Aston Academy: Girl on her period, 15, has to go home two days in a row because of school's locked toilets

A 15-year-old Sheffield girl on her period had to go home two days in a row because her school wouldn’t unlock its toilets.

Despite having a medical condition that makes her time-of-the-month heavier and more painful, and despite having a school issued ‘period pass’ to go when she needs, the girl at Aston Academy, in Swallownest, had to ring her dad for help on two consecutive days.

And, when she returned to school on May 7, she was immediately told she would be entering an ‘all day detention’ - for using her phone to call her dad when she asked for help.

Her father, who asked not to be named so his daughter wouldn’t be identified, told The Star: “It’s bad enough she rang me in floods of tears because she needed to come home and take a shower, but then they threw her in all-day ‘reflection’ for calling me for help.

“They’ve shamed her. It’s teaching her to be embarrassed when she has her period - I thought we left this stuff in the 70s.

“I’m not one of those parents that thinks schools shouldn’t be strict with children, but what about common sense? The rules at Aston Academy are stricter than a prison camp’s.”

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The Sheffield dad says he was first called for help on May 2. Aston reportedly locks its toilets 10 minutes before the end of lunch to keep pupils from ‘dawdling’ before lessons.

However, as a result, his daughter couldn’t get in the loos when she needed.

He claims this was despite her having a school-issued ‘period pass’ in her homework diary to get around the strict rules.

Then, the next day, it happened again when the teenage girl was unable to go between classes.

Her dad said: “She rang me in floods of tears asking me to come and get her. Then I heard a teacher barking at her to get off her phone and heard [my daughter] explaining why she was doing it.

“When she went back to school after the bank holiday (Tuesday, May 7), a teacher told her she was going into reflection all day for ‘using her phone’.

“She called me to say so and I went right down and got her again. I won’t let her get punished for phoning me for help. She did nothing wrong.”

The girl’s dad reportedly had a meeting with the schools’ headteacher, Mrs Afshah Saeed, but was later told the academy’s stance on the matter had not changed.

Aston Academy declined to comment over the incident, and said it was liaising with the parent directly.

It comes after some critical backlash from parents towards Aston Academy in the past year.

The school was rated Requires Improvement in its latest Ofsted report in January 2024, where inspectors wrote: "Some pupils are happy, but others are dissatisfied with their experiences at the school.”

A new, stricter school uniform policy introduced in June 2023 was widely criticised by parents, before "hundreds" of pupils were reportedly held in detention on the first day back after summer holidays in September for breaching it. One mother described the rules as "draconian," and over 700 people signed a petition calling for standards to be relaxed.

The school failed to respond when contacted by The Star about the petition.

In July 2023, principal Afshah Saeed met with MP Alexander Stafford to discuss "parent issues."

It came after the MP asked parents in a Facebook post what issues he could raise at the meeting. Responses included complaints over the use of supply teachers, the strict uniform policy, and the frequency with which detentions were handed out.

Neither Mrs Saeed or Mr Stafford could be drawn on what exactly was discussed when contacted by The Star.

The new Ofsted report notes: "The trust [ACET] recognises that work is needed to build relationships between the school and the community it serves."