Promoting
better toilets for pupils| Promoting
better toilets for pupils |
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For a list of the winning schools, scroll down to the end of the page Feedback from the More Than a Loo competition entries We received nearly 550 entries from over a thousand pupils in England. We were hugely impressed by the overall high standard of entries and the amount of work and enthusiasm that many pupils had put into their entry. Pupils are clearly motivated to try and get decent toilets they can be proud of. Every school wrote on their entry form that the competition had been worthwhile and many teachers and heads added that, regardless of whether they won or not, they would be looking to improve the toilets with the help of their pupils. That is good news indeed! Pupils’ design priorities There were many different themes in the entries from football to beaches, but all the designs clearly demonstrated pupils’ priorities of privacy, hygiene, and the creation of a clean, bright and colourful environment, stocked with the essentials we all need, like soft toilet paper, soap and hand drying facilities Pupils want indoor social spaces Pupils want safe and secure toilets Green pupils Most frequently mentioned toilet problems: State of the toilets;
Access;
Most frequently mentioned wish list;
And pupils are quick to lay part of the blame at their own door too. They want fellow pupils to:
Views of teachers Some of the pupils’ design ideas:
Clean school toilets with bright colours, absorbent loo paper, locks that work and hand washing facilities is surely not too much to ask? Quotes Quotes from pupils “When you walk in you just want to walk straight back out because
it really stinks.” “Where do we start with the state of the toilets? They smell –
all through the school. The locks don’t lock properly so you have
to try and hold the door shut when you’re on the toilet. The toilets
are dark and the cubicles are too small. There’s smoke and graffiti
everywhere. There’s often no toilet paper or even soap. There’s
no hot water. Most of the sinks are blocked. There’s no ventilation.
The toilets are usually locked so we can’t use them. Apparently
the toilets are cleaned every day, though you’d never believe it.” “Our toilets are smelly, the locks are broken, taps don’t
work, radiators don’t work, people wee on the floor and there is
no decoration.” “Out toilets are horrible and smelly. The plaster is coming off
the wall. The middle toilet doesn’t have a door. The left toilet
doesn’t have a seat. The right side hasn’t got a lock. Please
make our dream come true for new toilets.” “If we had clean nice toilets it would look like everybody cares
about our school. We would like to be a healthy school and have clean
toilets. If we had nice toilets all the pupils will feel happy and look
after the new toilets.” “Out toilets are very dark and smelly. I think an extractor fan
would make the toilets a lot better. Also good quality toilet paper would
be nice. A talking toilet would be fun where the toilet says “Please
remember to flush”. Our toilets are also dull and boring but that
would soon be changed by having brightly coloured doors, floors and walls.” Toilet trouble poem “Our toilets are dark, cold, gloomy and depressing and no one likes
going in them.“ “Our toilet design will not be vandalised because they will look
so good that no one will want to spoil them.” “Some adults might argue that our toilets are fine but the toilets
really smell, there are cracks in the wall, they are a despicable colour,
and the sinks and toilets are old and worn out.” “Despite our cleaner cleaning them every day after school, they
are still stinky. Please could you do something to our horrible, disgusting,
smelly toilets?” “Although we have a sensational caretaker, the design of the toilets
make them arduous to maintain. We’d love to win this competition
because we’re the last year 7’s of the school and we’d
like to design good toilets for future users.” “It would be nice if children’s names and their pictures
could be put on tiles so that everyone would know that we had designed
the toilets ourselves and that would make us feel very proud. “ Quotes from Teachers “St Aiden’s children had a lot of fun and came up with some
brillinat, innovative and challenging design ideas. Our school council
was responsible for organising the competition and choosing the entries.
The children deliberated long and hard to design our toilets.” “Most of the children just want bright, non-smelly toilets.” “Our pupils suggested the toilets are monitored by the School Council
members on a rota basis. The caretaker should inspect them after morning
break. They would also have a book or whiteboard to leave messages for
the caretaker if there were any problems.” “We have had a fantastic time undertaking our work for the "More
than a Loo” competition. The children undertook the work in design
and technology lessons, but have got so much out of it including teamwork,
social skills, research skills and using maths skills. Out toilets are
in a very poor condition. Despite every attempt from our site manager,
they smell badly and this makes the whole of our teaching area unpleasant.” “The children have worked democratically and tirelessly. We hope
you will enjoy reading the outcome as much as we have enjoyed the process.” “This has been a very worthwhile project. Even if we don’t
win we have learnt an awful lot about how the children use the toilets
and what we need to do to improve them.”
Winners The Bog Standard campaign is pleased to announce that Seymour Park Community Primary School in Manchester is the winner of the campaign’s “More than a Loo” Competition. The entry from the school council of Seymour Park Community Primary School won from the more than 550 entries because it was colourful and imaginative, and would be practical and easy to implement. The entry was supported by weeks of hard work from the school council who conducted surveys and even produced a video. Seymour Park have had two sets of their toilets refurbished (see photos below), carried out courtesy of Armitage Shanks. The school has also refurbished two more sets of toilets themselves. Extract from the winning entry “We have designed our new toilets in nice, bright colours so that they are welcoming. Our current toilets are disgusting, messy, smelly and unhygienic. Nice toilets would make us feel proud and would encourage everybody to take care of them. We would feel nicer about our toilets but, most importantly, we would be healthier. P.S. We promise to look after our new toilets, if we win.” The regional winning schools South West: Stoberry Park Schoo West Midlands: Coleshill C of E Primary East Midlands: Hawthorne Community Primary North East: Rookhope Primary London, Primary category: George Tomlinson Primary London, Secondary category: La Sainte Union
The refurbished toilets at Seymour Park Community Primary
Below are the judges. Left to right:
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