More Than Just a Loo: Transforming School Life with Lee Batstone

Becky welcomes Lee Batstone, Headteacher of Madley Primary School, to the next episode of the Bog Cast. Lee has led the school for 20 years, overseeing 176 pupils in a unique village setting that blends rural and urban communities. Under his leadership, Madley Primary has embraced innovation and continuous improvement, including the often-overlooked areas of school life: lunchtimes and toilets.

Lee first entered the Loo of the Year Awards in 2021, winning the Educational Cup. For him, the awards are about more than recognition, they are an opportunity to invite external scrutiny and ensure the school provides the safest and most supportive environment possible. He also celebrated success in the Washroom Cleaner Awards, highlighting the essential role cleaners play in safeguarding children through maintaining clean, safe washrooms.

Toilets, Lee explains, can be a place of fear or discomfort for children, yet they are essential for health, dignity, and concentration. By making washrooms comfortable and inviting, schools can prevent both short- and long-term health problems, encouraging children to drink more and use facilities regularly without embarrassment. There is also an element of trust involved, children must feel confident to use the toilets freely during breaks or lessons, knowing the spaces are safe, clean, and respected.

Looking ahead, Lee and the children at Madley Primary are planning a project in collaboration with the Loo of the Year Awards to improve and redesign the school’s toilets. The aim is to make the facilities more inviting and functional, while keeping costs manageable by involving pupils and parents in the process. This initiative also reflects one of the school’s core values: “always leave something better than you found it,” with children actively participating in the project and taking responsibility for their environment.

The episode also touches on inclusivity and accessibility. Lee discusses barriers faced by children with both visible and hidden disabilities, and how the school ensures consumables and facilities align with their long-standing Green Flag Eco School Award principles. Toilets, he believes, are a small investment with a huge impact, yet they are often undervalued in school planning and policy.

Lee addresses the ethical debates around when children should be allowed to use the toilet, particularly as schools encourage healthy hydration throughout the day. Children cannot concentrate when they need the toilet, and accidents can affect their dignity and confidence. Ensuring toilets are safe, hygienic, and welcoming is not just the responsibility of the headteacher or governors, it is a collective effort involving staff, parents, and pupils alike.

Finally, Lee reflects on the broader significance of awards. For him, recognition should always be sought for the right reasons. The Loo of the Year Awards represent part of a holistic approach to education, encompassing academic achievement, social development, emotional wellbeing, and the creation of a nurturing school environment. In Lee’s eyes, investing in toilets is an investment in children’s learning, health, and confidence.

to find out more about:

Madley School www.madleyprimaryschool.co.uk or 

LinkedIn for Lee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-batstone-6002a529/

for more information about Loo of The Year Awards:- www.loo.co.uk.  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-wall-bem-a69b7a

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Good morning. And welcome to the podcast. I hope you've been listening to the last few that we have produced and that you've enjoyed them. And I think you will enjoy today, as we have Lee Batstone from Madley Primary School in Herefordshire, which is my local primary school, and also where my two daughters went to school. Morning Lee.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Thank you for coming and joining us.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

There's several reasons why we thought it would be nice to talk to you today. Not only because you've seen Charles and I with our businesses grow, having been part of our sort of school family because our children came to your school, but also that you've very much grabbed the thought of Lou of the Year Awards and how it works and how it might also be part of the education for children within your school. So, first of all, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your school? And then we can talk more about Lou of the Year Awards.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Yeah. So my name's Lee Batstone, head teacher of Madley Primary School. So this is my 20th year. So done a few other things. But school of um about 170, so village school mix of rural urban children. And yeah, we've been involved with Lou of the Year for quite a number of years with you and Charles. And I think it's really important. So it's constantly developing, and it's something that is a bedrock of the school as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

So we'll go back, I think the first year we actually did Lou of the Year Awards in 2021. I think you actually took took part, and we looked at both the children and the staff toilets and graded. And I think you actually won the Cup for Education, Toilets and Education that year. Yeah. Um tell me what made you feel that us coming, doing that inspection, apart from knowing us, of course, but what made you feel that was important for the school and and how it could reflect on how the children um see toilets?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Yeah, so as a school, our culture is that um you should invite scrutiny from the outside to do with lots of things, uh, and toilets are really important. So um two things that I think are really crucial and often overlooked in education are lunch times because children need to um eat properly and feel comfortable doing it. So we kind of make our hall into a restaurant with um the right lighting and um tablecloths, but then equally related to that um are toilets and they're something everybody does. So um, and for children especially, it's a place in school that could be um a place of fear or not wanting to use them, and actually, we should make them as comfortable as possible because everybody does it, so um, it's part of the lieu of the year was asking people to come and look at that and almost kind of judge, but equally give us ideas of how we could develop and improve the spaces that we've got. We can't necessarily change the spaces, but what we can do is make the best of them so that all the children feel as comfortable as possible going to the toilet or using those spaces.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

And how did the children and also other stakeholders of the school, so governors, parents, staff, um take that on board when they won that award? Was I mean, I guess there was probably some laughs about it because you know, Louis the Year Awards does have puns quite a lot, but it does help talk, it softens the discussions because toilets are sometimes, as you say, a bit of taboo. But how did it sort of help with those sort of uh discussions?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

So I think initially people thought I was a bit odd in terms of us doing it, um, because it's one of those things, why would you do it? But then actually, people now have an understanding of how important it is, and also I think that year they won washroom cleaner of the year, which was amazing because the two ladies who were doing it, it was a real like wow moment for them to be able to say, look, you've won this, and um, so if you think about schools and safeguarding, and safeguarding is wide as it is long, but actually, it is about safeguarding, it is about a moment to say thank you for keeping us safe, and thank you for keeping the children safe, and thank you for your contribution, which no one sees because it happens when nobody's in school. So it kind of pulled those things together and helped everybody else to understand that actually the cleaners play a really important role in school, and then for the children, it escalates their understanding of oh, actually, we need to look after and take care, which aligns with our kind of school values and culture that actually you need to look after every space, um, and then they've got pride in those um toilets, and then actually we can build on that because it's getting them involved in how else we can develop and make the best of this space.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

So, with all that, how can we then, as Louis Year Awards, work closer with people like yourself to improve that education uh through schools? Because the statistics are that a lot of uh people as they get older that have problems with their bladders and their bowels, not disease but you know, um incontinence problems, are quite often caused by the fact that children don't use toilets as they should in their school day. And we understand some of those reasons why, because sometimes you know it is a place of fear and whatever. Um, however, we need to educate that this shouldn't be the case. So, how can we work together um and align that?

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yeah, so I think we need to um celebrate what happens because um it's about making sure people understand if you're asking children to drink more, which they should be, then they're gonna need to go to the toilet more. And actually, in our school, there isn't a no, you can't go. It's a if you need to go, you go, but you have the trust to go and use those spaces properly. And I know there are a lot of schools where that isn't the case, or you need a pass to go to the toilet or whatever, but actually that's not good practice because those children are going to hold it in, and um, that leads to a fear, fear of asking, but also a fear of going to the toilet, which is not good for them in terms of life and uh even now or as they get older. So it's about celebrating what happens, it's trying to engage more schools or places of education, whether they want to um enter an award or not, but it's about um showing what the potential and possibilities are, and I think a big part of that is also using the children to be able to do that. Um, and we've talked about we've got a group in school who are quite keen to get involved in developing our toilet spaces and theming them. So part of that inspiration came from the Lou of the Year awards and go in and seeing, you know, campsites and hotels and thinking actually, there's no reason why we can't do this. So it's using that, taking children and showing them places and saying, look, is this something we could do? Engaging the parents, because in the past the parents have painted our toilets because that's a way of saving money. You get parents involved, they've got a connection to it, and then actually kind of bringing everybody together, but as a point of celebration. So maybe a bit odd saying to celebrate a toilet, but they should be celebrated because it's an important part of school. They're often the worst design paces in school. I mean, our boys' toilets have got one window which lets no natural light in, so actually, as a space, it's not particularly nice. So um, we're trying to theme that as kind of a jungle with plants and like real plants, so that actually it makes it uh an intriguing place to go, if you like, not just a well, I go in here and go to toilet, and then that's the end of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

And just when we're talking about toilets in that respect, not just being nice, but also about the education of washing hands and leaving things better for others. Is that something that you sort of talk to them about whilst you're talking about how wonderful you would like them to look?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yep, so we work on a legacy basis. So um we work with a lot of businesses and the children run businesses, and part of um that was a connection I had with a business where um they use legacy, and we always talk about leave it better than you find it. Um, so an example of that would be Young Voices last week. Um we were at a huge concert, five and five thousand children. Um, we took 50 children as they stood up at the end, there was no rubbish left, not because they hadn't been reminded, but because they do it naturally. The school next to us, I don't know where they were from, but it was horrendous. And the adults and children just left. So that culture comes back into school because it's about using the toilets properly, and even down to having children checking them, so like you would in um you know, a service station or a hotel or whatever on the back of the door, there's a tick chart, so that actually they take responsibility because there could be children who don't use it properly. What we do in school might be different to what they're used to at home, you know, 50 children per toilet is not something you would do in your own house, but in school that's all you need. Um, and it's not about all you need, it's about what you've got and how can you make the best of it, but also how can we look after it and how can we make sure everybody feels comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

I just want to go back to something you just talked about, rubbish and values and things, and um, this is just from my experience. I can remember coming into the school, and my children were very young, and in an assembly, there was no shouting, there was no clapping for the children to be quiet. I remember you just rubbing your ear like that, and all the children just went really quiet. And I just thought that was amazing because shouting and things like that when we were at school was very apparent, and it never did any good, really, did it? It just got people more wind up, but I can remember that straight away, that respect. But then seeing you at another stage where you were having lots of fun with them, but they knew where the line was, they knew where to stop, they knew that that was it, and I think that was really quite apparent that the values in the school are there, and this is what makes me quite excited that we've talked about working with a group of children as ambassadors um and getting them to be involved in it because I know that their values will be strong, they won't be doing it just because they think it's going to be a badge of honour, they'll be doing it because they feel about feel they want to do that. So I'm quite excited about working with that, but I do feel the same as you that we need to get more education um through the schools. You came um, couldn't make it this year, but you came to the awards last year, and I noticed that you were um very sort of taken back with Crohn's and colitis and what they were talking about toilets. Tell me what you did after that, that awards, because that was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

So you um and I can't remember the exact thing, there was a a speaker um who said something, and then um it was about the stickers um that could go on the door, so anybody um can use that toilet. Um, and actually, as a school, sometimes people overthink things in terms of safeguarding and think, oh no, we couldn't ever have a stranger coming through the door. But actually, in every school you have to go through a reception area, and often there's a staff or adult toilet very close by. So um at the end of uh that awards, um, I got one of the stickers and we put it so as soon as I came back, we put it on the door, and then actually we have had one person because we're set back from the road, so it's quite a hard um place to see where the front door is, but we did have somebody who actually came in and said, Oh, I've seen your sticker, would you mind if I use the toilet? And it's easy because um from the reception area you just come in through a uh security door and round the corner to the staff toilet, so it does work, and if that one person, you know, it made a difference to them, and then they tell other people, and other people notice those stickers around, not just schools but anywhere else, then it's what we should be doing.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Um I was really, really impressed with that because I just thought that you know Madley is a tiny little village, there are no public toilets, are there? No. If the pub's not open or the village hall's not open, people could well end up getting caught short. And I just thought that that that initiative was was really good. And the fact that you were able to implement it around safeguarding, because we also in line with safeguarding when we're talking about toilets, we're looking about safety with locks and things, but we're also looking about um neurodiverse children and adults that may not be able to cope with like loud hand dryers, blocks of colour in toilets, um, as part of our awareness of barriers. What sort of barriers do you see um in the school toilets? Because obviously you've got a range of children with all sorts of different abilities because that's how children are, aren't they? They grow up at different different stages.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Um, so one of them is so talking about safeguarding, one of the things when we um do Lou of the Year and and you and Charles come and inspect, is we always do it outside of when the children are in school, which is down to you because um that's really thoughtful, um, because it means that it's much easier to manage. Um uh the neurodiversity, so hand dryers, some of ours are turned off, so we have um paper towels as well, but we also need to look at that and and align it with. So um, we're a green flag eco school and have been for 15 years, so it's looking at those things and thinking, right, what's practical, but also what's ethical and what um is the best way sustainably to be able to do that. Um, and one of our Neurodiverse children actually um has made a difference this year because we've changed the toilet roll, so um, we invest a lot more in in good quality luxury toilet roll that the staff had, and then one of the children they went in there because they use the staff toilet sometimes um for different things, uh, and he noticed it was different and said, Well, why can't we have that? And actually, well, why can't you have that? So we've gone from the days of um some people might remember tracing paper, which actually put you off going to the toilet in school. Yeah, so I didn't have an issue with going to the toilet, but actually, probably that was something you think personally, yeah, that that was just horrible. So um it costs a bit more, but actually it's more comfortable, it's the right thing to do, um, and it allows children to even if it makes a difference to one person, it it's worth the cost. So it's looking at all of those things and trying to marry them all up so that actually again you make the best of what you've got, not right. Well, knock it down and start again because there isn't money in schools to be able to do that. Although on the drive up, I did think we have 106 money that comes from new buildings, and I need to go back and um ask the question can I use some of that money for the toilets? Because um, there's set criteria the government have for it, but actually it's a really important area of school, so why shouldn't we be able to?

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Um and if not, is it something we need to campaign for to look at that? Yeah, um, so also going back to children wanting to or not using the toilets, um during COVID, our other company, plush flush, worked with you um to create bubbles, didn't we, by putting toilets in? And we were faced with beautiful single plastic toilets which were workable, very easy to keep clean. Um, but we had one child which happened to be Charles' godson, until he explained that they belonged to us and he understood that they were where they'd come from, wouldn't use them. No. And did you have other children that feel those barriers like that? Not just with that sort of experience, but maybe the fact that they don't understand that they're being cleaned or they're you know, because I remember as a child, sometimes I wouldn't go to the toilet until I got home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Um, I think probably not because um only because um it's been embedded over a long time. Okay. And because we have one of those toilets which is, you know, cleaned um down at our growing site where we have a massive polytunnel and our sheep and things, and also up at forest school, where you know Charles will come and clean the welfare unit. But historically, that was a camping toilet, and actually, um, last week uh the children replanted 2,000 trees in the space that used to be our forest school site because we've moved. Um, and while they were clearing that space, not the children, the Dutchy Foresters, um, they uncovered the camping toilet that I buried up there. But I have confessed to the children that actually I wasn't putting that in the back of the car or school minibus, it was disgusting because it was initially just a camping tent and a camping toilet. So, again, that brings it back to you have to invest in the right things. So, our PTA bought a welfare unit with a toilet and a generator. So, actually, we've got warmth, we've got the best kind of toilet we could have in the space that we've got. So, whether you're outside or in school, you need those facilities. You know, down at Comets Meadow, we could have said, right, we won't bother, they're not there all the time, so it'll be wild wee's, but that's not right. You need a toilet there for adults and children or any guests who come there. So, actually, you invest in those things because they're important, and at a time of shrinking budgets, that's not something that you think, right? Well, that'll go because that will save us X amount of money, because it's it's too small an amount compared to everything else, and and the impact that it has is too big. So, you need to make sure you've got the right toilets in the right spaces. Uh, and back to your point about um the toilets we hired, we had some single units, and we also had the poshiest toilets like in the world for COVID. So, we had pipes, music, and everything, which we said, can we have it on? Because the children love that. So, um, there were children, there will always be children who find toilets difficult. Um, but that's no different than adults. If you go to large concerts, like some of the toilet facilities are disgusting. So, actually, it's about you know, you've got to make the best of what you've got. Um, and if they understand they're cleaned out, which they do, because um, you know, Charles will do our unit at Comets Meadow, he'll do the unit up at Forest School. So, actually, they're not fearful of the toilets for that, they're fearful for the huge spiders that are often up in the corners. But again, that's part of the nature of that's part of nature, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, it's it's providing the right facilities to make sure as much as possible you kind of alleviate any of those fears.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

So, moving forward, how can we align more with with yourself or with education? Because it's not just primary. We do have um some universities now that that enter, and they do seem to be also getting on board and understanding what's needed because it's not just about the physical use of toilets, it's about the well-being um of people mentally going into a space that is you know safe and and clean. But how do you feel we can we can move forward? Obviously, that something like the bobcast is another way of raising awareness, but what what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 19:53

I think education is untapped. I think every school has toilets for adults and children, and it's untapped. And I don't think people um necessarily recognise either for your naivety or they just don't know that actually there's potential, even if you don't want to enter the award, you should still have an element of evaluating your facilities that are for everybody. So I I would imagine in most schools well, if there is somebody who doesn't go to the toilet during the day, that's a big issue, but everybody uses it probably more than once, twice a day. So I think there's a huge untapped potential, um, not from a business necessarily, but from a ethical point of view of making sure that awareness and understanding and um that actually the children deserve that, and I think there is an ethical debate about um children not being allowed to go to the toilet, so you can only go now. Let's be honest, all of us as adults have been driving somewhere and gone, oh actually I need the loop. That's why we have service stations. So why is that different to schools where adults control what happens? And actually, if you need to go to the toilet, you need to go to the toilet. We have children in school who just have a little sign, you know, and off they go. Nobody else needs to know, it's not their business, but actually, then it's about ultimate trust and understanding. So actually, if you're doing that, do it for the right reasons, but then equally, sometimes if children need a break from people talking too much, then it's a good way to have that break. So there's not a problem with that.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

I think it's about dignity as well because children feel dignity at a very very young age, and people I suppose now we do more, but years ago didn't understand that children really did understand dignity and and feelings, and it wasn't until they were in later life and they were being bullied that it actually people would say something. But simple things not not being able to go to the toilet or being asked, especially at secondary school, can I go to the toilet, miss? Because you're on your period and not being allowed to go, and the consequences of that is quite serious for mental health, isn't it? At the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

About education and understanding of adults, because all of those things you've mentioned, plus children, if you're drinking, so we have a kind of thing, they have big drinks bottles. Um, we talk about whether you drink water or juice, because if you drink juice, then as soon as it hits your stomach, it's gonna say, I need to digest something, it's likely to go through your system much quicker, so you're gonna need the toilet more. But actually, if you're saying to children by lunchtime, you need to have drunk at least half of this and a whole one, you know, at any point during the day, and they're really proud of the fact I've drunk all this, and actually, you're gonna need to go to the toilet. So, waiting or well, only go at break time, that works for a lot of people, and there's nothing wrong with reinforcing actually go at break time or try to, yes, but then equally there are children then 20 minutes later who will need to go. Well, if you say don't go, they're just sat there, they're not concentrating on what they're doing or what you're talking about, they're all they're thinking about is I need to go to the toilet, and equally, you also have that whole thing about dignity. You have younger children who will have more accidents, and they have accidents because they're engaged and involved in their learning. By the time they've realized they need the toilet, then it's sometimes too late. But equally, you have the dignity of they so in our school, they come to the office, they have their change of clothes, but they use the staff toilets. One, because they're closer to the office, and two, because it's a bigger, more comfortable space for them to get changed in. Because one of the things, as well, in our school, they used to go and get changed for um football club or whatever in the toilets, and you're like, no, that's just like why would you you wouldn't want to go into any toilet to get changed. Not really. So actually, it's finding the right spaces and the right places to be able to do that, and just thinking a bit differently. Education is often we only think in one way, and because what we've been taught or we've been told, and actually we need to think differently because the world changes, and um, if we want children to drink more and be healthier in that sense, they need to go to the toilet and they need the right places and dignity to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Thank you. So this might be quite a controversial question. Whose responsibility is it for the toilets in the school overall?

SPEAKER_00 24:14

All of us ultimately so in our school, I'm the head teacher, is ultimately my job and the governors, but actually it's all of our responsibility. If you have a culture that everybody's involved, everybody takes responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

So do you think that's maybe the way we need to move forward with education? The reason I asked that question is that I was talking to somebody who is working with schools in the south about toilets and how poor they they are, and one was with an academy where she took the the lead of the academy round and reckoned they'd never been in the toilets for 12 months.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

And that really surprised me, but it also shocked me because in a business, which I still think schools are a business, whether it's an academy or whether it's a local authority school, you wouldn't, as a business owner, not find out what your staff but don't you judge a place by its toilets?

SPEAKER_00 25:07

I always do. I do, whether that be, you know, a cafe, a service that if you go in somewhere and it smells or there's tissue paper all over the floor, the first thing I always do, maybe I'm a bit sad, is look at when it was checked. Or actually, this says every hour it's going to be checked, and it's two o'clock in the afternoon. Last time it was done, it was ten o'clock. And in sense of a school, I check them often because you know, toilets get blocked. Sometimes they drop things down them so you end up with a glove on and sort an out. But again, the good thing is there'll be children who come and tell you, and um I won't tell you where, but um, I went to a school, uh, secondary school once where um we had a meeting after school, and there were no children around. So I was on my way up to the room and thought, I need the toilet, uh, and there was a toilet there, so I went in. So uh, and as a teacher, you kind of you know, if you're in a school, you always go in the cubicles. First cubicle I went in, there was a bag. So the second cubicle I went in, there was the lunchbox, and the third cubicle I went in was the coat. And I left that school thinking after the meeting, it wasn't a good reflection. And it comes back to the point you were making. Nobody had checked those toilets because if they had, those things wouldn't have been in there. They hadn't happened two minutes before, they'd happened quite a while before because the children had left at least an hour before. So, one, why haven't they been checked? And two, it didn't leave me with a good impression of that school, which I won't tell you who it is, because I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

No, no, no, no, that wouldn't be fair. The same is as I wouldn't say the school that this was this lady was telling me about, but it it it was the question was you know very much about who do you feel, and you've you've more or less said that is that the headmaster is at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Eating and going to the toilet, two things we all do. So, again, it's you know, if children eat off of prison trays where it's different sections for things, and you can eat a bit of your pudding, a bit of your main course. That's why do you teach children to do that or to allow them to eat with their hands? And it's no different than a toilet. You know, you wouldn't allow children to just go to the toilet wherever they want, it's about making sure the spaces are right for what you want them to do, and those things are part of life. So as we grow older as primary school children, when I'm going to business meetings or whatever job I do, am I going to have the right ethics and approach and culture to be able to show myself to the to be the best person I can be, rather than you know, I'm sat in a business meeting when I'm 20 odd and suddenly I'm like shoveling food in, or I don't know how to use a toilet properly, or I don't wash my hands, all those things. Men are some of the worst, I think, at doing that. When you go to the toilet, and then people they don't wash their hands. And I don't know whether it's because you're a teacher, but you just want to go, you've just touched the door handle. Like, why haven't you washed your hands? That's just disgusting, yeah. So it's about, I suppose, upbringing, but part of our role is to help children to understand that whatever background they come from.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

So, one last question about the awards, because I know from coming into school they're proudly placed for everybody to see. Do you have people that come to visit you that obviously don't have part of a stakeholder in the school ask about that and and why you've got them and what it entails?

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Yep, so funny you should mention that. I was showing a parent around last week who um uh so they're uh on the wall in the toilets, but there's also awards that are out as you come in with all the other you know things that we might do. Um, and I didn't point it out, she just noticed and went, Oh, a Lou of the Year award, what's that all about? So it's about um that interest, and then for us, it allows us to kind of show that whole circle of education, so it's not just about um academic education, it's also about emotional, social, all of those things, but it adds an extra bit because um yeah, not every school does it. So people seeing that, and then she asked the question, Oh, I wonder why the school we're at now doesn't do that, is that's a good question to ask. It's not a oh look, we're better, it's a actually go back and ask because you should be thinking about those things.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

I'm glad you said that because we often talk about the awards as not being um picking downfall on people. We do it about celebrating those that are doing the standards and hoping that others will say, I want a bit of that, I want to understand that, I want to take part in it. So I'm I'm really glad you mentioned that because that really does align with how we hopefully promote Lua The Year Awards.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Is there anything else that you would like to tell us, Lee, about what you do or about the school, or how you'd like to get involved in toilets more or yeah, no, I mean part of the reason didn't come to the award last year is because um uh honesty and integrity are a massive part of the school, and actually um our two toilets are fine, but they hadn't moved on from the year before, and the plan was for that to happen, and for various reasons it didn't. So, actually, we entered, but um, I kind of thought, no, I want to do this properly. So this year um it's about making sure those toilets are done. That's involving the children um because you're gonna come and do some work with them and talk some about it, but also then engage the parents. We're really lucky in the community that we've got, um, and you and Charles were a big part of that. Part of your legacy was the first minibuses that were ever bought. We've changed them a number of times, but actually the opportunities that opens up, um, but it's about making sure that actually we do things properly. So for us, it's about making sure if we enter awards that one, we get it for the right reasons because we're doing those things, not just for effect, and two, it's about the the most important thing is the impact it has on the children because then that will allow them to also take even greater responsibility. Um, and they love a badge, so a Lou of the Year award badge, which we've talked about, would is you know, they're there they keep asking when's it gonna happen? When's it gonna happen? So we need to arrange a date to do that. Yeah, we do.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Well, thank you so much for your time, Lee. If people want to follow the school, you've obviously got website, where can they actually follow you? Because I know for safeguarding reasons, there's only certain things you can put up, but you do share basically what you do with the school, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 31:31

So um, yeah, www.madleyprimary school.co.uk. We also have Instagram, um, which is um, I can't remember what it is, but um, I'm sure someone will find it if they search. Um, yep, and um if people want to come and visit um educational settings, then it will be an honest account of what we do. Um, it's not all bright, shining, um, but it's making the best of what you've got, and the children will be very proud to show people that. Um, but hopefully, you know, other educational settings, nurseries, schools, um will want to get involved because um it is really important.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

Thank you. Thanks ever so much for um joining us today, Lee. And if you want to know more about Lou of the Year Awards, please look up our website www.lu.co.uk, uh, and we're also on Facebook and LinkedIn.