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?

I'd also speak to other parents and encourage them to raise the issue too

Your child wet herself because by your own admission, she chose not to go at playtime.Nobody else's fault!

I would not be happy at all. I believe in free access to toilets; it’s bad enough having to ask permission. This applies at all ages. I am a secondary teacher and have never refused a child who needed the toilet.

I fully agree . I'm also a senior school teacher and never refuse a child who wants to go to the toilet (even in the first school I taught at, where it was made policy that we had to refuse!). I see it as a basic human right.

And for 5 year olds???!! Unbelievable.

I'd be directing them to the United Nations Human Rights of the Child!

It's an unusual policy. I am a teacher and it is annoying for children to go out in lessons. Usually, we would ask a child to wait until the teaching part had finished. Also sometimes children have to wait if another child is at the loo. Otherwise, I'd always let them go.

Because she's 5 and doesn't fully understand that not going at break will mean she's going to wet herself in class. Kids have a bad sense of time at that age. Also why are they effectively being punished for needing the toilet?

It's mad. Adults can access a toilet when they choose. Why are we restricting children from doing the same?

So have reread your op. You seem to be saying chikdren ARE allowed to go to the toilet but then miss an equivalent amount of break time to the lesson time mussed
That sounds fair enough, and the reason for it is very obvious!

These sort of petty punishments are such a pain. I couldn’t keep children back after class as chances were another teacher was needing immediate access, or my own next class. Delaying movement means children are late for the next class. At break
they could be far away at the other end of the school. Besides, it’s such a massive pain when there is only 20 mins to get to the staff room for a meeting, go to the loo myself, swallow half a cup
if tea and hike to the next room. Life is too short for punishing children/teenagers for needing the toilet. I just ignored these stupid edicts.

It's a ridiculous and cruel policy at any age, and especially for 5 year olds.

Why do some headteachers seem to think that they can police how other people's bodies work? When someone has IBS, a heavy flooding period or any other condition which will require frequent toilet access then what do they do?

Obviously there are piss-takers, but it is generally known quite quickly who they are. Nobody should be blocked from a basic human need.

It's a perfectly reasonable policy for age 7+. By that age they do need to understand that breaktime isn’t just playtime, it's also loobreak time, and you can't do your toiletting in lesson time in order to maximise play time.

However age 5&6 is too young to have this level of autonomous planning. In this age grouos they just need to be told,the wholr class, just before going out to play, just to say "It's important to remember to go to the loo in break time so that you don't miss lessons, please make sure you go at breaktime" and just repeat that every time.

At age 6 you could add "you'll start being kept back at breaktime next year if you miss lessons for a loobreak, so practice not needing to this year." But still to the whole class.

By the end of that 2 years if there are still regular offenders they should be screened for attention deficit and executive function issues that could indicate neurodiversity before any kind of punishment consequence routine is established. Children cannot be punished into deciding to be able to do something they can't do.

Those saying it's acceptable to miss a bit of their break, imagine you're at work, you nip to the loo, it comes to 5pm, your manager says 'oh you need to stay an extra 5 mins as you went to the toilet earlier'

Ok it's different as most of us don't finish dead on time but if your manager said that you'd think they'd lost the plot!

I thought you were going to say your dd was in secondary school!
That does seem a bit harsh but I suppose the school have their reasons.

This is horrendous for such young children. My dd had lots of bladder and bowel issues and would have not coped with this. If your dd is actually wet in school I would contact the school nursing team and ask for your dd to be given a toilet card for medical reasons as she is clearly not ready to hold on for such long periods.

How is that "fair enough"?

What do you think are they doing in the 5 minutes of break time they are kept in, whilst all the other kids are going out to play? Do you really think they'll be continuing the lesson and doing something conducive to their learning? Or will they be looking out the window and wondering why they have to stay in?

Is this better for the child than having a proper break and blowing off steam in the playground so they feel refreshed for their next lesson? Have they actually benefited from a learning experience in that 5 minutes?

Being kept in for a few minutes at playtime is also a common consequence for poor behaviour in primary schools.

A 5 year old is not going to see the difference.

You don't punish kids for going to the toilet.

Schools are getting pettier and more controlling by the week.

Can’t believe a 5 year old is being punished for their own bodily functions!

So glad my DC and I are out of this toxic environment.

OP @Farmersswife you need to stand up and advocate for your baby.

Are you the headteacher?