Water/ loo trips - what are your school's rules?

[Mookatron]

Just that really. I thought I would do a quick poll about what your kids' school or the school you teach in does about water bottles and trips to the loo. This before i 'go in all guns blazing' in case my kids' school rule is common practice. Thanks in advance!

Depends what year group.

Year 5/6 please, thanks!

Water bottles in classroom. Not on desks, able to get a drink as long as not in teaching time.
Toilet not allowed unless at break or lunch. Obviously if really urgent that's different but the teacher always says no to the first request

Thanks. And do you have morning and afternoon breaks?

Who's that trip trapping over my bridge...

Tbh if a year 5/6 child cannot manage without going to the toilet for an hour and a half I think you have bigger problems than school rules

Sorry just seen this isn't your first post. But it does sound like the water bottle/toilet troll.

I'm not a troll, promise! It's more about the drinking water actually. I don't necessarily agree with you fattymcfaterson but I'm prepared to change my mind if no drinks or loo visits all afternoon is standard.

Is there a water bottle troll?!

I am v pissy about the rules atm and also considering approaching the school. Year 5 girl here.

They're not supposed use toilet in class time. (I totally get that as a teacher!!) but at break/lunch they for some reason have closed the junior corridor so they all have to use the infants toilets. My daughter is 9 but the height of a 11/12 year old. She can see over the top of the cubical doors!! Also there's no sanitary towel bins in the infant toilets (she doesn't need them....yet!) it's really annoyed me!

With drinks they have stopped having them on the desk and that's pissed me off too. They have to ASK to get a drink. My daughter is a people pleaser, some of the kids constantly ask so the teacher gets a bit pissy and now she won't ask cos she doesn't want to upset the teacher. As a result she's suffering with constipation!!

A year 5/6 child won't dehydrate in the 90 minutes before break, the 90 minutes after break or the 2 hours in the afternoon - they need to learn to drink at the appropriate time. It's really disruptive to have 30 children going to get a drink at random times. Most schools changed this policy when it was really hot

So what about the healthy eating guidelines - free access to water and being encouraged to drink it?

Well, school isn't a particularly healthy place to be when you think about it.

We make them sit still, be quiet, not touch anything, and exist in fixed year groups whilst eating, drinking and using the bathroom at rigid set times. We make them come in when they have coughs and colds, which they then spread around. Toileting isn't adequately supervised in the under 7s which means they often don't wash their hands.

It's all unhealthy. I wouldn't focus too much on being thirsty for an hours.

Ok, I'm thinking I'll keep my powder dry. Still think suppressing normal bodily function for a couple of hours a day is bloody ridiculous, but then so much of school is joyless and shite these days. Suppose I can't complain until I'm ready to home school (i.e. never).

Thanks for replies.

Just a friendly reminder not to overshare on this subject in case it flushes our creep of a friend who loves tales of kids pissing themselves in class out of the woodwork.

(If you've not met the piss troll yet you're lucky)

Our school was a pilot school and our findings were that water aided concentration. I let them go about 2pm around the time we changed lesson. In winter I do let them go after registration but remind them they should have gone at lunchtime. The cold weather does make them want to wee more. I let one boy one girl go so they are not out for long. I don't have a problem with it.

I would probably contact the school about this. Surely they could have 5 minutes where they're allowed to have a drink mid afternoon without it causing chaos. I know at most schools there isn't a great deal of opportunity to drink at play time.

Year 5, children can go up to the sink 2 at a time whenever they want so long as it isn't a test or the teacher is talking.

Children allowed to go toilet up until 9:30, then break time, lunch time and after 2:00 pm.

I allow water bottles on the tables so long as they can use them sensibly. If they are being played with, spilled or (worst of all) used to make horrible noises while I'm talking then they have to put them by the sink. I like to drink through the day so think the children should too. On the matter of toilets, we're lucky enough to have them right outside our door so the children are allowed out one at a time while working (e,g, not instruction time).

I insist on having water on the table during lessons. This is so I can minimise disruptions in the classroom our dining room we are a homeschooling family. Water is essential. Regarding toilets they are told to ask me first.

Constipation is due to lack of fibre in the diet. Try baked potato skins, bran flakes and baked beans. Obviously your DD isn’t having a healthy diet.

Water is also vital but with water drinking comes more loo trips. Hot days require water and many schools were more generous with water breaks.

Homeschooling rules are somewhat irrelevant. I guess there are not 30 children around the dining table!

Students can have a water bottle in their bag and can get a drink when needed unless it is when I'm explicitly teaching or giving instructions. They aren't allowed to go out for a drink because they should bring a drink bottle if they want to drink during class time.

As a teacher, I pretty much let kids go when they want as long there is only one girl and one boy at a time out. This is so that should the fire alarm go off, I don't have to go into a total frenzy trying to remember how many kids need to be retrieved from the loos!!