Denied toilet break

I think that is why the teacher was studiously ignoring a couple of them during the school play
Unless there is something physically wrong and they have urinary incontinence or an infection a child should be able to control their bladder by the age of about 6 to be able to last between breaks.

The other consideration is: what are the school toilets like? Despite best efforts of cleaners etc, some toilets do smell or get wet and that could be offputting for some children.

my dd goes into class as an helper every tuesday so is going to see how the teacher reacts when children ask to visit the toilet

It certainly is another topic that has two entrenched views isn't it.

I posted a link on Friday to an old GN thread on 'locked school loos' it happened on there too.

The point I don't understand is the need to curb school children from going to the loo because there are occasions when it is abused. It's like saying we've cancelled the school trip for everybody because we know so an so will not behave.

To prefer a child to suffer holding in a wee, allowing a child to wet itself and all that goes with that as an issue, to disbelieve a child may indeed be wanting a wee is totally incomprehensible to me.

The same thing apparently goes on irrespective of age, as the 'toilets locked 'thread showed. Whilst I do understand that some will abuse a toilet break request what about the poor child who suddenly starts a period and is told it's school policy.

Would those who advocate the child should have gone before class started do the same to their own child/ grandchild if say they were in a restaurant and they had previously asked their child / grandchild if they wanted the loo before the meal arrives and they said NO but whilst eating their child / grandchild said sorry I need to go to the toilet? Would you say to your child / grandchild 'too bad , you were asked if you wanted the toilet now hold it in' and chance they didn't wet their pants in the restaurant?

It's no different a scenario other than one is a child you don't know well, the other is your own flesh and blood and wouldn't dream of letting them wet them selves or cause them a probable tummy ache. At least I would hope not.

Locked toilets is an entirely different matter POGS and tends to be with older children where there have been instances of unacceptable behaviour in the loos. That is bullying, smoking, drug dealing or using, and other nefarious things teenagers get up to. In these cases it is necessary to supervise the toilets whenever they are being used and it is impossible to do so all the time. If you don't think these things go on you don't know much about schools. So would you prefer your GC to go to an unsupervised open loo at any time where they might get beaten up or be offered drugs or would you prefer them to be safe and supervised in loos that are sometimes locked?
We are discussing primary schools where most loos aren't even lockable

Would those who advocate the child should have gone before class started do the same to their own child/ grandchild if say they were in a restaurant and they had previously asked their child / grandchild if they wanted the loo before the meal arrives and they said NO but whilst eating their child / grandchild said sorry I need to go to the toilet? Would you say to your child / grandchild 'too bad , you were asked if you wanted the toilet now hold it in' and chance they didn't wet their pants in the restaurant?
As the mother of a DD who was consistently doing that very thing, in the end it becomes so irritating that you have to make absolutely sure they have been to the loo and washed their hands before coming to the table.

They should all be reminded to go before going back into class; there will always be one or two children who do have urinary incontinence or an infection, but most children do not need to go to the toilet more frequently than every two hours unless they have a problem.

I would be having a look at the toilets as well Lexisgran in case your DGD has been put off going in there.

The more focus is placed on going/not being able to go to the toilet, the more children will become anxious and feel they need to go to the toilet. Surely adults have experienced this?

I teach, and i do not let children out to the toilet during lessons, however my children are year 5 so a little older. They get plenty of breaks and the longest a child would have to hold on is 2 hours, they seem fine with this.

In the op circumstances i do believe that she should have been allowed at the second time of asking.

I think that's fine with Y 5 who are much more mature. The length of the afternoon for Key Stage 1 shocked me. 1.15 to 3.30pm seems far too long to me to expect a 6 year old to wait. Longer than the 2 hrs. I know there used to be restrictions on the time younger children had in school, but think that has all gone now.

Exactly trisher, year 5 bladders are much more developed than a year 2 child.

Last week i had a girl ask me about 3 minutes into the lesson after break time insisting she was bursting to wee. i said no,she should have gone at playtime and told her to sit down, she waited to lunchtime and did not request the toilet again.

i will make exceptions if i think they cannot wait and would have certainly let her go if she told me her stomach was hurting like the op dgt. To make a 6 year old wait 2 hours for a wee in my opinion is disgusting, even if she had just had lunch

Upper KS2 can usually hang on but even they can get desperate sometimes.

KS1 can't hang on for long and it's a bad rule that needs challenging. In the meantime if the rule says the child needs a note then I would send a note.

I had a similar problem when DD2 developed asthma. A teacher decided that she was taking her inhaler as a method of wasting time or getting out of a lesson. I went in for a 'chat'. I was a CSA in the school and was quite sympathetic to the teachers because I saw a lot of the crap they had to put up with. However the teacher was adamant that she was wasting time and I was adamant that he wasn't a doctor so couldn't tell if she needed it or not and therefore had to err on the side of caution. The school had a daft rule which meant that all inhalers were kept in the school office not in the classroom. We agreed I insisted that as she was Year 6 she was quite capable of keeping her inhaler with her and using it as and when required. Not long after the school rule was changed and the inhalers were kept on the teacher's desk in KS1 and Lower KS2 whilst Upper KS2 children kept them on their desks/in pockets.

vampirequeen

you are right they still can be desperate. I have been teaching 24 years and have always said no during lessons, never had an accident or any complaints from parents. As i said if they are truly desperate i would let them go.

vicwarren

I think it is terrible that you do not let children go to the loo , even though they are older i am sure that girl did not concentrate on her work as well as if you had let her go for a pee.

My dd went in as a parent helper this morning. She said that one of the little boys asked to use the toilet and the teacher wouldn't let him go without a note even though he was fidgeting, he had wait until playtime. i think it is terrible

Year 5 are much more able to cope and has anyone worked out that teachers only go to the loo at break and lunch times? 10 year olds are quite capable of doing the same

How is any child expected to concentrate /learn if they are trying not to wee?? And at age 6? Give me strength!!

Madgran

The girl could not have been that desperate otherwise she would have asked me again, she also managed to hold on for an hour and half until lunch. If she was that desperate the chances are she needed a wee at playtime. As trisher it does not matter how much i need a wee i have to wait.

At the age 6 i agree it is not right though

Vicwarren , you are an adult and can hold your bladder i do not think it is right to compare that with 10 year olds

Also, i cannot imagine how the little boy felt this morning fidgeting and desperate all morning, i wonder what the teacher would have done if he had wet himself, i am surprised she denied him with my dd in the class.

dgd says one of the girls peed herself during p.e this afternoon because the teacher wouldn't let her go hopefully this will make the school see sense

A 10 year old who needs to wee more frequently than every two hours may have a medical problem.

Do they have night-time enuresis?

I am surprised the teacher let it get to the point where she wet herself. As a teacher like i say i do not let children go to the toilet during lessons. However we can usually tell a genuine emergency.

How can you tell, vicwarren? You keep repeating that.

Sometimes fidgeting is an indication.

Although at least one of my DC and DGC are fidgets!

they usually squirm,ask more than once and have a pleading look on their face.

To be fair i dont get many loo requests as they know the answer will be no, they make sure they go at break and lunc

"they usually squirm,ask more than once and have a pleading look on their face. "

Hells bells.

We had the same issue with our granddaughters school, if anybody read the the old 'School Toilets Locked' thread they will see other GN posters too. I remain of the opinion this is a very sad state of affairs.

I have taught across the primary age range and to keep a child waiting until "they usually squirm, ask more than once and have a pleading look on their face. " is totally out of order. It would seem that a child has to be humiliated before there is the possibility that they will be allowed to go to the toilet.

Although it's not usual, it's not unheard of for teachers to go to the toilet during lesson times as long as they don't leave the class without adult supervision.

I'm sure the NUT, NASUWT and other union representatives would have something to say if toilet visits were totally banned for their members.