haven’t got air conditioning.

“I’m surprised there weren’t more people who fainted.

“It’s not a good look on the school.”

On Friday, some male pupils went in to school wearing skirts to protest against the warm weather uniform policy – while girls protested by wearing their PE kits.

A spokesperson for the school said: “At Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, as with most secondary schools across Carmarthenshire, we expect all our pupils to wear the formal school uniform.

“As a school community, we will continue to work together to monitor the situation and weather patterns carefully.

“If there are any changes, parents will be informed through our usual communication channels.”

The parents that we spoke to reported that multiple children had passed out at school during the period of warm weather, while one pupil described students collapsing during assembly.

And on Thursday lunchtime, an ambulance was called to the school.  

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 12.19pm on Thursday, September 7 to a medical emergency at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman.

“We sent a rapid response car and an emergency ambulance to the scene, and one person was taken to Glangwili Hospital.”

Multiple parents from the school have told the South Wales Guardian the ambulance being called was connected to the warm weather.

When asked about the ambulance call-out, the Ysgol Dyffryn Aman spokesperson said: “The incident with the ambulance was not connected.”