Outraged parents have hit out at a school's "inhumane" toilet policy with some being forced to pay for their children to receive a special toilet pass.
One mum says her daughter has been sent to detention for flaunting the bathroom policy at Marine Academy in Plymouth, with restricted access to the toilet leaving her suffering from urinary tract infections (UTIs). Other parents have also slammed the 'horrendous' rules, which have left some female students having accidents while on their periods, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
Mum Carol Courage claims her 12-year-old daughter has been refused use the bathroom several times, even when she explains she is desperate. Dawn Shepard and Trevor Joyce, who are parents of another 12-year-old girl at the school, said their daughter has also ended up with UTIs - and now no longer wants to attend school.
Marine Academy confirmed it is school policy for pupils to be banned from using the toilets during lessons and instead they should use the time before school, during free blocks, break times, lunch times and after school to go. If there is a "medical necessity" - and there are other times where cases are discussed with parents "to ensure the best support plan is in place" - this may result in a toilet pass.
It continued the welfare and safety of its students "is always our first priority" and students are able to use the toilets throughout the day, as long as it is not during a lesson.
Both girls' parents say they paid £22 for a doctor's note, which enabled them to be given a toilet pass from MAP. However they say they still have to wait for permission to use the loo.
Carol told PlymouthLive: “Even if the girls are on their monthlies or anything and need to use the toilet, even if they say they’re going to leak, they’re not allowed to go. Well no, it’s human right to go to the toilet.
"I get if they go in a crowd - that’s different - but if they are going on their own they are going to the toilet. It’s inhumane not to let them use the toilet. It’s not just me who thinks this, it’s hundreds of other parents who agree."
Carol shared a post in a MAP Facebook parent group where she received around 100 responses from other parents, agreeing the restrictions to use the bathroom during lesson time causes 'discomfort'.
She added: “It’s got to the point where if my daughter wants to use the toilet, I have said to her to just walk out of the lesson and use the toilet. She is then put into a compass - a form of detention - for the whole day and then gets half-an-hour detention after school for using the toilet.
“I have had to get a doctor's letter which then costs you £22 from the doctor to say your daughter can use the bathroom. I'm not the only parent who has had to pay that."
According to the NHS website, UTIs are 'urinary tract infections' which affect the urinary tract, including the bladder. It's treated by antibiotics and outlines the symptoms which includes 'needing to pee suddenly or more urgently than usual'. In the prevention section for UTI's it reads 'do not hold your pee in if you feel the urge to go' among others.
Dawn and Trevor said their daughter dreads going to school due to the policy.
“Our daughter has got to the stage where she doesn’t want to go school," they said. "It’s horrendous. They should have something in place for girls Also to get a doctor's note for our daughter, it takes ages due to the NHS waiting lists at the moment.
“It’s a nightmare because she doesn’t want to go school because the biggest thing on her mind is not being able to use the toilets while she has the infection. She has the toilet pass now which means she can go - but still has to have permission and wait.”
Leigh Withers, Principal of MAP said: "As in all in schools, the welfare and safety of our students is always our first priority. Students can use the toilet at the start of day, break time, between lesson transition, lunchtime and after school. If there is a medical necessity to use the toilet at other times we discuss each case with parents to ensure the best support plan is in place and this may include a toilet pass. Also we do not have unisex toilets.
"We will be welcoming our largest ever cohort of Year 7s which is a testament to the excellent education and care students receive here at Marine Academy. As a school we have had to expand our allowed number of entries to fit the demand of parents who seek a school with high expectations, an academic focus and the clarity of vision which at its heart, states that every child who joins Marine Academy should have the opportunity to go to university when they leave.
"This year Marine Academy will see 80 per cent of its Year 13s moving on to University and the school will celebrate its greatest ever GCSE results that are likely to see it as one of the highest performing schools in the entire South West."
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