People have been sharing their views on new rules restricting toilet access at a secondary school.
The debate follows complaints from parents that the Ipswich secondary school’s approach is harming children’s wellbeing and education, with claims that students have been denied toilet access even in cases of medical need.
One mother said her friend’s daughter was refused permission to use the toilet during her period, describing the situation as “chaos” and saying “school should be a safe place.”
A reader voiced support for pupils, commenting: "Absolutely disgusting. Children should be able to go to the toilet when needed."
Another said the problem extends beyond just the toilet policy.
She said: "It's not even just around the toilet situation. It's regarding a lot of concerns. Trying to get hold of Chantry Academy in regards to the concerns are just not effective."
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A fellow commenter said: "It’s a human right to use the toilet as and when needed. I have never understood how the children are supposed to control the timing of needing to use the toilet?! Barbaric behaviour!"
Another parent shared a distressing incident involving her daughter.
She said: "My daughter wet herself at school once because they said no to going to the toilet, after that I told her just to walk out and phone me it’s wrong"
But not all readers are critical of the school.
One commenter said: "Big up Chantry for actually trying to create an environment where it is possible to teach and learn without students running in and out of classrooms and charging up and down the corridor."
A spokesperson for the Active Learning Trust, which runs the school, said previously to the Star: "Chantry Academy has recently renovated one of its toilet blocks to provide a safer and more suitable environment for pupils.
"We take the welfare and individual needs of all our pupils extremely seriously and have appropriate arrangements in place to support them with toilet access as required.
"We would always encourage parents to contact the academy directly with any concerns."
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