Outrage as teacher refuses to let a young girl on her period go to toilet twice

A schoolgirl bled through her clothes and was forced to sit in her own blood twice after teachers refused to let her go to the toilet while on her period.

The 11-year-old girl, who is a student of Cotham School in Bristol, England, went home with bloodstains on her clothes, leaving her feeling humiliated and not wanting to go back to school.

The first time it happened was in September, on a non-uniform day. She was wearing light-coloured jeans on that day but when she wanted to go to the toilet to change she was denied permission to go on a toilet break. 

She bled through her jeans and, luckily, was able to cover the blood stains because she was

wearing a long jumper. The school reassured her and her mother that it would not happen again.

But, in October, a male teacher denied her permission when she wanted to leave her class again while on her period. He told her that if she continued to ask to use the toilet she would receive a disciplinary strike against her name.

Her mother said:

She asked multiple times but he wouldn’t let her out and so she just had to sit there and bleed through her clothing – again.

They should not be making young girls feel guilty because she needs to go to the bathroom and sort out her basic care.

Now, she’s scared to go to school in case they won’t let her out of the classroom, that’s not what we should be teaching girls. 

A spokesman for Cotham School told the Bristol Post newspaper:

We aim to support all our girls during their period.

With regard to this particular incident we have been in full communication on several occasions with the mother and the young girl and have issued a toilet pass, as per our school policy, so that this will not happen again.

The toilet pass can be shown discretely to the teacher so that there is no explanation required.

Many young girls and boys who have need of the toilet outside of lessons have these passes at Cotham School.

The welfare and well-being of our students is always at the forefront of what we do and we will always endeavour to work with parents and carers to support the needs of their child or children.