How often are secondary school toilets cleaned?

[ScaredofMomo]

I've read quite a few threads on here about unisex toilets now featuring as the only option in some secondary schools. I'm not completely against the idea, though I do have a few concerns. One of the main factors is the cleanliness aspect. When I was at secondary school they were cleaned at the end of the day. This wasn't a huge issue, they weren't spotless but if I needed to go I could. There was occasionally a dribble of wee on the seat but I could choose another loo or wipe it off if they were all the same... though I don't think I ever needed to as there seemed to be a cleaner one available, luckily.

I have male children. They stand up to wee. They can be quite messy... though they mostly know better because I've trained them well and they have to clean up after themselves! Though the youngest (he's 7) won't have a second thought about not bothering to lift the seat and making a mess if he's desperate and if he knows I'm not likely to check (so he can claim it was someone else, of course).

I've been in mixed sex toilets before. They often seem to be covered in urine. The seat and the floor. Thinking of some teenage boys (not all) they wouldn't care if they made a mess. After all they wouldn't have to sit in it, they wouldn't even need to stand in it, they could just stand out of the way and aim in the general direction.

I can envisage a situation where a female child cannot sit down without either stepping in urine or sitting in it... or having to clean it off first.

Maybe this is not a problem as they are checked (and cleaned if necessary) hourly like at restaurants and leisure centres. I'm basing this on charts I have seen on the wall at these type of places. Hopefully secondary schools have the same thing.

So are secondary school toilets cleaned regularly?

If they're not clean then how should my daughter (not yet at secondary) navigate this situation? If all cubicles are dirty should she request that they're cleaned before she uses them? She is quite confident but this may change when going to a new school. How would she know who to ask?

It will depend on the school. Our schools get cleaned during the day and at the end of the day although are not mixed sex.

Most people will have encountered wee on a toilet seat before. Womens toilets often do due to many women not actually sitting on the seat so it's certainly not a problem that will only happen in male or mixed sex toilets. I presume your daughter will have come across this at when using the toilets at school, restaurants, out shopping etc and has been able to deal with that as it's something that's is unfortunately quite common in women's toilets.

School toilets are not always the best regardless of who is using them unfortunately.