Outdoor school environments need to be safe, stimulate physical and cognitive development of children and encourage learning. These key requirements are jeopardised by increasing summer heat. Summer heat limits outdoor activities and has adverse effects on physical wellbeing of school children and teachers. Children are particularly vulnerable to heat as they regulate their core temperature through convection, which becomes less effective when it is hot. Based on empirical data collections, this report provides more than 20 practical recommendations on how to reduce the impacts of outdoor heat. Although these recommendations were devised based on work around a public school in Western Sydney, their universal character allows applying them to any school or other urban build infrastructure. Avoiding the use of artificial grass in unshaded spaces, shading black asphalt, allowing natural air flows and using shade materials with highly reflective upper surfaces should be fundamental principles in design and building guidelines for heat-smart schools
