Primary school - going toilet

[Karmacomesaround10]

Interested to know people's opinions on this after chatting with some playground moms about it.
What are your opinions on primary school children asking to go to the toilet during lesson and being refused? Is it a human right or should they be restricted to break times?

🙄

Thank you for your intelligent input into the thread. Have a good day 😊

Of course they should be allowed but not in the main teaching input of the lesson. Also once one goes, it normally leads to lots of children asking so the teacher does need to use their judgment. If there is an issue and the child needs to regularly use the toilet they should go as long as the teacher is aware.

unless they have a medical condition which they need urgent access to a toilet - then the answer is no.

@Karmacomesaround10
You may be unaware that MN is trolled by all sorts of perverts - including a ‘primary school toilet troll’. Or maybe you are very aware.

I would expect the expectations to change throughout primary school. I cant imagine restricting reception would lead to anything other than lots of wet clothes, but by year 6 you would hope most children could go in break, or at the least disruptive time in a lesson - so not the bit where the teacher is talking. Obviously the odd child might forget and need to go and should be allowed.

Why do so many people miss the 'to' out of a sentence now? I'm seeing it loads.

Tbh I'm torn because of the encouragement of water bottles. When I was at school we didn't have a drink until milk time and lunch time. Then it was when you got home. But kids trooping in and out to the bog is disruptive and should wait until break.

No.

They have a right to an education. They have access to toilet facilities and plenty of time to use them at breaks, before/after school, and if genuinely in need then yes during lessons too. In my school between 8.50 and 3.10 they have almost 2 hours of breaks. If your kid is going at every break and still needing to go more frequently than every hour then you need to take them to the gp.

Don't be That Parent who is setting their kid up in Primary to be making unreasonable demands and disrupting lessons demanding their human rights are being compromised.

Ok "human rights" was the wrong turn of phrase....I forgot the poltically correct dialect is required in these forums that are intended for general discussions.
I didn't say I was for or against. If you read my first post, I said that I'd had discussions with parents in the playground, just as we do on other topics and this was one I thought I would cast to a wider audience to see what people think.

That's my feelings as well!! I'm neither here nor there with it, unless the child has a medical reason, then generally they can wait until break times.

Understandably teachers get cross when kids have been out for their break then decide to go ten mins after coming back into class.

I think it needs to be to the teacher's discretion.

Sadly I was not aware. I am new to this forum and maybe have an element of naivety in thinking it is what it is.
Should mumsnet need to verify my identity to prove I am not a "pervert", I am more than happy to supply my identification to reassure everyone 👍

He's not a "pervert" he's a pervert.

I don't think there should be any restrictions on using the toilets at any time for people of any age. Not at school, not at work, nowhere.

Not while the teacher is explaining the thing being taught/learned. Unless it's an emergency. But if it's suddenly an emergency (assuming no health issues etc) then why could the child not have gone 5 minutes ago in the transition from the previous lesson?
I'd apply that logic from about age 7 or 8.

No they don't need to go. (Assuming no health issues) we were never allowed to go to the toilet in lessons at primary school. Or secondary school unless actually unwell in which case we were sent home.

However the issue that concerns me more is the phrase 'going toilet' . WTF is that about. I have a friend who used to sat this to her dc. 'Have you been toilet' 'do you need to go toilet' aghhh please write in English.

Toilet is NOT a verb !! . It's a noun. There is no verb 'to toilet' . Going running ? Going shopping .. all fine. Going toilet . ? Just no.

Sat - say

This. Big difference between a 4/5 year old and an 11 year old. Some children starting primary school will only recently have turned 4 and increasingly many aren't reliably toilet-trained so restricting younger children's access really is a non-starter. The teachers might gently encourage/remind them to use the loos at a more convenient point - so not when the teacher is talking or during assembly.

I don't think you can lump all primary age kids in one here.

There's a massive difference between asking a 4 year old to wait and an 11 year old.

My 5 year old is in year 1. He can't wait. He's the same at home and it can be a bit of a mare when we are out and about.

If his teacher told him he couldn't go then he would wet himself.

On the other hand my 7 year old in year 3 can wait and I would be fine with his teacher telling him so.

This. I can't imagine many of the younger children being able to hold it for very long.

Lower primary (Y2 and below) I think they should be able to go whenever they need to. At DDs school reception, Y1 and Y2 classrooms are all opposite toilets, I’m guessing that was on purpose so they can easily access the toilet. Y3 and above I think they can hold a wee for short while if the teacher is explaining something.

But I do think teachers need to apply common sense. I work in secondary and have known teachers refuse to allow a child to go to the toilet who was on the verge of tears. The child walked out and the pastoral team had a word with the teacher because child had an upset stomach. You can tell the difference between desperately needing to go and just fancy a bit of time out of the classroom.

Older primary girls may have started a period unexpectedly. Do you want to
humiliate them by making them bleed through their skirt for an hour, until the next break time? And what about a child who suffers a sudden attack of diarrhoea - are they expected to sit in a pool of liquid faeces, rather than rush to the loo in time?

What is so wrong with people that they are unable to write "going to the toilet."
I never hear anyone speak like this.
When I was a teacher I let children go to the toilet when they needed to. It didn't happen very often during lessons, but that was in the days before water bottles became an obsession. There is no physical need for children to be constantly sipping water all day.

Politically correct dialect?
Playground moms?
Going toilet?

What is this, Take a Break online?

This forum is laughable.
I opened up a discussion to not provoke hate or incredulous comments about punctuation and grammar. If this chat is not to your taste or you are offended by how someone chooses to respond in their own grammar, please move on!!
Thank you to everyone else who has responded, it's nice to hear your views and I guess this is why, amongst the parents at school, we all had different opinions.