PARENTS have been left fuming about a high school's decision to lock its toilets during lesson times.

Connah's Quay High School adopted the controversial policy from Monday (April 15).

All but one of the school's toilets are now locked during lesson times - with the one remaining open subject to what the school says is "closer supervision and monitoring".

In a letter to parents, the school said pupils will only be allowed to go to the toilet during lesson times under "specific circumstances". These being if they have a "genuine medical need or other pressing concern that requires immediate attention", and if their teacher deems it to be a "rare and extreme case".

The school's new toilet policy has left some parents angry. Multiple posts have appeared on local community Facebook posts - describing it as "absolutely outrageous".

One read: "This is an absolute outrage as students will be expected to last from the morning until break and then break until lunch and lunch until they arrive at home. This also means they will have to choose between either getting food or going to the toilet as they both have ridiculous queues.

"Furthermore, if a student drinks a lot of water during break or lunch it will take about 20 minutes for it to actually process and their break is about 20 minutes and lunch is about 40. If a child drinks a lot in lesson they will be expected to wait until the next break.

"Also, the children with toilet passes will have to go and find a member of staff to unlock the toilets and then wait for them which will also delay those with medical reasons. Surely this is inhumane, how would the staff like it if they were expected to wait to go to the toilet and had shutters over theirs'?"

Another commentor said: "Absolutely shocking in my opinion. I totally get what’s been said that some kids are using the loos for vaping, etc, which obviously shouldn’t be happening at all. But you can’t dictate when you need the loo. It’s your body that does that. Absolutely disgusting."

A further comment said: "Everyone has the right to go to the toilet when they need to. Surely, something can be done about this. Girls in particular should not be punished for needing to attend to their hygiene when they have a period."

In a letter issued to parents, headteacher, James Forber, said: "Our aim in making these changes is to ensure the smooth running of lessons and to maintain a conducive learning environment for all learners. It's important to emphasise that our primary goal is to prevent disruptions to teaching caused by learners being late or leaving lessons regularly. 

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"While learners have designated break times during the morning and lunch, we've noticed some are waiting until lesson times to use the facilities. Moreover, a minority of learners are requesting to leave lessons frequently, causing disruptions to their own learning as well as that of their peers. 

"Additionally, we want to ensure that our toilet facilities are used appropriately and maintained properly to reduce any potential damage. Unfortunately, we have experienced significant damage to the toilets recently. As you can imagine, the funds used to repair this damage could have been allocated to other areas, such as acquiring new learning resources."

Mr Forber added: "We understand that some learners may have legitimate reasons for needing to use the facilities during lessons, such as medical conditions. In such cases we encourage learners to speak to their head of year in the first instance, who will handle these matters with sensitivity and discretion."

Connah's Quay High School and Flintshire Council were approached for further comment.