(Photograph) - Children are not rushing to the loo at Cress Arthurlie primary in Barrhead - yet. They might be soon after senior officials in East Renfrewshire responded to pupils’ stink about the stink and pledged to rid the school of its embarrassment.
Pupil power has led to a flush of pound;50,000 to upgrade the toilets over the coming months after councillors agreed to spend pound;285,000 this coming year and a similar sum the year after in meeting the priorities of pupils across the authority.
Anne Dunn, Cress Arthurlie’s head, said teachers had been keen to involve pupils in decision-making in line with the recent advice in the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act.
A pupil council with representatives from P4 to P7 raised issues such as excess noise, the state of the playground and especially the con- dition of the loos.
“Young children did not like to use the toi- lets. There was no privacy as people could see round the doors,” Mrs Dunn said.
Pupils wrote to John Wilson, head of quality development, who premised to investigate.
Three senior officials met with the pupils and came up with plans for replacement loos. “It had a positive effect on the children. They have had an input into changing things for the better,” Mrs Dunn said.
