Helping all students achieve ‘outstanding’ personal development
ATTENTION TO DETAIL at Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre – down to toileting arrangements – has helped the Foundation school achieve an “outstanding” rating for student personal development from OFSTED*.
The school, which has 1800 pupils aged between 11 and 18, was keen to ensure all students, regardless of ability, were offered equal opportunity to develop and be independent. Part of Bournside’s solution has been the installation of a toileting suite for disabled pupils, aimed to optimise their independence, comprising hinged arm supports, shower chair, and a Closomat automatic shower toilet, supplied by Total Hygiene.
School site manager Robert Farrow observed,
As a school, we aim to be inclusive and give all our students, regardless of ability, every tool to achieve their full potential and help them achieve personal growth to prepare them for adult life. The Closomat has been installed for a while now, giving us time to assess its impact. It has helped the children be as independent as possible. They have found it easy to use, and we have had no complaints.
The WRAS approved Closomat shower toilet combines conventional toilet facilities with a bidet facility and drier, making it suitable for use by all regardless of age and ability. It has been purpose-designed to be no bigger than, and look just like, a standard toilet, to help overcome psychological reservations about using ‘disabled’ facilities. It can be used as a conventional WC with lavatory paper, yet, if required, manual cleansing can be avoided by using the douche and drying facility, triggered by elbow or arm pressure on the standard flush or by a pneumatic hand held switch. Integral water heater and thermostatic controls ensure personal comfort and safety during use, providing warm water progressing to cool for douching and a gentle, warm airflow for drying.
To further accommodate all abilities, the Closomat and toileting facilities at Bournside School include an optional touch sensitive hand operated switch, to enable students to use whichever operations suits them.
Mark Sadler, Total Hygiene Sales & Marketing Manager, adds,
The Closomat itself can be used by anyone regardless of ability, so can eliminate the need for expensive and disruptive building work to create separate disabled toilet facilities. If everyone is encouraged to use the toilet to its full potential, it also improves hygiene and reduces potential spread of germs. It’s environmentally friendly as toilet paper is not needed!
Closomat was the UK’s first supplier of automatic toilets, fitting the first one in 1959, and is the biggest selling brand in the market, because of its product functionality, reliability and durability. It has been installed in locations as diverse as individual’s homes to hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, shopping centres, tourist attractions and even on narrowboats.
