Lincoln St Christopher's School to close during heatwave for pupil safety

A school in Lincoln has announced it will be closed during next week's heatwave for pupil safety.

St Christopher's, in Hykeham Road, said it would be shut on Monday and Tuesday due to the possibility that temperatures could hit 40C (104F).

Head teacher Kyna Adkins said she had taken the decision as she was "not able to keep the building cool enough to safely have children in school".

The Met Office has issued a red extreme heat warning over parts of the country.

• Schools to shut early and relax uniform due to heat

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In a message to parents, Ms Adkins said: "Due to the government issuing a red weather warning for Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 July, I have made the difficult decision to close schools to all pupils on both those days.

"Earlier this week, when the temperature was at its highest, we made every effort to keep the building as cool as possible. However, the temperature is due to increase again Monday and Tuesday and I am not able to keep the building cool enough to safely have children in school.

"We have very limited outside shade and the internal building is difficult to temperature regulate."

She added that the "physical and emotional safety of the children is paramount."

Lincoln St Christopher's School is a special school for pupils with moderate, severe or profound multiple learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders.

It has 238 pupils aged three to 19 years old, according to its latest Ofsted report.

The school hopes to reopen as normal on Wednesday, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Activities would be provided for children to do at home on Monday and Tuesday if they wished, the school said.