Schools toilet policy

[Farmersswife]

Looking for some outside views.
schools toilet policy is if they go in lesson they are held back at break / lunch for a few minutes. Children are year 1 DD is 5 & has wet herself in class due to not wanting to miss playtime alongside two wither children. A few parents are quite unhappy and are asking to take it up with the head. I’m a new parent and it’s a new school unsure if this is standard practice for most schools?

Children should be going to toilet at break/lunch. Teacher should not stop them if the need to go during class, keeping a couple of mins late at break doesn't seem too bad as a deterrent from going during class instead of break.

I would tell my child they must go to toilet rather than hold it in. That she would have used a few mins of break to go to toilet so not really missing anything. I expect that she has learned herself though and won't wait that long in future.

I would complain to school if children were prevented from going to the toilet during class.

Nope not ok at this age at all.

Very good point. I hadn’t considered that as my DC haven’t started them yet. These school rules are so degrading to the children.

That's ridiculous for kids so young. I say this as an ex teacher - you know when kids are taking the piss with toilet breaks and you use your discretion. That should be incredibly easy with 5 year olds!

Sometimes heads act like dictators. You are not forced to accept their whims gladly, especially if it is negatively affecting the children.

Little children aren't necessarily in control of the bladders to the tune of only needing to go at break/lunchtime!

By years 5 & 6 I think some restrictions are ok for the average child. But not for infant school. I would complain politely but firmly.

Due to a house move, I enrolled my son in a local primary with a policy of keeping children in for part of their break if they asked to use the loo during class. I didn't know of this until my son came out of school one day saying he'd desperately held it until lunchtime because he didn't want to lose break time -- then at break time, he couldn't find the toilets because there was construction going on and the usual loos were not open. So he went back to class and held it.

At the age of 6, in Y2.

When I asked if this was a policy, the school inferred it was my son's fault and that their policy made kids focus in class (not likely with a full bladder!). I politely disagreed and pulled my kid out of school shortly after. I then home educated him until he got into a much more reasonable primary in Y3. That primary gently discouraged kids from using the toilet during classtime but if they had to go, they could take a clothes peg with them and then put it back on the hook after they came back.

Few years later it came out that the break-denying primary school had hidden cameras in the loo so I'm certain I made the right decision to pull my kid out. There is some real batshittery in some UK schools in terms of toilet access.

Horrendous. I've worked in primary school and we always allowed the children to go when they needed.
There were definitely some who wanted to go to purely mess around but we quickly worked out who and if it's a few that do it regularly then we do not let them go together or one of the TA's would go and supervise.
I'm pretty sure schools aren't allowed to do this.

It’s not the norm in primary. Secondary yes

Going to the toilet should never be punished. As an adult, you can go to the toilet when ever you like so why is it different for children? I would definitely take this up with the head. Especially for the younger ones! My daughter's school has a toilet in each classroom if anyone needs to go.

By the end of Primary I don't see a problem with children being asked to go at break where possible as they need to be prepared for Secondary. (Though I don't agree with blanket bans on toilet breaks during class at Secondary either, just a sensible approach).
At age 5 many children have not long been completely dry. DS3 was still having the odd accident at almost 6 if he couldn't get to the loo quick enough. Children gain full bladder control at varying ages and shaming them or taking away play time for their natural bodily functions is disgusting. If they develop anxiety over this it can actually make the problem worse.

It's not great for your pelvic health to be going to the toilet 'just in case', or holding it for longer than necessary. So yes remind children to use the toilet during break but if they get back to class and 45 minutes in their bladder is full then that's not their fault. Punishing them by losing break time is unfair.

And I imagine cleaning up children who have wet or soiled themselves takes up more time than just letting them go.

Primary school absolutely not ok.

Not ok in secondary either really I know they are stricter with it to prevent groups of kids meeting and congregating in the loo during lesson time.

I genuinely believe any human should be free to use to toilet whenever they need to. I have told my own y7 dc to get up and walk out if he really needs to go. Despite what the teachers say he won't be in any trouble with me.

However it's tough because you inevitably do get some kids using it as an excuse to skip class and go wandering about instead which can be disruptive.

The problem with telling your secondary age children to just go if they need it is that they are often locked during and between lessons. Utter madness

That's terrible. My DD is now 17 but when she was in Y1 they weren't allowed to use the toilet during lessons. So worried about it DD stopped drinking and ended up with quite a few water infections.
I spoke to her teacher, nicely the first time and less nicely the second time but nothing changed. I escalated it with a few other parents to head of KS1 and within a week they changed policy.
Unfortunately a bit late for DD1 who is still prone to water infections now.

My friend's DD wore period knickers to school every day. They are very comfortable, I know that is not the point but her periods were quite erratic when she started and this made her less worried about coming on. Usually there is at least one child who starts in year 4 in a 3 form entry.

I agree with quoting the ERIC information at the top of the page to get them to see the damage that can be done by refusing. I always had the same children ask to go to the toilet. I used to ask them to try to wait until the teaching part was finished, usually 1 minute then they could go but they knew I would let them go if they told me they had to go now. We tried to adhere to a one child out of the classroom policy too for safeguarding reasons. No child should be denied access.

We get children to play out, come in, as they have been running around and their faces are bright red they then drink a load of water from their water bottles and then hold in any wee they may need. Madness.

Thank you everyone for the replies! I wish I’d have posted sooner as might of felt more confident today! as a few parents had a chat with the head about this today. Yes unfortunately is true and she won’t budge on the rule or punishment. I’m quite upset she thinks this is okay!

I am an early years teacher and I would never essentially punish a child for going to the toilet during class time. 9 times out of 10 I let them go right away without questions but if I am right in the middle of teaching or a spelling test for example I might ask if they can wait a few mins or if they are desperate in which case they can go right away.

As they get older I would expect that they didn't ask to go to toilet straight after break or lunch time but wouldn't stop anyone if they had to go. Obviously this only applies to kids who have no medical issues surrounding the toilet.

You need to direct th Head and the Governors to the actual rules on this and tell them it needs to change.

If they don't, I'd be writing to the DfE.

Ex-secondary teacher and totally agree. I couldn’t bear it on my conscience if a child had an accident because I denied them that dignity. Not everyone can hold their bladder indefinitely.

This is what I tell my secondary age kids too, if they can hold it till break then do that, if they can't and the teacher won't let them then they have my permission to leave the classroom and go. Only one of them has ever had to do this once. Much better than the embarrassment of an accident at secondary school which has happened to people because of policies like this.

For 5 year olds it's insane!

Personally I’d take it further with a letter to the chair of governors. It will have more weight if all of you who are unhappy jointly sign the letter.

Yes this is also a ridiculous policy, I understand why they have it but plenty of schools manage not to. Like my kids school, the toilets don't even have doors so impossible to lock and they seem to manage perfectly fine without having to lock the toilets during lessons.

Or bowels for that matter, I had undiagnosed IBS at secondary school and I'm just thankful I was never denied when I really needed to go. People don't know what's going on in other people's bodies and there should never be a blanket policy. It's good to know there are plenty of lovely teachers out there who do understand this.

Bring it up but get others to bring it too. I can imagine my son having the same issue

I work in year 1 and 2 and we always let a child go to the loo if they ask! This policy sounds incredibly cruel. I would definitely speak to the class teacher and voice your concerns, if you feel you're not being listened to then contact the head.