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| What Pupils can do This factsheet talks about survey forms, petition forms, letters, posters and factsheets. These can all be found at www.bog-standard.org Find out what other pupils think Do a survey (asking people what they think about the toilets). You can make your own survey form or use one from the Bog Standard website. As well as pupils, why don't you ask cleaners and staff what they think too? Present your results to the school (pupils, headteacher and governors). You can also suggest some recommendations (changes) that you feel are reasonable and achievable. Here are some suggestions that Medway made: checking and cleaning the toilets more than once a day; redecorating the toilets (you could make some suggestions); sanitary bins in all girls' cubicles; privacy partitions between urinals; include toilet hygiene and behaviour issues in PSHE or Citizenship lessons; staff training to deal with toilet requests in a discreet and understanding way; an indoor social area for pupils who don't want to be outside during breaks; recommend the school adopts the School Toilet Charter. Be sure to tell the school how the pupils will do their bit to help improve the toilets and help maintain them. Perhaps the School Council could suggest a pupil's Code of Conduct. These could be things like flushing the toilets after use, not wasting toilet paper, respecting privacy, reporting problems to the school office (they could keep a book you write in), not hanging around in the toilets. This will make the staff more willing to help you get better toilets. Encourage other pupils to look after the toilets Pupils are more likely to listen to each other than to teachers. Use class meetings, registration time or assemblies, to get the message across. Ask the teachers if you can talk about the toilets in your PSHE or Citizenship lessons too. You could make posters to put up in the toilets (make sure you have spares in case they need replacing). Your headteacher may help too – for example, by setting the pupils a challenge to keep the toilets clean, then awarding a prize, or promising to redecorate. Prepare a list of your ideas on how the toilets can be improved and show what you’ll do to keep them nice. Set an example yourself! Make sure you always flush the loo, wash your hands properly, and don't hang around in there. Don't join in silly pranks either, such as toilet tissue bombs or writing
on walls. They make the toilets horrible for others to use, make a lot
of extra work for your site manager - and encourage the teachers to think
you don't deserve decent toilets. If you find others are spoiling the
toilets, you could ask your form teacher to talk about respecting the
toilets and each other. You can ask your teacher when no one else is around.
Or you can write a note to your teacher. Use your school council Ask your school council to make the issue of school toilets a priority. Give them factsheets from the Information section of the Bog Standard website showing that bad toilets can be very unhealthy. You can also organise a petition to support your case. A petition will show that lots of pupils in your school are unhappy with the toilets, not just you! You can find petitions on the Pupils’ section of the Bog Standard website. (See below.) If you don’t have a school council, get a group of you together and ask for a meeting with the headteacher. It’s a good idea if you can get a house captain, prefect or head boy/girl (if you have one) to support you. Visit www.schoolcouncils.org for more about school councils.
Your school is inspected about every three years by inspection teams from Ofsted. When Ofsted inspectors visit your school they should have a meeting with your school council or other pupils' forum. This is a great opportunity to mention the school toilets! The school council can also ask the inspectors to inspect the toilets. The toilets might have been tidied up a bit for the inspection, but they'll still get the general picture if they follow their nose! If drinking water facilities are a problem in your school, or pupils regularly can't get a drink of water when they want one, be sure to mention this too. Ask your parents and carers to mention the toilets (and drinking water)
in a short questionnaire that Ofsted will give them. Talk to whoever looks after you Lots of adults don’t realise how horrible school toilets can be. Tell your mum, dad or carer about your school toilets. Explain what effects the problem has. For example, if the door doesn’t have a lock, you don’t like to go to the toilet. Tell them that this is very bad for your health. You can give them a factsheet from the Information section of the website about water, toilets and health if you like. Ask them to write letters or speak to the headteacher. (See below.) Talk to the headteacher Like your parents, your headteacher might not realise how bad your school toilets are. S/he might never have been in them. Once you have done your survey, ask for a meeting with the headteacher and explain the problems. You could even take him/her on a tour of the toilets. When you ask for changes, be clear about what you, and the other pupils,
want. Remember that your school might not have much money to spend on
toilets. It would be helpful if you suggest some solutions to your headteacher.
You can print off a list of suggestions on good toilet design from the
Information section of Bog Standard's website. Print off a poster You can get a poster from the Pupils’ section of the Bog Standard website. You can also print off the Bog Standard charter from the Information section. Make sure you ask permission before you put your poster up. If you don’t, it will just get taken down again. Organise a petition Make a petition saying that the people who sign it want their toilets improved. There are two petition forms, one for improving the toilets and the other asking to be able to use the toilets when you need to on the Pupils’ section of the Bog Standard website. Ask other pupils to sign your petition. It is most effective if lots of people sign it, rather than just a few. This shows that the toilets are affecting lots of people. Write letters The adults’ section of the Bog Standard website has a page of lobby letters to print off and post. You can also email them. A lobby letter is one that asks someone in charge to change things. You can write or email the lobby letters yourself if you like – just make sure you read the tips on writing a good lobby letter before you do. If you’re not used to writing lobby letters, you might want to ask your mum, dad, or carer to help you or write one for you. A group of pupils could write to the school governors. There’s an example on the lobby letter page. (Don’t forget your headteacher will see this letter.) Support your case with facts The Information section of the Bog Standard website has a lot of factsheets. These explain why good toilets are so important to keep children healthy. You can print off whichever factsheet you need, and give it to your parents or teachers when you tell them about your toilets. You will be taken a lot more seriously if you can support your case with facts.
You can write to one of the offices of the Children's Commissioners - it's their job to help children with problems just like yours. They don't have the powers to force a school to change, but they can:
If you are in Wales Email; post@childcomwales.org.uk
Talk to us Tell Bog Standard about your toilets and toilet rules. Send us photos too! We can then tell people like politicians that lots of pupils have to use horrible toilets or can't go to the toilet when they need to. If we have a lot of pupils telling us about their problems, it means we can prove to everyone that school toilets are very important to lots of people. Tell Bog Standard about your toilets and toilet rules. Send us photos too! We can then tell people like politicians that lots of pupils have to use horrible toilets or can't go to the toilet when they need to. If we have a lot of pupils telling us about their problems, it means we can prove to everyone that school toilets are very important to lots of people.
You can telephone us on 0117 960 3060. You can e-mail info@bogstandard.org. You can write to us at: ERIC © Copyright Bog Standard - Better Toilets for Pupils |