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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Drinking water during the day at school

14 replies

newbrunette · 26/09/2012 22:52

Hi, just wanted to get others' experiences/opinions of this. My 5yo ds in Y1 is coming home every day with a full water bottle (ie he hasn't drunk any water all day, except maybe a little with his lunch). As far as I can gather, the water bottles sit in a box in the corner of the classroom all day, and there's no encouragement to drink.

Is this normal? I would have thought children this age should be drinking more frequently, and being given plenty of encouragement to do so. Isn't keeping hydrated supposed to help concentration etc?

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

2kidsintow · 26/09/2012 23:03

I'm afraid that the water bottles live in a basket in my classroom too. When I've had them on desks, they've spilt, cracked without the parents noticing when they've frozen them and then leaked all over the children's work. Or they are messed with. Or they chug away on them constantly and then are asking for the loo 10 mins later. They are in a prominent position and they walk past them to get in after a break, so they aren't hidden away.

Mine will ask if they want a drink and are always allowed, and I remind them of a drink (and the loo) at breaktimes in the morning and afternoon. They also have their own drink at lunchtime too. One thing that a lot of children complain of is that they don't like their water (especially once it has sat in the warm classroom for a few hours) so I pack a water bottle for my own children, and they also have a juice in their lunchboxes.

Children in foundation/ks1 are usually provided with some sort of drink with their snack, so he may be drinking a bit more than you are aware of.

If it really worried you, I'm sure that you wouldn't be the first parent to go in and ask the teacher if they can keep an eye on how much their child is drinking.

exoticfruits · 26/09/2012 23:07

Just tell him to go and get a drink when he wants one. Having them on desks is a nightmare - water gets everywhere.

UniS · 26/09/2012 23:09

I've got over it now, but it did worry me in YR and 1. I'm happier now that DS WILL drink water when its hot, or after PE. But for the typical school day his lunchtime drink is pretty well all he needs.
He has a drink at breakfast ,lunch , another after school and again at Tea.
Which is pretty well the pattern of drinks I chose to have , and I'm not dehydrated...

He is also now practised at re-filling his school water bottle at school if it runs low during a hot day.

Lifeissweet · 26/09/2012 23:17

Also as a teacher I have to say that water is a nightmare in the classroom. If it's on the tables it gets spilt and messed with. If kept somewhere else it is used as an excuse to put off doing work and one child asking for a drink seems to spark off a chain reaction. It wastes so much time! I give them 3 minutes to get a drink when they arrive in the morning, 3 minutes when they come in from play, 15 minutes when they have their fruit time and 3 minutes after lunch play to have a drink. That should be plenty. The bottles are also refilled by the water monitors in the afternoon. Could it be that his bottle is topped up during the day?

I don't ever deny the children a drink if they really are thirsty and they ask but I also don't want to allow them to get distracted from their work by glugging away all day instead of working!

Original poster

newbrunette · 26/09/2012 23:26

Hi, thanks for replies. Interesting. I wasn't thinking of bottles on the tables - I can well imagine that's a nightmare - but scheduled water times like Lifeissweet mentions sound sensible. I'm almost 100% sure there is no refilling of bottles and also no encouragement to drink. Would I sound like nightmare parent if I suggested/requested a system like Lifeissweet's?

He will absolutely drink when he's thirsty - this evening he had about 2 pints in 10 minutes! But I think he still needs reminding to drink more frequently. As do I, to be honest, and I know I feel better for it.

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Startailoforangeandgold · 26/09/2012 23:39

DD2 won't drink water at all.
So she's sent with squash (HT mutters occasionally), but frequently doesn't drink much if any of it.

She's not much better at home. It used to worry me, but she's got to 11 without any ill effects.

MummyPig24 · 27/09/2012 08:24

Ds is in fs2 and there is water or milk available all morning, then ds has a bottle of water or squash in his lunchbox. He always gets it out at hometime and comea out drinking it. Do they get offered a snack? I thought all schoolsoffered milk?

DeWe · 27/09/2012 10:49

Mine always preferred to use the water fountains except when they were really hot in summer.

Startailoforangeandgold · 27/09/2012 10:54

DD2 won't drink milk either, DD2 is a grade a pain about food and drink of all kinds.

TodaysAGoodDay · 27/09/2012 10:57

We have taps and plastic cups in every classroom, and the children help themselves. They are free to drink as much as they like. Having said that, they rarely do.

fatfloosie · 27/09/2012 11:14

I think if I was a teacher (I'm not) I might be a bit rolleyes at you for wanting the school to nanny him into drinking, rather than - as exoticfruits suggests - just ensuring that he knows he can help himself.

DD doesn't take a water bottle to school, I wasn't even aware that it was the done thing now until it was mentioned in a letter. But I am late 40s so a bit old school re excessive water/fruit & veg/suncream.

exoticfruits · 27/09/2012 11:38

It only came in about 15 years ago.
At the start of break a lot will have a drink-after break even more will grab their water bottle and have a drink. If your DCs doesn't join them it really means that he doesn't want a drink. He will also have the option of milk mid morning and a drink in his lunch box or with the school meal. Even if you tell them they can have a drink, many won't. It is there if he wants it.

UniS · 27/09/2012 14:38

IIRC what Really got DS to drink during the school day was my policy in Year R of checking his water bottle as we left school AND if he hadn't finished the contents expecting him to drink it before we got home and before he had a snack.

jamdonut · 27/09/2012 17:20

Echoing Lifeissweet.....We of course allow children to drink, BUT we have to keep it to a minimum, as it IS used as an excuse to avoid working (always the same children) then 10 minutes later the same children want to go to the toilet. A "Chain reaction" as Lifeissweet said. A huge amount of time can be wasted while we wait for everyone to settle. This is one of the reasons why children have "gaps " in their learning, because they are thinking of drinking and toileting and missing what is happening in the lesson!

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