Health and related professionals – what you can do to help!

ERIC’s first national Campaign “Water is Cool in School” was launched in 2000 in response to the concerns of health professionals that pupils were unable to drink adequate amounts of water at school. The Campaign transformed drinking water in many thousands of schools across the UK - and in just three years water bottles on desks have become commonplace. We couldn’t have achieved this without the support and hard work of health and related professionals. But toilets need to be addressed too! The “Bog Standard” Campaign intends to work positively with schools to encourage them to make the provision and access to decent toilets a high priority. To achieve this, we again need your active support!

Here are some ideas of what you can do. Contact us with your ideas and tell us what you have done too.

Raise awareness…
Raise awareness about the link between good access to good drinking water and toilet facilities and health, well being and learning.

  • Visit or write to the schools in your area, including special schools. Where possible offer practical help and assistance.
  • Organise a seminar with school staff to raise awareness of the need for better toilets (and drinking water)
  • Attend governors’ meetings - and ask governors to visit the pupils’ toilets
  • Talk at school assemblies
  • Encourage schools to survey pupils’ views (see the pupil section of the website for a sample survey)
  • Organise a poster competition to encourage pupils to take care of the toilets/wash their hands
  • Encourage schools to enter pupils for the “More than a Loo” competition (details and entry form on the campaign website)
  • Help schools to establish a written school toilet policy for standards and access
  • Encourage schools to consider the needs of all pupils in any letters you write to schools requesting open access to toilets for an individual pupil

Set up a local initiative with…

  • School nurses; continence advisors; community paediatritians; public health; Healthy Schools coordinators/school link coordinators/advisory nurses, NHS/PCT, headteachers, PSHE teachers and pupil representatives. Encourage your local Education Department to participate/endorse
  • Speak about school toilets at professional meetings and conferences

Lobby for adequate legislation..
Currently the only legislation governing pupils’ toilets is limited to setting out a minimum number of toilets and washbasins (Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999). In stark contrast, legislation for toilets in the workplace, including those for teachers, sets out comprehensive requirements (The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992)

  • Write to your local MP to point this out (letter templates are on the website, in the adult section, “What you can do”)
  • If you only have time to write one or two letters, also write to the Department of Health or the Department for Education and Skills. They do count the letters they get about a particular subject.

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