Good morning

Re: Lockers being provided in school for the children.

My name is Danielle Papouchado, and my son Leo Perez has recently started at Stanborough in 7BM.

I am emailing you today regarding the issue surrounding lockers not being available for the children at Stanborough. Having spoken to a number of other year 7 parents, we all share similar concerns.

I am an Intensive care sister, and resuscitation officer at a specialised orthopaedic hospital in Stanmore (Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital). My work covers adult and paediatric patient. I work heavily alongside consultant spinal surgeons, paediatricians, physios and occupational therapists- who are specialised in orthopaedics and we predominately cover spinal work as one of our main specialties.

The main issue of concern here is about the weight of the bags and equipment that is expected of children to carry around with them 5 days a week. The weight of the children’s school bags, books and laptops, along with PE kits (on PE allocated days) along with coats etc in colder months- is huge.

Adolescence creates a huge spike in developing spines. Up until the age of 18 the spine will typically grow 20 cm in males and 15 cm in females.

This rapid development in growth is huge and must be factored in when children are in school setting.

Carrying heavy weights on children’s backs 5 days a week, 6 hours a day (not forgetting the majority of children walk or cycle too and from school) is a huge risk factor in creating life long musculoskeletal issues, aches and pains- which equally have potential to then contribute to school absences (GP/ physio/ chiropractor appointments).

This rapid development in growth is huge and must be factored in when children are in school setting.

Other long term issues from carrying heavy weight loads regularly during adolescence include:

School have a duty of care to provide, and as parents we are hugely concerned about the larger impact of not providing lockers on the children’s development.

Equally, due to the of the lack of space to put their belongings- many parents have also reported the children (including my own) being reluctant to take a coat- as they do not wish to carry “yet another item” around with them all day. This creates another problem as the weather gets colder, and wetter. This then also extends to shoes during bad weather. The school states that children can wear boots for their journey into school, so long as they change into shoes when at school. It would be very helpful if they could store their boots in their locker, the alternative is wet feet or to carry them around all day.

PE kits becoming lost is another common theme. Due to the children are having to carry all their belongings with them all day long, PE kits are occasionally getting lost. Because of this, time is then being spent emailing head of years trying to locate missing items (when I am sure they have many other tasks to be getting on with rather than adding to thier work loads) and lunch breaks are being missed, trying to locate them.

Lunch breaks are equally important periods for children during the school day. To take time to rest/ eat/ socialise. In our own personal experience- my son has spent a few lunch breaks of his trying to locate his PE kit. Maslows hierarchy of needs will support breaks as a necessity in part of the children’s school day- to contribute to thier learning needs in the afternoon classes.

While I appreciate children need to be responsible for their own belongings- for some students (particularly those with SEN) this can sometimes be a challenge in itself.

Having a locker where PE kits can be stored would hopefully prevent this.

Parents equally report that their children are declining after school clubs due to reluctance to carry even more kit around with them during the school day. This is a huge shame for children to miss out on extra-curricular activities, something that seems so easily resolvable by having somewhere to put their bags.

From our understanding- when this issue has been raised previously, the reasons for lockers being removed were given such as hygiene/ damaging to the “flow” of the school day, and Covid.

Hygiene issues we were informed from previous parents who had enquired about re-instating the lockers- were relating to children forgetting food or clothes in them, contributing to offensive smells throughout the school.

While as parents we can appreciate this may occasionally happen- we were discussing whether or not a reminder on a Friday afternoon in final period of the day could be issued to the children as a reminder to clear their lockers prior to the weekend. Something that could be considered as a reasonable adjustment to prevent all the issues as covered above.

Covid restrictions we are confident in this being a historic issue.

Regarding the “flow” of the school day, as parents we would also like another potential reasonable adjustment to be considered- with the idea of a 5-minute grace period in the morning prior to the school day, and post lunch, where lockers could be accessed. This way books can be swapped in and out and PE kits can be stored.

Research proves that developing children should carry between 10-20% of their body weight. Parents are reporting that some of their children are carrying up to 50%.

Should the school require further supporting evidence from medical professionals, I am happy to consult further with my colleagues upon my return to work.

I am sure, as parents you can understand our worries regarding these issues.

We thank you for taking the time to acknowledge our concerns.

We look forward to your response.

Many thanks,

On behalf of y7 parents