State schools around me are locking toilets for students

[MyopicBunny]

Has anyone else heard of this happening? The students are told that they may only use the bathrooms at set times. The rest of the time they lock them. Apparently, this is Rishi Sunak's idea to help improve attendance to lessons. I think it's an abuse of human rights. Nobody should be stopped from going to the loo. Imagine a girl who needed to go urgently because her period started or a student with IBS?

I think it's completely batshit. It doesn't affect my children because one is at nursery and the other HE.

Because no one cares! It needs money.

Self -harm is also an issue. Students don't go to the loo at breaks and instead use lessons to wander the school. Locking loos is far from ideal but the message will get through eventually. Menstruating girls can last an hour.

Did you read my extensive list of reasons why they’re locked?

Tgere would be no toilets if they weren’t locked occasionally.

All these parents bleating on about their kids needing water bottles in lessons -your kids in the future will be like 'yeah I didn't get any GCSEs because I was in the toilets. However I remained extremely well hydrated throughout'.

God, people need to get a grip. I don't sit at work mainlining water through the day.

There's being hydrated and there's taking the absolute piss. Literally in the case of some of these deranged responses.

Yes anyone who has worked in a secondary school will agree with @ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Why is it not publicised? Because it’s so widespread it’s not news probably.

As well as the constant vandalism and bad behaviour we had an attempted suicide once which still affects staff & has affected how we run things.

We now have a dedicated toilet for those who need to leave class for medical reasons etc which is closely supervised.

It’s not the parents, it’s education policy.

Frequently drinking water leads to better learning.

Your right the majority are well behaved, but the minority who aren't has gotten larger over the years. This core minority seem hard to disapline and are a growing problem.

We don't lock them at our school but each room.has a tolite pass so only one student can go at a time.

We used to do Ouija board at school in the 80’s in the school loos.

Why is it not publicised?
Because believe it or not, schools aren't allowed to name and shame vandalising students in the local press. And it's hardly a good advert for the school is it? Come to our school where students shit on the floor. What fucking planet are some of you on?

Been that week over a year now at DC school- lots of warning and an eye watering cost of repairs toted up for parents cttv installed and apparently not enough to find culprits. Newish school so toilets open on to corridors - so they spent 6K installing shutters - still much cheaper than repairs.

I'm worried but my remaining child copes - and frankly there are lots of problems at the school - they also said risk of doors being kicked in and photos taken were so high they didn't dare use anyway.

I was surprised when my old school where DN did the same - it was known for good discipline - post covid and none of the disruption my kids school had with leadership - they still lost staff and behavior went downhill. DN was traveling some distance so was badly impacted.

In both cases theoretically toilet access in there in breaks lunch in reality it's often more complex - there are medical exceptions but not sure how well they are working. Not ideal but other thing bother my remaining child more.

Frequent drinking may well lead to better learning, but not if they have to spend their lessons traipsing to the toilet.

It's educational policy that schools have to provide access to fresh water as standard, but not at the expense of their actual learning.

It all sounds bloody awful. No wonder there are so many school refusers nowadays. Sounds like a hellhole.

Someone was selling blow jobs in my old school. 3 quid a go.

This is an ofsted outstanding school in a posh area with off the scale results.

They are meant to have access to water at all times. Not just at break and dinner time.

It's amazing how all these kids can come on school trips 2 hours away on a coach with no toilet and then queue 2 hours for a rollercoaster without needing the toilet or sit through a 2 hour film without needing the toilet.
But a 50 minute maths lesson? Absolutely not.
Truly, the mind boggles.

I didn't mean publicised in the local paper or the school web pages.

I go to the parent forum occasionally where the head and SLT tell us what the issues are and how they want to try and deal with it. The toilets have never come up once.
If they told us shit was being smeared everywhere and doors ripped off there might be some understanding from parents of why the toilets are mainly locked. They have only said 'vaping'.

@OverTheCountryClub is right. Toilets are a nightmare in schools. Children break them, block them, flood them etc. so they have to be closed while someone sorts that out. They are also a place where children hang out in groups in the toilets and bully others. The pupils are caught, punished and then they just do it again because they don’t really care if they get a detention or are temporarily excluded.

Some schools do a one in and one out system with a teacher monitoring but that can only be done at break and everyone hates it. Other schools use toilet keys but they don’t really work as the keys get lost or the door gets left open.

Sadly DD3 was at a supposedly 'small nurturing private school' ... where, in Y9, he didn't go to the toilet because the year 10s were constantly in there vaping. There were endless issues with that year group that the school didn't manage to cope with. Schools are difficult places. Tbh even in my day years ago at a high achieving grammar in south London I used to 'hold it all day' because the girls that hung out in the toilets were intimidating. I'm sure it didn't do my bladder much good at all. They can't have cctv in toilets of course - that would be another abuse of human rights. And there aren't enough staff in schools to be able to be constantly policing all corridors with toilets in to check what is going on. It shouldn't be what they have to do anyway.

I go to the parent forum occasionally where the head and SLT tell us what the issues are and how they want to try and deal with it. The toilets have never come up once.
If they told us shit was being smeared everywhere and doors ripped off there might be some understanding from parents of why the toilets are mainly locked. They have only said 'vaping'.

Because it's bad publicity. Bums on seats = funding. They don't want you to take your kids out and send them elsewhere, or for other local parents to decide not to send their kids there.

They did CTTV at entrances and outside corridors - wasn't apparently enough to stop vandals or work out who.

DN was fine 8 to 4.15 except few days a month - then as it was so stressful worry about lack of access to toileting she was often sick which was a worry for single working parent sister. She's at college now with normal toilet access - the stomach aches, headaches and even vomiting once a month are no longer an issue.

I suspect it doesn't help the really low attendance figure at DC secondary either - but I don't have a solution.

Very true

Was like this in 2007-2012 when I was there. We used to make sure we didn’t drink much so we didn’t need the toilet sat in the middle of lessons. A boy wet himself once and I don’t know how many times I’ve leaked due to waiting 2-3 hours to change an already full tampon/pad.

Whatever the solution is they’ve still not found it. I feel sorry for the kids and teachers

I’m afraid you are very out touch with the realities schools are facing.

Because it's bad publicity. Bums on seats = funding. They don't want you to take your kids out and send them elsewhere, or for other local parents to decide not to send their kids there.

So it's purposefully hidden from parents and prospective pupils parents? I guess that's why none of us knew the extent of it till we read it 10 minutes ago here.

I just asked my 14yr old. He said the toilets are fine, clean and quiet. No bullying, no mess, no vandalism, nothing broken, he doesn't feel anxious going there.
It's a regular secondary school with a large amount of PP pupils, area of very high deprivation.

Clearly some schools just have it really bad then.

Extremely out of touch .