St Edward the Confessor Primary School slammed by parents for ‘inappropriate’ toilet rule

A Logan Catholic school has flushed out an ‘inappropriate’ toilet rule which forced Year 6 girls to be accompanied by a boy if they needed to use the toilet during class.

A Logan Catholic primary school has been forced to flush out a bizarre toileting rule following complaints by parents who labelled it “highly inappropriate”, saying it could lead to students “fooling around”.

St Edward the Confessor Primary School this term introduced a toilet rule where “older” girls who needed to use the toilet during class would have to be accompanied by a boy to wait outside, and vice versa.

The Daisy Hill school, which has a cohort of more than 500 students, was forced to backflip on the rule after parents complained.

Parents slammed the move as “highly inappropriate” and said it could lead to students “fooling around”.

One parent told The Courier-Mail their child would “hold on” in class and wait for the morning tea or lunch break to use the toilet.

“It’s a strange requirement. And really inappropriate,” the parent said.

“Particularly girls in the older grades are undergoing changes and personal development. They don’t need to have a boy waiting outside the toilets.”

St Edward the Confessor Primary School had this term introduced a toileting rule where “older” girls who need to use the toilet during class.

The parent could not think of a reason why the school had put the rule in place and said they had not been notified to expect changes.

“It’s so wrong. Girls in Year 6 are more physically and mentally mature than boys, so to encourage them going to the toilet together is so wrong,” the parent said.

A Brisbane Catholic Education spokesman confirmed St Edward the Confessor Primary School students would no longer be required to go to the bathroom with the opposite gender.

“At many schools, very young students sometimes accompany each other in pairs on bathroom visits, often for safety reasons,” the spokesman said.

“However, a practice of students of different genders accompanying each other is not appropriate for older primary school students and it will not continue.”

He said the school would review its practices with the interests of student safety and welfare in mind.

“Brisbane Catholic Education has policies and procedures in place to ensure that any complaints or concerns raised by families are addressed with the utmost respect for the privacy and dignity of those involved,” he said.

The spokesman did not respond to questions about why the rule was introduced.

It’s the latest South East Queensland school caught up in a toilet controversy after Fortitude Valley State Secondary College backflipped on its unisex facilities while earlier this year Cleveland District State High School built a “vape-proof” toilet block.