Dinnington High School responds following seething viral protest post over ‘period passes’ for toilets

The seething viral Facebook post by a pupil of Dinnington High School claims a new system for students on their periods to go to the bathroom is “a nightmare” leading to “girls going home to change their clothes”.

The ‘P-Pass’ gets around the school’s policy of otherwise not allowing students to go to the bathroom during the first 20 minutes of lessons as well as other restrictions. While on their period, they can ask to be issued with a credit-card sized piece of laminated paper to “discreetly” show staff if they need to go in a rush.

But, in the two weeks since February half term when the system was brought in, a number of pupils have complained about the ‘P-Pass’.

“[A student] has to have a period pass to be allowed to go to the toilet to take care of themselves which was a nightmare to get,” the post reads, which has been shared over 150 times.”

“… it is so demeaning to girls that don’t like to talk about being on their periods even with a pass for your periods you’re most likely not allowed to go because you’re ‘playing on it’.”

The post further rages against how the regular toilet passes are the A4-sized sheets of laminated paper, how students who would rather not use the P-Pass cannot take their bags to the toilets, and how phones are being locked away during the day in magnetic pouches, which the post says is bad for students with “health issues or suffer with their mental health” who have “no proper way” of contacting parents or trusted people. The post also calls the P-Pass a lanyard, but it is not.

“The teachers have no respect for the students,” the post signs off. “They run the school like it is a prison which it’s not, it’s supposed to be a place to go to feel safe and respected.”

The ‘P-Pass’ and toilet system is outlined in the school’s ‘Info for Parents’, which also details how students can dye their hair any colour, have any number of stud piercings, can wear makeup, and paint their nails however they like.

In an interview, principal Beka Staples told The Star the period passes were introduced at students’ request, are voluntary, and was designed to be similar to their existing ‘medical pass’ for students who urgently needed to leave the classroom but did not want to say why in the hearing of others.

“We have no intention of sanctioning the pupils who wrote this post, and hope to sit them down and ask how the system can be improved,” she said. “If students have other, better ideas we would listen to them.

“It’s about having reasonable adjustments and having systems that respect everybody.”

Ms Staples added that the toilet passes are now A4 because students kept flushing the older, smaller ones and damaging the plumbing, and that parents have been “extremely positive” about both the P-Pass and the magnetic pouches.

It comes as many schools have reported students protesting against strict toilet rules after seeing others do the same on TikTok.