Unisex toilets in Secondary School

[WC]

DDs secondary school (Holland Park, in west London) is currently being rebuilt and the new building is nearly ready. I have just read in a newsletter that instead of separate girls and boys toilets there are going to be unisex toilets for all. My initial thought was that it was really weird and DD doesn't like it. I was just wondering if this was usual in new builds these days and if others have experience of schools doing this.

We have a new build and ours are unisex. They are all to one side of a corridor near either a faculty office or Year Office. There are 2 cubicles for boys, 2 for girls, a disabled toilet and a communal handbasin area. The 'cubicles' have full-length brick walls and full-length doors. The only concern I have heard voiced is that you can hear through the door but that would be the same in unisex toilets as well. I wouldn't have thought it would ever be quiet enough at breaktime to hear anything myself!

"I think any school wishing to have unisex toilets should canvas the children as to whether they want them." In theory, bevelino, I think that sounds like a good idea.

But then, many of the pupils who express an opinion will have left by the time they are built. I also wonder whether people's Yuk! reaction is due to how they perceive this might work, rather than the reality. Another reality is that kids love to moan about thier school (almost as much as teachers )

Having read through this thread it seems that most people who have worked in schools that have unisex loos think they are ok.

I second the view of a previous posted who questioned how many of the posters on this thread cope on a long haul flight.

Yes there is a spelling mistake in my last post, one that really annoys me when I see others making the same mistake.

I'm really interested to know how giving pervy boys or would be rapist boys (obviously a tiny minority but they do exist) more access to girls when they are vulnerable would reduce sexual assaults or harassment.

I would have presumed Nyac that due to the 'openness' of unisex toilets and the fact that in new builds there is less likely to be an outer door to the washing basins etc it is ensuring that more staff are visible to what goes on (never worked in a new build, but from what I have gathered from colleagues that do that this is one of the main areas where bullying has been reduced)

My DD attends the school in question and is a bit wary of this toilet issue! There has been no consultation - the leadership tend to be a bit control freakish. We haven't seen any particular details of the new building so far but hopefully the layout will be one that has worked well in the new builds that posters have mentioned; I think a lot depends also on how it is policed by staff tbh. In two visits to Westfield this week we have seen boys from the school being thrown out of shops or the cinema for being disruptive pests. There are a lot of kids who are very well behaved but unfortunately there always seems to be a minority who behave very badly. If there is any opportunity for silly little boys to harass and annoy girls, I think they will find it! DD has also seen homophobic bullying going on. I am sure the school have thought it through; they are generally on the ball when it comes to managing behaviour - at least in the school building itself.

no thankyou. When the local swimming pool had unisex loos/changing areas there was incident after incident of boys peering under doors at girls.
No to unisex loos (including disabled ones)

I don't really understand why people are ignoring sexually criminal behaviour in the design of these toilets. It's very odd.

Nyac Are you serious? Do you intend to keep all girls away from boys for ever in situations where they might be together then? Like on the beach, or in the swimming pool or Scout camp?

I think you're being a bit ridiculous tbh.

Nyac, it is less likely to happen because they are far more open and suspicious behaviour more noticeable from outside.

as a muslim my objection would be the girls needing a space to fix their headscarfs when they come loose and a place to beable to perform ritual ablutions which requires them to take their scarf of and wipe over their head so they wouldnt beable to do that in order to pray at luchtimes if handbasins were in communal areas.

did i kill the thread?

Thank you all for your responses. I am surprised that toilets are such an emotive issue, I expected a couple of responses only! I may post back in the autumn when the new toilets are in use, with DDs views then - hopefully positive!