Advice needed on class who are obsessed with water and toilet trips

[cassgate]

Hi,

Hope some of you wise people may have some suggestions. I am a newly qualified TA in my first job with an NQT. Our year 3 class seem to have somewhat of an obsession with either wanting to go to the toilet or going to have a drink. The drinking is more a problem as once one of them asks to have a drink they all want to have one. They have water bottles in school which are kept in a tray in the classroom. The school does allow children to have free access to their bottles when they need them but this class in particular have somewhat of an obsession about it. The head witnessed it yesterday and said they could have the water bottles on their desks but we tried that today and had a number of spillages so don't really want to continue with that. We don't want to deny children a drink but it really is ridiculous. I know the class well as I spent a lot of time with them in year 2 last year and they were like it then as well. They also had obsessions about sharpening pencils last year and there would be a crowd sometimes of 5 or 6 around the bin sharpening pencils. I have therefore made sure they do not have free access to pencil sharpeners this year. I am not sure how we go about cracking the constant requests for a drink though. Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

I also find this worrying. Access to drinking and going to the toilet should not be restricted or "punished" in any way. I feel quite angry about this. My daughter is well behaved but quite shy and terrified of getting in trouble at school. She also suffers from recurrent bladder infections and I always have to nag her to drink more and go to the toilet as soon as she feels the urge. Even though I've told her class teacher about this, I am quite sure that she feels bad about asking to go to the toilet so she'll hold it in. This leads to UTIs for many people.

I'm sorry but it's a basic human right to be able to go to the toilet when you feel the urge. You may be able to go for a wee at break times but you can only go for a poo when you need to go! It's bloody barbaric to punish kids for going to the toilet!

I'm sure others here will agree with me, that we always try to show kindness to the children and assess if they really need to go or not.
If a child is really thirsty, we will usually allow a drink, especially if warm, unless the teacher is teaching/explaining what to do. If a child is desperate for the toilet- they wouldn't be denied.
It's just trying to settle a class early in the year, this needs to be done. It's incredibly disruptive to have children in and out the room all lesson.

Also, if your child has toilet issues- always let the teacher know. There is always children that we will allow free acess to the toilet, and other staff members/ supply teachers should be aware too. I've never seen or heard of any child being punished for needing the toilet. Ever.
The threat of strikes/ loosing play etc, was tongue in cheek, to deter the procrastinators from taking regular trips to avoid doing any work.

It's about trying to find a balance.

There is a difference between "restricting" children, who are just up and down for the sake of it...and not allowing children to go to the toilet, despite their medical needs. Most teachers would not hold back children with medical issues. As long as the teacher is aware, it doesn't usually cause any problems.
I have four children with such medical needs in my class, but due to the fact that all of my class are allowed to go whenever they want, they don't stand out or require any special treatment as such.
It's the second week now. No issues with my pupils going out too often or being disruptive. They've settled very quickly and we've had a chat about when it's appropriate to go out and when I'd prefer them to wait for a little bit. I do sometimes wonder why British schools are so heavily regulated. Some rules are just odd.

Teachers on here are suggesting withholding points and 'making up the minutes at break'. These are punishments for going to the toilet and definitely sufficient to make my daughter not go and sit in wet pants all afternoon. It is also not about 'allowing very thirsty children to drink' but encouraging them to drink plenty! I shouldn't need to be speaking to the teacher though as this holds true for all children not just ones with 'medical issues'.

I encourage all my class to drink at playtime, pour water on lunch duty for them and encourage drinking.
They are also taken to the water fountains by teachers. I do all I can to encourage water consumption, but we have to try and settle the class into a routine. This isn't set in stone though, and children are not mistreated (certainly not in my class).

As mentioned before, speak to the teacher if you're worried about your child.
Children in y2 are often able to go toilet at breaktimes, and maybe, hold on if only five minutes to go. If they can't they will let you know, and will be allowed to go. After all, an accident is the last thing anyone wants.

I'd like to see all you drinking/toileting every five minutes advocators teach a class of 30 who are allowed to just get up and go to the toilet/get a drink whenever they choose try to teach them anything. No child, whatever medical condition needs to have a drink more than once an hour. If they do they need to get fitted with a drip.

In our class water bottles kept in a tray by the sink and children are allowed to have a drink if they need one, but not when the teacher is teaching them directly. Same with the toilet.

Sports cap don't help with spills much. If bottles are on tables some children sit with it in their mouths like a baby bottle the whole time. They constantly need to wee as they get through a lot more water than needed. Some children need the toilet 3 times in an hour session due to the constant drinking.

Would love to see some of you try to teach without rules.

There are very few medical issues that mean you can't live without a drink for 2 hours. Ask any doctor.

Your children will have a shock in secondary school when drinking isn't allowed in any lessons.

The strategies suggested above like having chance to drink at the start and end of a lesson sound more than acceptable to me.

My dd started getting recurring bouts of cystitis aged about 6 and it turned out that she was drinking nothing at all during the day at school because she was afraid of getting into trouble. She was scared that if she drank anything then she might need the toilet and would get told off by the teacher.

I live somewhere really hot and the dc aren't drinking all the day.

There are water fountains outside and they are encouraged to bring a water bottle from home. They can have a drink when they come in at the start of the session. One or two might have a drink during the lesson but it's not the norm.

Hi,

Thank you to everyone who has made comments good or bad on this subject. Just wanted to come back and say that we have managed to curb the constant requests for drinks. Children are reminded to have a drink as soon as they enter the classroom in the morning and can do so during registration. After that they can ask but depending on the time it may or may not be granted. E.g if it is only 5 minutes until break then they can wait, if its 5 minutes after school has started then they can wait. No drink breaks during teacher input for the days lessons etc. They are reminded before break and lunchtime that they must use the time to have a drink and go to the toilet if they need to. The person on playground duty at break and lunchtime also gives the children a 5 minute warning that break/lunch time is nearly over and they need to get a drink/go to the toilet now etc. I would reiterate that we are not monsters and we will allow children to go to the toilet if they are absolutely desperate. All these measures have drastically reduced the requests for drinks and toilet trips. The most interesting aspect was seeing the vast numbers of children who were apparently desperate for a drink during lesson time who were asked to wait until break and then ignore the water bottle trolley on the way out to break. There was also the boy who asked if he could go to the toilet when it was only 5 minutes to break time. I asked if he could wait 5 minutes as teacher was reviewing the lesson for that session and it was nearly break time. He said he could wait and he was fine. (If he had said he couldn't wait I would have let him go). He also bypassed the toilets on the way out to break and I called him back and reminded him that he had asked to go to the toilet 5 minutes ago. His response, I don't need to go any more.

"No child, whatever medical condition needs to have a drink more than once an hour. If they do they need to get fitted with a drip."

That's a really upsetting thing to write Cheese, it's alienating and cruel. Seriously.

I have a condition where I need to drink every few minutes, should I 'get myself hooked up to a drip' as I can't be normal enough for you? Or maybe I should be hooked up to a catheter too and have done with it yes?

It's rare I'm hurt by anything people write on mumsnet, and that covers alot of border line stuff. But the callous throwaway nature of your comment, the 'otherness' and dismissiveness is deeply unpleasant.

But I'm sure you won't give a shit about that.

And no, I don't believe children should be forever getting up and down in droves throughout class, but that can be handled easily, as shown by the multitude of good suggestions on this thread.

Miscellaneous in your situation you would have your own policy to ensure you could drink.

I have genuinely never come across a medical condition that requires a drink every few minutes.

Cheeses comment was probably bourn out of frustration at some of the crazy suggestions on this thread about little darlings being parched if they hadn't had a sip of drink for an hour.