School toilets.... locked!

I suppose my perception of your opinions from reading your posts is that you think most schools/teachers deliberately find ways to make life difficult for students!

Because my experience, both as a parent/gandparent and as a teacher, of schools is that most bust a bloomin' gut to do what they can for kids we are bound to disagree!

Penstemmon I think the great majority of posters on Gransnet feel that most teachers do a good job in often very difficult circumstances.

I can understand why current and former teachers may feel sensitive about any criticism of a school's practices. They are constantly being pilloried by press and TV journalists, many of whom wouldn't have the first clue how to maintain the interest, discipline and respect of a classroom full of young people.

That said, I think there is such a thing as hyper-sensitivity and just because a poster expresses concern about a particular policy in a particular school it does not imply disrespect for the teaching profession. Surely it is right that any profession should be willing to examine its practices and, if they are then thought to be unfair or damaging, to change them?

My feeling is that toilets should never be locked and if there are problems with bullying, skiving or general indiscipline, they should be addressed in other ways. It is surely not beyond the wit of a capable head teacher and her team to deal with this matter without risking the embarrassment and humiliation of some pupils?

I do agree re your last paragraph but my question , earlier on the thread, was do we know what else the school is doing to address the behaviour/ bullying?

The situation described is from the perspective of one pupil. There will be another perspective which may or may not be justifiable as to why the decision to close (all/some?) the loos during lessons was made. We have not heard that side but many are quick to condemn on only half the information.

I know there are unsatisfactory teachers, odd decisions , poor schools! Most of my work now is helping to address these issues in schools. However the overwhelming number of staff have the best interests of children at heart. I may be hyper-sensitive but there are also those who are hyper -critical.

Penstemmon If your above post, at 20:30:14 is a response to mine, then I would like to assure you that your perception is quite wrong. I do not believe that. I am merely questioning what I think is an inappropriate reaction to what may be bullying or behavioural issues and that, possibly,this policy (if that is what it is) could be re-examined and a better solution found. Dealing with bullying is extremely difficult and requires such a huge amount of time, thought and work for the whole school community
I was a classroom teacher for many years, I also worked for some time as a home tutor (with children who would not or could not attend school).
I agree that the overwhelming number of staff have the best interests of children at heart and had not intended my posts to be or appear to be hyper-critical.

No, not in reply to you OGM!

At secondary school the toilets are often locked during class time and the key is held by the janitor to allow pupils access as and when required. This is necessary because, on the contrary to the beliefs expressed by previous posters, most vandalism/ smoking etc happens during class time when there are no witnesses. Having pupils allowed controlled access at all times (ie via the janitor) means that schools can track who has had access in the event of an incident.

In the vast comprehensive I attended it would have taken half a lesson to find the caretaker. Also think of the time it must take to go round each toilet block unlocking and locking at break time.

I think if the school feels the loos need to be locked they probably have good reason. Possibly they have had to cut staff and there isn't anyone to patrol during lessons. Maybe there have been incidents in the loos and I am sure if a child was bullied or assaulted in a loo there would be an outcry about why they weren't supervised. These are secondary school children who should be quite able to cope and if someone can't there is a pass system. Keeping on top of the inventive and creative developments that children come up with for bullying is incredibly difficult. If people think it is just bunking off and smoking they are way out of date. How many GNs know what "taxing" is? It's a common term amongst children and is the practice of a group of older bullies stopping younger children and taking money off them regularly. Most kids know about it.

I love it when threads that finished months ago suddenly start up again as though it was being discussed this afternoon.

How do people manage to dig old threads like this, up? And why? again.

I did notice it was an old one but had the urge to reply to the resurrecting post.
There does seem to be a lot of it happening lately.