Children being allowed to go to the toilet at school

Maybe because every time a toilet gets vandalised the s hool has to find £££ to fix it.
Maybe because many kids will use going to the loo as a way to miss lessons at best, vape, do drugs or beat someone up at worst. I know people dont want to hear it and obviously 'not all kids'. Not most. But enough. So until someone can fix that, we cannot keep comparing schools to work places with adults.

I do think the ops example is extreme and the school absolutely does not have the rught to be privy to that level of detail to justify a pass. That I would challenge.

My son has chronic constipation and needs a toilet pass for school, although we weren't asked for medical evidence.

It may sound unfair but unfortunately they have to take a hard line on this, otherwise you would end up with so many kids taking the piss (pardon the pun) and the toilets would end up being an intimidating place that some kids would be too afraid to use.

Take her to the GP and get a note and if they don't accept that I would be taking it further.

Then she doesn't need a toilet pass. She can go two hours between going.

Why don't parents want to do anything about the actual issue? The amount of toilets schools have is simply inadequate. And the length of time to access them at breaks in not long enough. And old schools have old pipes that do not flush enough.

ask your children how many toilets are available for their year group and complain to the government about that. Ask for change. Ask for a minimum amount of toilets per number of girls / boys.

Schools have rules for a reason. If you want to be the exception there needs to be a reason. Do parents on this thread have zero idea about secondary school toilets? Or do you think schools should just have children wandering about corridors and hanging around toilets?

What is going on is thousands of pounds worth of damage to toilets and lost learning time. When students only use their toilet pass the moment independent work is started, they dont need the toilet they are avoiding thinking.

Of course they have zero idea! But they think they know everything because they were pupils once.

Actually it is. And you have been told what you need to do to get your child a toilet pass.

But it doesn't change the fact that toilet passes are detrimental to learning in a high school, when they can take a child out of a lesson for a quarter of it.

They have breaks to go to the toilet. Those breaks need to be adequate. And those toilets need to be adequate. If those two issues were covered there would be no need for the passes.

I bet when you went to school, you were able to use a toilet at will. I know I was. I can't understand this whole "they must have a reason" every time schools introduce yet another humiliating and dehumanising policy. And parents happily going along with it "because - rules".
Some rules are unnecessarily restrictive, unsupportive of children in their care and, frankly, damaging to health and wellbeing. Locked toilets being, arguably, the worst of them all. This would not wash in any other organisation or setting despite all the rules and regulations other places have to abide by.
Schools have become more akin colonies for underaged criminals. Everyone is guilty by assumption. How about, instead of dehumanising every student, they address the behaviour of those specific ones who use toilet breaks inappropriately? I don't care how inconvenient, expensive or time-consuming it may be.

So you think that children wandering about the corridors. Hanging out in toilets. Destroying property should just be ignored? The rule is there for a reason.

Don’t like it? Find a school which does not have that rule or homeschool.

How? Please do say. Along with a budget breakdown. Im sure you are much cleverer than all these pesky teachers on power trips.

Why are you making this such an issue?
Get the evidence and sort it. What is so difficult? Blank out any info you don't want the school to see if you are worried about it.

Our children have had to abide by these toilet rules at school. Do I agree with them? No, but I understand why the school implemented them.

The longer you dither and moan rather than seeking the solution, the longer your child goes without their toilet pass.

Is there another school she could go to?

As mentioned by others, this tends to happen when toilets are being vandalised or pupils are vaping/smoking/bullying. This will almost certainly mean there are other problems as well.

You know nothing about the day to day running of a high school. You have zero knowledge of what happens in high schools. Why do you think you know better than everyone who works in them full time?

Parents are always the expert until something happens to their child. Then they are at the schools throat.

https://eric.org.uk/information/school-toilet-policy/eric.org.uk/information/school-toilet-policy/

Here is some info on what ERIC have to say about schools and toilet passes and locked toilets!!!!. Eric is the bowel and bladder charity. They have advice on talking to school, getting a toilet policy in place etc.

Read about what a vicious cycle is set up when a child regularly withholds pooing (ignores the urge). The colon gets stretched leading to greater build up, the nerves get desensitised and they lose the recognition they need to go, muscles weaken in pushing out poo........ .It can take significant time to reverse this.........

Your gp should be able to write a letter but who knows when you will get an appointment and in meantime you could send something like this, you can put links to eric guidance.

"My child is experiencing severe abdominal distress and bowel issues directly caused by being denied access to the toilet during lesson times. Forcing a child to withhold stool poses a direct risk of chronic bowel damage, including rectal stretching. I am currently arranging a GP appointment to address this physical issue. In the meantime, I require the school to grant my child immediate, unrestricted toilet access on health and safeguarding grounds."

Point me to the part of my comment where I stated this

I would remove my child for this, it’s barbaric.

My friends 12yo ds recently wet himself because of these ridiculous rules.

It’s outrageous and makes me really angry.

Because staff are teaching during lesson times. The cheapest way to avoid it is to lock the toilets during this period.

They could have security outside toilets I guess but that seems a waste of money. Plus parents would then loan about that.

What’s your answer? Without employing a load of extra staff? Tell them to be respectful?

Not being able to regulate toilet habits for 1-2 hours of planned breaks would be a medical issue yes.