To ask what you think to this school new rule?

[Redsatin109]

Just heard from other parents that apparently they’ll be reducing the amount of water y2 and upwards can have next year. So limiting the amount of times they can access their water bottle. This is because they’re only allowed to go to the toilets at breaks/lunch and it’s to limit toileting accidents in the classroom.

I think that you should ask the school if this is true and what this means in practice.

Assuming that y1 have free access to water, I think that your response should depend on how often y2 would get water (if they want)

When my stepson (now 31) was at school they introduced it as it improves concentration

There's no evidence that persistent access to a water bottle "improves concentration".

On the contrary, a class of children regularly disrupting a lesson to get up and wander over to their water bottle/go to the toilet - THAT reduces concentration.

Exactly this. Children don't need to be constantly slurping water, and they should only be going to the loo at breaks, not during lessons. It worked perfectly well for decades.

Having been a teacher, I can tell you that a class full of water bottles does not aid anyone’s concentration! Quite the opposite!

Medical exceptions, as illustrated on this thread - no problem. Everyone else - it will be a good thing.

I agree with this rule.

I agree, there’s no need to have access to water continuously unless there is a medical need. When I went to school we had milk at morning break, a drink at lunchtime and that was it til going home! We all survived.

Exactly this. We are all capable of going a couple of hours without a drink.

unless they have an illness i dont understand the need for it all day

they have a break at 11 dontg they

I bet you only drank water from the garden hose! 🙄🤣

We had a water fountain at primary school and we were only allowed to use it at breaks or at lunch. No-one died from dehydration. Nobody moaned about being dehydration. And we all left primary school able to read, write and do arithmetic. Nowadays some kids are leaving secondary school barely able to speak coherently.

Came on to say this. We didn’t have water bottles, you got a drink at break and lunch time. Nobody died (and actually I can’t remember a constant stream - sorry - of kids asking to go to the toilets in class either, we just waited for break time).

Kids managed for years without water bottles in class at all and survived.

There’s always one …

I work in a school and we’ve had to bring in this rule this year. It’s only been an issue in the last few years with the rise of ‘trendy’ water bottles. Essentially every lesson teachers were getting 5+ requests to fill up their water bottles. Students wandering up and down corridors in lessons, distracting others. The lesson itself is disrupted. Now they can fill up their bottles in the time between lessons or break time.
it’s a behaviour management thing.
obviously if a child has a headache/coughing fit then they can go get water - but really, children don’t need to drink throughout lessons. I certainly didn’t when I was at school.

That myth was debunked along with Brain Gym and learning styles over a decade ago,

Unless the school tells you the reasons it is enforcing a rule, you don’t know why it is being done. There are plenty of valid reasons for this. Despite what some parents are determined to believe, teachers are aware that children can’t learn if they are thirsty or desperate to wee, and they are quite capable of making sure their class has enough access to basic things they need.

I do think the constant carrying of water bottles is a bit barking, outside of v hot weather. If the little kids are having accidents because they can’t regulate how much they drink, then the school does need to take it in hand.

I think you’re wasting your time about some thing ehich probably isn’t true.

Why are children getting up to get their water bottles? At my DD’s school, they are always on the desks.

I missed weeks of school as a young child from heat exhaustion and dehydration. We lived in a warm climate, had no air conditioning, and weren’t allowed water bottles. I would get so sick I would vomit. No, I wasn’t a particularly healthy child.

I am very pro water bottles. If children are thirsty, they should be allowed to drink.

Stupid. The kids who are peeing to get out of lessons will still pretend to want to pee, and the kids that try to control their drinking so they don't need to pee will get dehydrated!

It's like 2 hours max without a drink. My kids have a glass of ester at home, they arent sipping consatnstantly.

I'm sure the reason is because some kids are drinking in way that leads to disruption so, much like holiday time off, a blanket rule has been applied which isn't fair to the kids who will want the odd sip in lessons.

At most there may some tempporary minor discomfort and its such a non issue that I'm surprised anyone has time to really worry about it (not a dig at op, just an eyerolp about how many parents, probably mums, will want to make a fuss)

YABU to say they're reducing "the amount of water" the kids can have. There's nothing to stop the kids downing glass after glass of water all break and all lunchtime. They'll just be asked not to drink during lessons. Whether that's a good or a bad idea is up for discussion, but don't start by misrepresenting the policy.

At the moment, you appear to be going on hearsay or gossip. Wait until you hear the facts.

However, water bottles are a pita at school. Our children suck on them like baby bottles, spill their water constantly from playing with them (generally ruining their partner’s book), use it as an excuse to opt out of learning, then another excuse because they need to use the toilet, leave them out on the field/playground (thereby wasting more time going to get them after break or lunch), waste more lesson time going to refill the bottle….etc etc.