School 'sorry' over pupil toilet sign

Boys at a Derbyshire school have been made to wear a "humiliating" sign round their necks when they go to the toilet. Students at Ashbrook Junior School, in Borrowash, had to wear a laminated card reading "I am going to the toilet" after toilets were misused and damaged.



One parent said it was "degrading" and harked back to the Victorian era. The school has apologised, saying it stopped using the sign after a parent raised concerns and that it was reviewing its procedures.

In a statement, school head teacher Mell Julian said she was "sorry" if the policy had caused "distress or upset" to the students. "We have had some issues recently with the way the Year Six boys have been behaving in the toilets," she said. "Some doors were damaged and sinks and toilets have been blocked, leading to the toilet block flooding.



"To address this issue we produced a sign for boys to carry to the toilet to help us check that only one pupil was in there at a time." She added: "One of our parents expressed concern with the signs and we immediately stopped using them. We are currently reviewing our procedures in light of the concerns raised."