Calls to improve ‘period dignity’ and school toilet access

Token-operated vending machines could help improve access to period products in Caerphilly County Borough’s schools, senior councillors have heard.

The system is one being considered by members of Caerphilly Youth Forum, which argues pupils should have more access to school toilets.

Many schools restrict when pupils can use toilets, and there have been issues around vandalism and bad behaviour, cabinet members were told.

But the Youth Forum argues pupils should be trusted to use the toilets safely and responsibly throughout the school day as a matter of “dignity”.

It has made the issue its priority for the year 2025/26, and at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday June 25, members heard calls for change.

Cian Lancaster, who chairs the Youth Forum, said the group hopes to meet with secondary school headteachers later this year to discuss possible changes to the rules around accessing school toilets.

The matter can be especially distressing for female pupils who need to use period products, because they are often prohibited from taking bags into the toilets.

Younger pupils making the step up to secondary school can also struggle to understand why their access to toilets is being restricted, when primary schools typically have more relaxed rules, the meeting heard.

Youth Forum coordinator Lee Kabza told the meeting that the organisation had met with a firm which provides sanitary products in schools, to discuss the issue of “period dignity”.

Some schools elsewhere use a token system which allows pupils to obtain a single period product from a machine – something Mr Kabza suggested could tackle issues around bad behaviour, where toilets are deliberately blocked.

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, the council’s deputy leader, noted school toilet access had been backed by around 800 young people as the Youth Forum’s priority issue.

He said there was “a groundswell of opinion behind it”, adding he hoped schools would take note of the forum’s work.

The cabinet members voted unanimously “consider how to support the Youth Forum in addressing their priority issue” for the year ahead.