Row erupts over unisex toilets at primary school

A row has erupted over the introduction of unisex toilets for pupils at an east London primary school.Some 625 outraged parents have signed a petition after the same-sex loos were created at Buxton School in Leytonstone.The new facilities have been built as part £12mn redevelopment of the school in Terling Close and will be used by children aged eight and above, the East London and West Essex Guardian reported.Younger children will use toilets attached to their classrooms, according to the newspaper.The change.org petition, set up by Ehasan Karim, reads: “We do not wish for our children to be part of this social experiment and therefore request the head teacher to take the appropriate action to restore traditionally segregated facilities without undue delay.”It goes on to claim that the introduction of unisex toilets will “disrupt hygiene, privacy, safety and wellbeing of pupils” and expresses concerns over “sexually related incidents”.Hannah Cuthbertson, who signed the petition, wrote: “Unisex toilets will just lead to children becoming sexually active even earlier.”Mahnaz Akhtar-Junjua added: “It’s difficult to deal with the opposite sexes in normal circumstances, but now you think the children have to deal with awkwardness in the bathroom.”Rahana Khalid said: “Gender segregation is vital to ensure safety and protect gender dignity.The proposal is simply innovation gone bonkers.”Executive headteacher Kath Wheeler told the East London and West Essex Guardian that parents had been invited to take tours of the new facility and reminded those concerned that there are single sex toilets still available.She added: “No pupil has to use a unisex toilet if they do not want to.”Mob of 30 schoolchildren attacked police in Lewisham A video of a mob of up to 30 school children launching a brutal attack on two Met police officers in the street recently has been revealed.One policeman is shown being wrestled to the pavement where a group of the baying teenagers surround him.They then begin repeatedly kicking him and stamping on his head, to loud shouts from the other teens.His female colleague tries to intervene but is pushed away by the youths.She was allegedly punched in the jaw during the violence.Another man, believed to be a teacher, is shown trying to stop the carnage by pulling away a number of the baying schoolchildren.The dazed policeman is then seen staggering away from the group along the floor as the crowd disperses.Both officers are then seen standing against the railings with the teacher seemingly shielding them from the remaining youths.One resident told The Sun that the violence in New Cross had started after the group arrived for a fight between rival schools.He said: “There was a fight, then the police turned up and were attacked by the kids.“They were like a pack of feral wolves.”Earlier footage shows police searching a teenager face down on the bonnet of a car after he was allegedly seen with a knife.Children surround the vehicle and can be heard shouting “Get off of him” before the attack begins.The male officer suffered serious bruising during the violence and was taken to hospital as a precaution.This week, police appealed for any more footage of the Goodwood Road incident, which happened on November 9 at around 4pm, to come forward.A Met Police spokesman said the two officers had been on routine patrol when they noticed one of the schoolchildren appeared to have a knife.He said: “After attempting to search the suspect, one of the officers was violently punched in the face several times by some of the other youths, causing him to fall to the ground.“The second officer stepped in to help her colleague and in doing so was also punched in the jaw.“The group continued to assault the officer on the floor by repeatedly kicking him in the head, leaving him with serious bruising and damaging his mobile phone.” Police are now speaking with schools in the area in a bid to track down the attackers.A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm and bailed until mid-December.Detective Sergeant Jenny White, of Lewisham Police, said: “I’m appealing to anyone who witnessed this shocking attack on two officers to come forward and speak with us, particularly anyone with mobile phone footage of the incident.“It happened at a very busy time of the day and there would’ve been a large number of people in the area.“These officers go to work every day to keep the public safe and this demonstrates the dangers the police can face while carrying out these duties.”