DS was chatting to me last night and seemed worried about the toilet system in his new yr 1 class.
He said they have a toilet chart where there's a side for girls and one for boys and if you're going to the loo (after asking), you have to put your label on the top, which means nobody can go if you're there (there are 7 toilets for boys and 7 for girls). I said surely this wasn't right and I would ask the teacher today.
So I asked her this morning what the set up was and she said that's correct and that they were allowed to go at all times after asking but not at carpet time (15mins long) every so often throughout the day.
I laughed and said that was ridiculous and how could they expect a 5 yr old child who was still in pull ups at night to sit and wait until either the person on the top of the chart had come back or not at all if on the carpet. There was a message on the whiteboard telling parents that they were teaching the children not to go to the loo at carpet time and to make sure they went before class (like a 5 yr old will remember to do that)
So I said that I didn't agree and that it was counter-productive to my toilet training; saying that we are always telling DS to go when he needs and not to sit there holding it. She said that was the rules. She said if she could they were desperate they could go but not at carpet time (she isn't a mum).
Don't really know what to do now - I know that DS is worried about it and when I said he should just say he really needs to go when he does and he replied "but it's the rule".
I agree that in yr 1, they need more rules and discipline but to be told to sit and wait for 10/15 mins whilst they have carpet time is bonk.
On the ERIC site it says that making a child go to the loo 'just to try' when they don't really need to can cause their bladder not to learn when it's really full and lead to not drinking enough in order not to need to go or incontinence.
Am so pee-ed off with school - they have the most bonk rules and if the parents don't agree with them -tough!