West Midlands school hits back at 'locked toilets' picture behind social media backlash

A West Midlands secondary school has spoken out after an image of its toilets being 'locked down' was shared widely on social media
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A major West Midlands secondary school has spoken out after an image of its toilets being 'locked up' was shared widely on social media. The image, of a block in Smith's Wood Academy in north Solihull, was shared on a handful of local Facebook groups, with parents claiming the secondary school was limiting pupil access to toilets.

It was also claimed that the block had all its mirrors removed, with the image showing a set of locked gates pulled down in front of the toilets. Since the image surfaced, Smith’s Wood Academy principal Steve Huntington has revealed to BirminghamLive why the block was locked down, and reassured what this means for pupil hygiene.

The statement comes as BirminghamLive reported this morning that the school, which primarily caters to families in Chelmsley Wood and north Solihull, came out as the seventh most improved school in England after a damning Ofsted report in 2023. You can read more on that, here.

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READ MORE: West Midlands school goes from 'fights and bullying' to one of most improved in England

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Mr Huntington told BirminghamLive that the picture, which has now been shared widely on social media, shows toilets that are not in a teaching zone, which means that students are not in that vicinity. He added that there are sets of 'open access' toilets across the school.

The school chief emphasised that "no students are denied access" to the toilet.

Smith’s Wood Academy principal Steve Huntington said: "There are 8 sets of open access toilets at SWA across the two buildings. In addition there are 11 locked disabled toilets. There are staff on duty every lesson with keys should they need to be accessed."

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Referring to the image of the locked toilets, he said: "There is one set of toilets that are currently closed off and locked, these are on the top floor where there are no timetabled lessons and no requirement for students to be within that vicinity. If in the future that area became a teaching zone, then the set of toilets would be opened at specific times for access.

"No students are denied access to go to the toilet, however just like the canteen is used at lunchtime and breaktime, toilets should, unless of medical issues, also be used at specific times and not during lesson times. Any students with medical issues are given a toilet pass to use during lesson time should they need to."