How to improve your school toilets
Over the last few years, the importance of hygiene and cleanliness in schools has become apparent, particularly in shared spaces like school toilets. Of course, a cleaner going in once a day is not always enough to keep them hygienic, no matter how thorough they may be.
Instead, you need to think carefully about your school washrooms and how they are designed, to minimise the risk of dirt or germs building up.
That being said, it’s not just about cleanliness, it’s also about creating safe and usable spaces for the students.
Shocking statistics from the Domestos School Toilet Report reveal that 90% of children face issues with their school facilities. This causes anxiety, illness and even absence from school as a result.
Despite this, only 15% of those children have told an adult about the state of their school toilets.
Based on these findings it’s clear to see that more needs to be done to provide, clean, safe and useable school toilets. So, if you’re considering a bathroom refurbishment project to improve your current school facilities, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are five ways you can transform your school washrooms:
1. Introduce sensor technology throughout
Nowadays, advances in technology have made it possible to get a sensor or hands-free version of most bathroom amenities. From automatic flushing toilets to soap dispensers, sensor activation is a very powerful way to reduce contact points and increase cleanliness and hygiene.
So this year, why not upgrade your outdated toilets, dirty soap dispensers and even manual taps with new sensor technology?
2. Replace wasteful paper towels
Following on from the last point, you should also consider replacing your outdated and wasteful paper towel dispensers with sensor hand dryers. Again, this is far more hygienic and it cuts down on the amount of waste being produced.
There are some instances when hand dryers may not be a suitable option and in these cases, you could invest in sensor paper towel dispensers instead. This ensures that the user only takes as many paper towels as they need. Again, cutting down on waste.
3. Ditch the tiles
Tiles have been used in bathrooms for decades for a number of reasons, and often this is the case in older or more outdated school toilets too. While these may look great at the start, they come with a series of issues.
For one thing, if they get broken or cracked it can be very unsightly and dangerous. For another, the grout is difficult to clean and over time can build up dirt, mould and bacteria.
That is why we recommend the use of wall cladding instead for your bathroom cubicle design. It is a strong material that comes in a range of finishes, and as it has no grout lines, it is far more hygienic and easy to clean.
4. Let the light in
While you obviously can’t have school washrooms with lots of big windows that everyone can see through, it is a good idea to utilise natural light wherever possible.
If you can, you should consider adding more windows as part of your bathroom refurbishment project. This can be very beneficial for the mental well-being of students. You can use frosted glass to let the light in, whilst also ensuring privacy and safety.
For areas where you can use normal glass, adding windows to let fresh air through can also be hugely beneficial to students.
For toilet blocks that perhaps don’t have access to natural light and can't have windows, make sure you choose bright, welcoming lights inside and that these are all working as they should.
5. Consider inclusive school washrooms
Finally, lots of schools have begun to embrace inclusive, unisex washrooms and this is something you may want to consider as it comes with a number of benefits.
Of course, you will need to take into account factors that could impact student well-being and decide if this approach is right for your students in particular.
If it is, these communal spaces should be bright, clean and welcoming to everyone, including several toilet cubicles and a shared wash space with sinks and hand dryers. You need to think carefully about bathroom cubicle design to ensure that these cubicles are full height. This increases privacy and comfort in shared spaces.
Inclusive bathrooms also make monitoring these spaces easier for teachers, preventing students from gathering in concealed or hidden spaces. This can help to make all students feel safe and seen..