Pupils at Brynteg School are on camera at the sinks in some of the school’s toilets, after two cubicles in the girls’ toilets were wrecked and children told staff they were scared to go in.
Headteacher Ryan Davies wrote to parents on Wednesday to explain the cameras, which he said cover only the communal sink and entrance areas and “do not record inside any toilet cubicle”.
The Bridgend school has had “significant and persistent problems” in some of its toilets over a number of years, he said: repeated vandalism, deliberate flooding, damage to fixtures and fittings, and behaviour that left many pupils “uncomfortable and, in some cases, unsafe”.
Some pupils had told the school they were reluctant to use the toilets during the day “because of concerns about what they might encounter there”. “No child should feel unable to access a basic facility due to fear or anxiety,” he wrote.
Girls’ toilets: two cubicles destroyed and half a term without them
The worst of it was in the girls’ toilets, where “sustained vandalism over time” ended with two cubicles “completely destroyed”. The damage was so bad that pupils could not use those toilets for much of the first half of this term while the school found the money for repairs.
Sinks and drains have been blocked with toilet paper and other material on a regular basis, Mr Davies said, flooding the rooms and closing them for a time.
The cost went beyond repairs, he said. It hit every pupil who wanted a clean, safe toilet, and pulled staff time away from teaching and pupil wellbeing.
The CCTV went in to watch “the shared areas where the vast majority of incidents have occurred”, he said, and pupils “continue to have complete privacy within the cubicles themselves”.
‘It would not identify those responsible’: the head’s answer to parents who wanted cameras outside the door
Some parents had suggested cameras outside the toilet entrances would be enough. Mr Davies said he understood the view, but cameras at the door “would not allow us to identify those responsible for behaviour occurring within the communal washroom areas”.
Staff could not be in every toilet all day, he said. “There are occasions when only one male or one female member of staff is available, making continuous supervision particularly difficult.”
He said pupils and parents had already given positive feedback: “Many have commented that they feel safer using the facilities and have noticed improvements in cleanliness, behaviour and the overall condition of the toilet areas.”
The decision was “made only after considerable thought and with the best interests of pupils at its heart”, he wrote, and the school’s overriding duty was toilets “free from intimidation, vandalism or inappropriate behaviour”.
Bridgend County Borough Council said the cameras were a response to concerns raised by pupils themselves. A spokesperson said: “While all toilet facilities at the school continue to remain private, CCTV coverage has been introduced over public wash basin and entrance areas.”
The council said the letter was sent to “clarify that the CCTV only covers the areas that are already public, and to reassure them that pupils continue to have complete privacy when using school toilet facilities”.
It is the second time this year Mr Davies has written home about pupil behaviour. In March he warned pupils could face permanent exclusion over abusive TikTok posts using images taken inside the school.
The headteacher’s letter in full
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