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The mercury is rising as children enter their final week of school holidays, with a string of warm, sunny days forecast after a scorching Sunday today.
With the first days of term 1 fast approaching, parents may find themselves reminding their children that the common playground myth that schools shut at 40 degrees is exactly that: a myth.
And it’s a good thing it is, too. Because, with many Sydney schools opting for the low maintenance of synthetic turf play surfaces, if 40 degrees was the benchmark for students to be sent home, many would not attend for half the summer.
The state government advises synthetic turf can heat up to 75 degrees on hot days, and its radiant heat is known to impact the temperature inside neighbouring classrooms.
Earlier this month, environment and climate reporter Caitlin Fitzsimmons reported on the growing backlash to both synthetic turf and rubber crumb surfaces, as evidence mounted about the damage to human health and the environment from the plastic heating to extreme temperatures and leaching forever chemicals and microplastics into waterways.
These concerns have led to local councils rethinking their decisions to resurface ovals in the synthetic material – Ku-ring-gai is taking public submissions on whether it should return its Charles Bean Sportsfield to natural turf – and made parents question whether their children were safe playing on the plastic grass, given its radiant heat and abrasiveness, which make scrapes and falls more serious than on real turf.
But, before now, the scale of the problem was unknown. While it seemed like countless P&Cs were fundraising for synthetic grass, there was no record of how many schools had actually adopted the surface on their grounds.
In today’s Sun-Herald, education reporter Emily Kowal exclusively reveals the results of a NSW Department of Education taken last year, which suggests more than half of the state’s public schools are using synthetic turf on play spaces, sports fields and areas for students to sit during recess and lunch.
Coupled with the results of a National Turf Alliance survey of Sydney schools conducted while no official data was available – which found at least a third of Greater Sydney schools had a synthetic turf surface, including 15 in bushfire risk zones – the numbers demonstrate the enthusiasm with which cost-conscious schools and P&Cs have landscaped and resurfaced using the plastic material.
But those dealing with the consequences are school students, with hotter environments less pleasant to be in, and also impacting their ability to concentrate in class.
The department should be commended for finally releasing some data on the prevalence of synthetic turf in schools. However, given rising concerns about its impacts, a more comprehensive register – including the details of every school which has the surface – would not be unreasonable.
Moreover, it should consider whether recommendations by the NSW chief scientist and engineer against synthetic sports fields in areas of high bushfire and extreme flood risk should also be extended to schools.
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