I find some of the attitudes towards children needing the loo utterly horrible. Yes, there are kids who will try it on, but it seems to me that the majority are punished for the actions of the minority.
This attitude of "if the child needed the loo he/she should have gone at break" does my head in. Use your common sense. If the child goes to the loo at break but also has a drink of water at break, chances are that the effects of that drink won't kick in until about half an hour later - when the child is in class! When I'm at work, if I have a cup of tea or coffee - then I'm guaranteed to want a wee about 30 mins later - not 2 seconds after I've had the drink!
As an example: If a child is in the situation of, say, developing diabetes - it is undiagnosed but they are developing symptoms. One of those symptoms will be needing to wee - a lot! And it goes like this: you don't need to go at all - then suddenly you need to go NOW. It's not a "can you hold it for another 30 mins" situation - it's a "I have to go now or I'm going to wet myself". Ultimately the child will end up diagnosed and having treatment but while the condition is developing, so do the symptoms and there is likely to be time between the onset of symptoms and a diagnosis - during which the poor child will be desperate for the loo a lot of the time, with no understanding why, and stuck in a classroom where they can't go!
A child doesn't know why they are suddenly desperate for a wee - they just are. As an adult - if I need to go, I need to go - and I will go. If I have to walk away from my desk or walk out of a meeting excusing myself politely, then I will do it, and no one bats an eye!
Thankfully when I was at school, if you asked to go to the loo, it was very very rare to be told no. I don't recall missing 2 mins of class from time to time having a detrimental effect on my learning. I've done pretty well in my professional career, despite loo breaks at school!
One time in secondary school I was told to wait (during heavy periods when I was not only dealing with flooding, but feeling very nauseous and faint) by a teacher who seemed to take great joy in making my life hell - and I did get up and walk out after I'd made it clear several times I really desperately needed to be excused. My mum was one who 99.9999% of the time would always back the teacher, but on this one she went ballistic and the teacher actually got into trouble for putting me in the impossible position where I had no option but to walk out.
I'd have been extremely stressed and anxious at school if I could've never gone to the loo when I needed to. A child has a right to dignity and confidentiality too and shouldn't have to disclose deeply personal and sensitive information in front of a room of other kids just so they can exercise a basic human right.
While some people may be able to wait until break etc... (and that is fine), for others the need to go may come on more suddenly and urgently, and, even if they went at break, it might not make a difference. How much do you think a child is actually concentrating on their work if they spend half the lesson focussed on not having an accident in front of the class?! I know that when I'm desperate for the loo I can think of little else!
I wish people (in particular teachers) would recognise that people's bodies work differently, even more so as a developing child. A blanket rule that no one can go to the loo, to me is barbaric and if it were my child in the class, they'd be given the absolute empowerment to walk out and go to the loo as and when they needed to if a polite request to go was denied.
Christ.... criminals in prison can go to the loo when they want - a child in school certainly should be able to!