School toilets

[Sweetheart1990]

School toilets!
Son text me to say he had walked out of lesson after being refused permission to go to the toilet, he had finished all his work. I have always told him to do this if he is desperate but he never actually has before.
He has been put in isolation.
I'm angry as I really believe that students should be allowed to go when they need to and he had completed all tasks so was just say in the classroom anyway.
What does everyone else think?

We will have to agree to disagree. Teachers do not leave their classes. We go at break and lunch. Cover is not available if we just fancy a jaunt and a break from class, which is exactly what most pupils are doing.

Christ - your DC’s school sounds like a warzone! Glad that we pushed for a decent grammar to avoid this nonsense. Mutual respect between pupils and teachers goes a long way.

So one poster says having to hold on damaged your bladder and now you tell us the opposite. Most of us seem to manage toilet visits without any real damage.

People have repeatedly explained if you have medical issues you can get a pass.

Ok, well if that's a true account of events, the school is clearly being utterly ridiculous. Students aren't allowed to go to the loo during lessons, but they aren't allowed to go in between either? Absurd policy. Can that even be legal?

I can't imagine a child is in a good frame of mind for learning when their primary focus is not wetting themselves.

This boy is 14 so he's likely been at senior school for less than three years but he's had to leave class to go to the toilet multiple times according to his mother. So not a one off. Either he has a medical problem or needs to make sure he goes before lessons.

Tell that to all the bus and coach drivers out there.
They absolutely do have to hold it in until break. Which in many cases is after 4 hours.
And then, if they’re lucky, they might be able to use a filthy public toilet somewhere.

Err most hospitality jobs...most jobs where there is a staffing ratio..yes you get breaks TO GO TO THE TOILET.. but an employer is not going to let a teenager amble off for a vape and a scroll on their phone in the loo and leave a till unattended... customers waiting.. or a swimming pool or play scheme unattended...

I wasn't talking about my child's school, he's 50 so a bit old for school, I was talking about my old school, nice girls grammar. I'm amazed you've never heard of bullying in schools.

Can I ask was there a break before lesson ? How long was left when he walked out ?

Oh my goodness, your poor DD😢 no child should be treated that way. DS has said he has had accidents when he was outdoors and wasn't allowed inside the school quickly enough. It really upset me that people behave this way. He genuinely needed to go. The proof gets carried home if he cannot make it in time...he has at least two changes of clothing in his school bag with wipes there to freshen up.
I hope your DD never has to go through that experience ever again.

Wander in and out? No, they can go to the bathroom.

They can eat in class time whenever, as long as it’s not disturbing anyone and they are listening.

I wasn’t trying to flex, just throwing in my two
cents. I don’t want my students hungry or desperate to go to the toilet, I don’t think that’s when the best learning happens.

It was hilarious first lesson, his bus was late so he didn't have anytime before first lesson today. It was about 10 mins until the end of lesson

But surely knowing where they are going is a must ?

Did she know his bus was late ? I can see why she said no if it was first lesson , although I would have maybe relented on his 3rd request
but she probably did think he could hang on for 10 more minutes.

Attitude lol.

So if you were desperate and going to wet yourself they wouldn’t let you run to the toilet? Isn’t that against the law?

no all teenagers want the toilet for a vape and scroll on their phone, some genuinely need to go

Regarding toilet passes 🙄

Schools do not have the legal authority to compel parents or pupils to disclose personal medical information as a condition for allowing a child to use the toilet outside of scheduled breaks.

Requiring families to provide medical documentation in order for a child to access the bathroom is inconsistent with statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education, including Keeping Children Safe in Education and the Equality Act 2010.

A child’s medical information is classified as special category personal data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Schools may only request such information where it is necessary, proportionate, and supported by a lawful basis.

They cannot insist upon disclosure, nor can they penalise a child for refusing to provide it.

Toilet access is a basic welfare need.

Restricting it, or conditioning it on the disclosure of medical records, may amount to a breach of the child’s right to privacy under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, unlawful processing of special category data, a failure to meet the school’s safeguarding duties, or potential disability discrimination if the child has a medical need, diagnosed or not.

Parents are entitled to decline to share medical documentation, and schools must still make reasonable adjustments and ensure the child’s health, dignity, and wellbeing are protected.

The amount of times I have to deal with this shit in my own profession is absurd.

Schools are overreaching in their authority, and it needs to stop.

Their safeguarding duties do not give them the right to demand intrusive personal information, and their policies must remain compliant with data protection law and children’s welfare rights.

I wish more parents would challenge this directly with the Department for Education, because only consistent pressure will force schools to stop exceeding their legal powers.

I don't think she knew. He didn't mention it so I doubt it. I understand why you may say no the first time but when a child asks 3 times and tells you they are in pain and really need to go I just think it's cruel not to let them. He has a good relationship with this teacher and hasn't ever had a problem in the class

There’s plenty of jobs in the world where you can’t just get up and go for a wee midway through. Can a surgeon do it at a critical point in the operation? Does the dentist do it when he’s mid extracting a tooth? Do the teachers go midway through class? Does a train driver stop the train midway and go? What about the taxi driver? Or the driving instructor/examiner?

He’s not a five year old, he can hold it until he’s given permission. He can’t possibly be that desperate (unless he has a genuine medical issue) if he’s been at break or lunch which he should be doing. Get a grip. He won’t die from needing a wee for half an hour.

Some people posting clearly have no idea how much of an issue and disruption to learning this is.
This was an average lesson when I was teaching. Lessons were an hour long, the bell would go and it would take around 5 -10 minutes for every student to arrive. Some would ask to go to the toilet the minute they arrived, this was refused. (school rule that nobody could use the toilet in the first or last 10 minutes of the lesson) The arguments and back chatting would start and take 5 minutes. After 10 minutes students would then start asking to go to the toilet, this time there would be an average of 5 or 6 all asking to go. Then there would be moans of ‘it’s not fair, I’m more desperate than him’ So we are now 20 minutes into the lesson and no real learning has taken place. I might have managed to talk for about 5 minutes before more students ask to go to the toilet. We were only allowed toilet 2 go at a time. Other students would be moaning about how so and so was taking too long and it was so unfair etc. Quite often I’d ask a question about the learning activity and the student with their hand up would be asking to go to the toilet. The students who had gone to the toilet would often take 15/20 minutes and this had to be logged in class charts which must be done during the lesson. (School rule) All of this takes time away from teaching and learning. Then someone would notice that it was almost the last 10 minutes of the lesson so the toilet requests would start again from around 5 or 6 students. As a teacher I had to decide which two to let go which led to more answering back and general disruption. I’m not talking about young children or those with SEN, this was a mainstream comp and these students were 14-16 years old. None of them had any medical issues. These would often be the same students every single lesson for all of their subjects. Not only was it having an impact on their learning but also on the learning of the 50% of the class who weren’t causing disruption. Most of these students did not need to go to the toilet they wanted to get out of learning and they were allowed to do this. This school was also in the press for locking the toilets and some parents had told their kids just to walk out. This made the problem much worse!
Of course sometimes this would mean genuine students would not get a chance to go to the toilet but I always used my discretion but hopefully this experience shows why schools do have rules about toilets. This school was a particularly bad example and is in special measures but from what I’ve heard it’s not that different in most other schools. It just wasn’t like this when I was in school, I think it was rare for anyone to
ask to go during lessons in the 90s. It got much worse after Covid and think some parents might not be aware of just how many students are asking to go to the toilet during an average lesson.

I do think that was a bit tight then , but honestly letting a child go is so disruptive

Report it to local social media groups, local media outlets and possible national media.
School will come under huge pressure and back down.

They had to after that lad had a similar problem in Liverpool when I was living there, about 2014.
He had a abnormal kidney in end.

And some people clearly never give any thought to the impact of school timetables today! OP’s son went out to catch the bus at 7.20am; the bus arrived late so he went straight into class, with no time to use the toilet beforehand (if pupils are even allowed to do so!). I expect morning form time is a thing of the past in his school as in many others, with registration being taken in the first lesson of the day. Our local school has two hour-long lessons before the first 15-minute break of the day, then two more before a half-hour lunch break. I don’t think it’s excessive to need to use the loo two and a half hours after leaving home in the morning!

It’s really sad, isn’t it? Not so many years ago, schools had a lunch hour - enough time to use the loo, eat lunch and even take part in extracurricular activities. Choir, sports clubs - and Tuesday lunchtime was band practice. Our peripatetic music lessons (remember those?) were free (hard to believe, I know!), and once we’d passed certain grade exams our contribution was to join the school band and orchestra and play at concerts. We even got to go to the front of the lunch queue to make sure we got there on time. I know exactly what you mean about the shine being taken off the whole school experience with all the constant rushing, meaningless rules and collective punishments.

Being in the classroom until the end of the lesson