And they claim Stantonbury international school is a "grubby and unhygienic breeding ground for germs", even after it closed for a deep clean. The Citizen has been sent a dossier of photographs of the school taken over the weekend - after Friday's clean. They show broken toilets, taps that don't work, dirty toilet cubicles and grimy walls and floors. Some parents are now threatening to report the school to Public Health England. One told the Citizen: "As parents, we just want a safe, hygienic environment for our children. This school is clearly not clean - and , at a time when hygiene is paramount, our children cannot even wash their hands properly there." Pupils claim there is frequently no soap in any of the school toilets and often toilet rolls are not replenished. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, many pupils carried their own supply of soap and toilet roll in their school bags. One parent said yesterday (Monday): "My year 7 son tried to wash his hands today, after PE. Not only was there no soap but there was no running water. He then tried all facilities available and found one on the other side of the school. It had no soap but working taps to wash the dirt off his hands." Another said: "My child takes in loo roll and hand soap in the school bag. It's not right...Prisoners have better facilities than the pupils of Stantonbury International School." A pupil said: "In one area the taps used to have yellow water running out so I started bringing my hand sanitiser. Most of the toilets barely have locks - and I’m not getting started on the amount without doors." On Friday last week the school closed down completely for a deep clean after a members of staff and their family went into isolation for coronavirus and a pupil was also unwell with the virus symptoms. Headteachers Mathew Gilbert and Alison Ramsey said at the time: "Our priority, as always, is the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and the wider school community." Over the weekend, the school opened for rehearsals for its production of Grease and also external visitors for We Will Rock You auditions."We were shocked at the state of the school toilets," said one of the visitors. "They looked like a grubby breeding ground for germs. What on earth were they like before the deep clean took place, I wonder?" The 1,600-pupil school, which was built in the early 1970s, is part of the Griffin Schools Trust. It opened yesterday (Monday) for all students apart from Year and Year 9, but today is back to full capacity. The school responded in a statement: "Clear protocols are securely in place to supply toilets with hand sanitiser and soap to support the hygiene regime promoted by Public Health England and followed at the school. Toilets are checked twice daily by site staff who sign and time-check a list in each location and confirm to an identified senior manager that all checks have been made. All supplies including hand sanitiser and soap were replaced with immediate effect following the check by site staff. Repairs are taking place to ensure that the toilets will shortly be in full working order. There is signage in all toilets requesting that, where there are concerns, to report these to a teacher who will immediately contact site services."
