Schools built with no staff toilets

[noblegiraffe]

I’ve heard of academies deciding to do away with staffrooms, but forcing teachers to share toilets with the kids? Er, what?!

www.tes.com/news/lack-staff-only-school-toilets-branded-insanity

Surely that would be a safeguarding issue?

My exs school is like this, so staff tend to only go at the end of the day, or go to reception to use the disabled toilets.

That is awful!

There’s no loo for visitors or contractors then. Not safe at all.
Completely inappropriate for any adults with health needs as well. Imagine being pregnant or having a stoma and having to use children’s facilities. It’s completely wrong.

Why do I get the feeling that the head would have their own toilet?

Not fair on staff, pupils or visitors.

I wouldn’t work there. Not a chance I’m putting myself in that position.

There is a fundamental conflict of interest between the right to privacy of a member of staff while having a poo, and the desire of the students to know more about staff than they ought to. It’s a staggeringly bad plan.

Madness, utter madness.

And what if you need to cry? Or vomit? Insane.

I wouldn't work there either.

Until this September (for 10 yrs) we had no staff toilets but were able to use the disabled toilets, students were only allowed to use them if they had a disability. The head did not have their own toilet but there were visitor toilets. We now have two staff toilets, which feels luxurious! To be honest, having bern through two pregnancies, the main issue was male staff...

The toilets are all individual cubicles that have full length doors and open directly onto corridors.

Is that supposed to be reassuring, Janet?

JanetandJohn500

Which is vile. Full stop.

After seeing the state of school toilets, and reading about horrid toilet standards on here, I wouldn't work there or any school with one toilet for staff.

@thefemaleJoshLyman What happened when the one toilet broke?

There were/are about 8 disabled toilets and now two staff toilets. We are a school of 2200. No risk of all breaking.

We don't have 'staff' toilets as such but open blocks with disabled toilets (large loos with wash basin etc inside) which only staff or kids with a key card can use. This is literally a non issue. I have never heard anyone complain about it.

All the student toilets are open blocks, set just back from the corridor. Unisex but full length doors, shared washbasin. Again - no complaints and no real issues. I remember kids smoking, fighting, bullying and vandalising in the old style girls and boys toilet blocks. We get none of that at all.

Shared wash basin thing doesn’t meet regs. The basin in mixed sex floor to ceiling loos must be within the cubicle for obvious privacy reasons.

The toilets are built as single rooms off of the corridoor, not as big rooms with cubicles iyswim. Its not ideal. But its one person at a time and toilet doors are in view so no/extremely little chance of an adult being in their with a child.
Our place has allocated one of the two disabled toilets on each corridoor to staff only, this was only after an argument of where the sanitary bins would go and the fact young children are curious so didn't want the bins in rooms the younger children would be using.

My school was rebuilt like this - recently had a new head and over the summer we are having staff toilets sorted as this head actually thinks of his staff (we are also having a staff room again!)

Do schools have different building regs? I thought it was the law all toilets have to have a lobby.

YANBU we had this arrangement at one place I worked and male students would mess up the disabled loos. Gross! Although we did have a staff loo but it was 3 floors down.

@Evenquieterlife33 interested to know more about the regs - surely they won't be breaking these?

@ASauvignonADay
bakerstuart.com/guides-officetoiletprovision/
I’ve seen many a conversation about this also on the feminist chat area. If the toilets are mixed sex they have to have a floor to ceiling door and walls, and the basin must be inside that room to qualify.

@Evenquieterlife33 reading that website, what you've screenshot is an example. I can't see that anywhere else online. What I can see online just says: "separate rooms containing conveniences are provided for men and women except where and so far as each convenience is in a separate room the door of which is capable of being secured from inside"

Education documents say the same. Doesn't specify what 'convenience' actually entails but is doesn't specify that including a washbasin.