Better Toilets for Pupils

Promoting better toilets for pupils

What teachers can do

This information is also available in a printable factsheet.

General

Consider cosmetic changes initially. Often cheap to implement, these can raise morale and encourage pupils to take better care of their toilets in the short term.
If access to toilets is restricted due to bullying, vandalism, or attempts to miss lessons, discuss with the pupils how to tackle the individual issues.
Have a look at www.teachernet.gov.uk to see if you can get funding to improve the toilets. There isn’t any funding specifically for toilets, but there are grants for building improvements and improving educational achievement. It can be argued that decent toilets are needed to encourage pupils to drink more water. This has a positive effect on their ability to learn and on their behaviour.

Involving the pupils

Ask pupils what they think about the toilets. The problem may be bigger or smaller than you think. You might also find that they care a lot about things that adults don't think are important (quality of toilet paper, for example).
Invite the pupils to do a survey. If done anonymously, pupils can say what they really think about the toilets. A printable survey form can be found on the pupils' section of this website.
What ideas do the pupils have for improvement? Do they have suggestions for fundraising? Reducing vandalism? Try to implement pupils’ suggestions wherever possible, otherwise they could feel very demotivated.
If your school has a school council, work with them to make positive changes.
Use PSHE and Citizenship lessons, registration time, form assemblies etc to discuss appropriate behaviour in toilets and washrooms. This could include respecting each other's privacy, not hanging around in the toilets, flushing after use, etc.
Tell them about this website. It has a pupils' section with information and ideas to help them take action. In the adults' section, there is a page of resources which you can use in lessons.

Involving the parents and local community

Involve the parents and PTA wherever possible. Parents can be invaluable in fundraising and/or providing supplies or services.
Tap into the skills and contacts of parents and governors to make greater improvements.
Appeal for sponsorship to fund refurbishments from local businesses through an open letter to readers in your local paper or approach businesses directly. You could also request sponsorship of a full-time toilet supervisor/cleaner.

Letters

Send a lobby letter to
- school governors
- your local MP
- your Local Education Authority
- the Department for Education and Skills
- the Department of Health
Go to the lobby letters page for templates, letter-writing tips and how to contact people. The letters will need adapting to make them suitable for sending from school staff.
Write to your local paper.

Talk to us

Give us your feedback - we post selected comments that we receive unless you ask us not to.
Contact us by email, phone or post.
The more people that talk to us, the more support we will have for the campaign.

Tell a Friend

Spread the word about the Bog Standard Campaign website.

The email addresses you provide will only be used for delivering the message about the Bog Standard Campaign. We do not retain or use the email addresses for any other purpose.

Back to What you can do to help
Back to Adults homepage

Talking Toilets