Outwood Academy City: Mum's rage at Sheffield school after second pupil in two months wets themselves in class

For the second time in two months, a student has reportedly had an accident at Outwood Academy City, in Stradbroke, because of its unbending ‘toilet pass’ system.

A dad told The Star in October how his son “broke down in tears” when he got home after being told he couldn’t go to the toilet during a lesson and later having to “wring his trousers out” in the loos - before then being held for detention.

Now, another parent has railed against the school’s strict rules, claiming her daughter was kept from going to the toilet and also ended up wetting herself in class.

The mum told The Star: “There’s got to be a better solution than toilet passes. This isn’t how we treat each other as adults in the workplace, so why is this how we treat children?

“Because the queues to use the loo are so long at break time, students have to choose between going to the bathroom or having a break.”

The Star understand’s Outwood Academy City’s toilet pass system means pupils cannot go to the loo in the first or last 10 minutes of a class. When they do go, they must take a signed slip from the teacher - and the teacher must then email another member of staff monitoring the corridors.

The mum said: “It means there are such long queues between lessons that kids have to pick between having a break and using the loo.”

The mother - who asked not to be identified for her daughter’s sake - says her child was previously placed in detention after walking out of class to use the loo when she was desperate in October 2024.

She said: “She actually got her phone out and texted me under the table asking if she should just go, and I said yes - ‘we’ll deal with the consequences afterwards’.

“I refused the detention because I didn’t think it was fair, and they threatened her with suspension.”

However, on December 4, her daughter again needed to go. After she was told she couldn't, and because of the previous detention, the mum says her daughter ‘froze up,’ and sadly had an accident in the class.

The mum said: “The teacher is one of her favourites and he was very apologetic.

“But my daughter isn’t mad at him, she’s mad at the rules at this school.

“You could say she should have just gone anyway, but she previously got a detention and was eventually threatened with suspension for doing that.

“There’s just got to be another solution.

“I’m sure the justification is the idea pupils are sneaking off to the toilet to go on their phones and vape or something, but you can’t punish all the well-behaved students along with the bad.

“It’s not the teacher’s job to police students. If you allow a pupil to go to the toilet and they don’t come back, that’s what SLT (senior leadership team) are for.

“It only causes more trouble in the classroom if they continue to ask.”

The Star contacted Outwood Academy City to ask, in light of two students in two months having accidents in classrooms, what it is doing to improve the toilet pass system, and to explain the reason for the current system.

A spokesperson said: "Students are encouraged to use the toilet before school, at break time and at lunch time to minimise any disruption to learning.

"However, students are permitted to go to the toilet during lessons if they have a toilet pass that has been issued for medical reasons, or if they have a note from their teacher.”