Primary school mixed sex toilets - school claiming this is allowed

[jellyjester]

Hi, my DD is in year 5 and mentioned that the toilets they have are 4 cubicles in a room which are shared between all the children in year 5 and 6 (with gaps above and below the doors and walls of each cubicle, and sinks outside the cubicles). These toilets are for the use of all boys and girls in those years and there's no alternative provision.

I looked up the guidelines and emailed the school as I was concerned she may get her period soon and need more privacy. They've said that their cubicles comply with the guidelines here
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/410294/Advice_on_standards_for_school_premises.pdf
because the school fulfil this criteria:

"b) separate toilet facilities for boys and girls aged 8 years or over are provided except where the toilet facility is provided in a room that can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at a time"

School have said that as each toilet (cubicle) is lockable and intended for use by 1 pupil at a time that they've been advised that they're following the guidance and are in line with a large number of schools around the country with similar types of school buildings.

I think the guideline is talking about a room, not a cubicle and in fact later in the guideline it says this
"Where there is unisex provision (under ISS 23A (1) (b) or SPR 4 (2)), the privacy of the occupant needs to be ensured and this will be achieved by, for example, having adequate enclosure and a full height door."

I've looked up the Women's place, safe school alliance and sex matters guidance on it and they agree with my interpretation.

Who is right - me or school? Thanks!

At my first school, from one of the classrooms the boys had to go outside to go to the toilet and it was always considered a good thing because, especially during cold or wet weather, they wouldn't ask to go during class unless they genuinely needed to.

That's actually a good point. They could access a different set of toilets if they went outside and they wouldn't disturb the other classes as they'd be going through an outside door to the toilets /cloakroom.

Does anyone know of a school where the toilets have this kind of set up (ie varies blocks of cubicles each is shared in between two classrooms with a cloakroom leading to outside, ) and the school have successfully sex segregated them?

@jellyjester Hi how are you getting on?
These are the newest DfE documents for toilets on new builds if they help at all. I believe it applies to refurbishments too. The toilets section is annex 2A and discusses girls toilet blocks from age 8 upwards having vending machines for sanitary products.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65803d561c0c2a000d18cf3c/GDB_GenericDesignBrief-A-C17.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6380b52d8fa8f56eaf2f924b/GDB_Annex_2A_Sanitaryware-A-C12.pdf#page16

Can I just reiterate what others have said about the important of keeping gaps in cubicle doors. This prevents assaults happening when two children get into the cubicle. Unfortunately serious sexual assaults do happen particularly in a mixed sex private place.

The door gaps are also lifesaving if a child has a medical emergency inside the cubicle (hypos, seizures, choking on vomit etc). I saved someone’s life due to a toilet door gap as I saw a blue hand on the floor of the cubicle so I managed to rescue and resuscitate them in time. Of course the cubicles are much easier to clean if you can mop/ hose the floor down too.

Thanks. To be honest I gave up because I found the headteacher to be totally unable to listen to me/my well worded emails.

This is a useful fact sheet. You are absolutely correct that they are breaking the law and I feel really sorry for the year 5 and 6 girls who are having to navigate periods.

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/singlesextoiletsfactsheet.pdf