Nicer Loos
Delivery – part two
Lunchtime visits were undertaken to build students' knowledge of high use toilets in the community.
What makes them nice to use?
Do they have problems similar to us?
How do they deal with the problem?
Groups of students visited Pak'n'Save, Pataka and Corinna School and compiled a list of user-friendly features worth considering.
"This is when we were finished with their (Pak'n'Save) toilets so we had a photo. Shirley is in the middle."
"This is a photo of the toilet and toilet paper. Ms Daly took a photo because our toilets are dirty. I think we should keep spare toilet paper."
"Toilets at Pak'n'Save. They have mirrors and a towel dispenser."
"This picture is in the boys' toilet. It is a urinal. A urinal is for men and not women. It is painted white. I like white because it is light. It has a men's and a little boys' one."
"This is a picture inside the men's toilets at Pataka. It has liquid soap and two sinks. I like the tiles because they are clean. The sink is white. It is beautiful and clean."
"This is a sign that tells you to keep the toilet nice and clean."
Carolyn Atkinson, Resene's Rainbow Lady, visited and explained use of colour, colour and its affect on people's well-being and colour 'tricks' such as every bright colour needs a dull colour to offset it.
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"Carolyn is playing a trick on us about colour. She is teaching us that if colour is surrounded by black it gets darker and if you surround a colour wiht a light colour it gets lighter." |
"This is Rainbow Lady she is showing that colour can change to a different colour. When the light shines the colour is lighter, when it's darker the colour looks darker." |
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"Carolyn is holding a big paper up of colours and there are colours from the rainbow. It is called a colour chart." |
"Carolyn is showing us a colour wheel about colours. She told us that yellow and orange make yellow-orange. I didn't know that there was the colour yellow-orange until Carolyn came." |
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One of Adair's murals on a toilet wall at Onepoto, Porirua. |
"Adair is telling us we can do anything if we put our mind into it." |
Adair, a local mural artist, paints on public buildings including toilets, to make places beautiful for people.
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"This is Adair drawing her middle lines. Before she draws her picture she has to draw the lines. She has drawn a little box with a little fish but now she has enlarged her box and she will enlarge her fish." |
"Adair is explaining when she started painting murals. She started painting murals when she was at school. Her ten friends helped paint every mural she painted until she was 20 years old. Then she started painting murals as a job." |
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Observation recording sheet for visits to high use toilets (click to enlarge) |
This is the boys' toilet. They have a dryer. They don't have towels. They have got spare toilet paper rolls. they have got warm water and cold water. They have got a spare toilet. their toilets are cleaner than ours." |
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"This is a picture of a toilet at Corinna School. This toilet is more user friendly than our one. I like this toilet because it is white, bright and clean. They have toilet paper rolls. We have toilet paper boxes they are hard to use because we might pull out too much. They have got spare toilet paper rolls. I think we should have spare toilet paper." |
"This is one of the tile patterns at Pataka. Little school kids have drawn their faces on the tiles and stuck them on a wall outside Pataka. I think we could have tiles inside our school toilets because it would make them look beautiful and easy to clean." |
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Notes taken voluntarily by a student of Adair's mural-making process. Note-taking was taught through action learning (click each to enlarge).
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(Click to enlarge)
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Brief for the colours group and information about the likes and dislikes of other students (click to enlarge).
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Junior Jumbo (JJ) toilet roll holder
Liquid soap dispenser
Phillip
Dave
Students formed groups (girls to deal with the girls' toilets and boys likewise) to address specific aspects of the brief such as:
Colour
This group looked at the colours of the rainbow and how they made them feel then worked out which colours were liked by other students. The students then worked out how many colours they needed. Using the colours that other students liked they developed two colour schemes and surveyed to see which was most popular. The group then drew a colour concept plan. They also designed signs for the toilet doors that reflected their understanding that the colours should be universally understood.
Who can help us? Sophia's dad can help us paint the undercoat and Tania and Amy (parents) will help paint the top coat.
Fittings
This group had to find out the size, cost and source of replacement window glass. Dave from JohnsonDiversey and Phillip from Waiwhetu Distributors talked to the children about the benefits and costs of liquid soap and toilet roll holders with a spare roll. The group measured for tiles behind the basin and beside the boys urinal. They rang Tile Trends Ltd to find out the cost and available sizes. A geometry session resulted from this work.
Who can help us? Tile Trend Ltd with a good price.
Teaching
This group created posters to remind people to wash their hands, a competition for the cleanest toilets and they wrote a song to help children remember to use the toilets hygienically. They painted a pot and planted a flowering plant. They have pictures to laminate and put up.
Who can help us?
Cleaning
This group wrote to the BoT, cleaners and the Principal. They investigated what could be done about the smell. Dave and Phillip said that if the toilets are clean they won't smell.
Who can help us?
Each group had to determine whether they had achieved their part of the brief and whether or not we had met our criteria overall.
Colour
"We chose bright colours that Rimu girls chose because bright colours are beautiful like pink, blue and purple. We drawed a picture of what our toilets would look like. It did meet our criteria of making the toilets look and feel nice"
Fittings
"We think that the Junior Jumbo (JJ) toilet roll holder would be good for us because it would last for a long time and kids would not waste it. It didn't cost anything you only need to buy the toilet rolls. It would be cheaper than buying little toilet rolls. Six JJ toilet rolls cost $53.95. We met the criteria. I feel great about this technology that we have did."
Teaching
"We are going to make signs for the boys to keep the toilets clean. We'll put it on the door. We will teach the children how to keep their toilets clean and more user friendly. We met the criteria. I'm feeling excited because having clean toilets is nice and fresh."
Cleaning
This group wrote to the BoT, cleaners and the Principal. They investigated what could be done about the smell. Dave and Phillip said that if the toilets are clean they won't smell.
Material from all groups was collated into a proposal which was presented by the class to the Chairperson and a member of the BoT, the Principal, and the School Nurse.
The class was invited to take their proposal to the next BoT meeting and since we've found out that several things will be done to make our loos nicer. New vinyl will be put on the floors, a mirror will be put up in each toilet along with a liquid soap dispenser and the JJ toilet roll holders. The children have chosen the colour of the vinyl.
The children are completing posters and mosaic tile door signs and we hope we'll be able to paint the inside of the toilets next term. Tiles have been donated for the signs by Bright Ceramics Ltd.
