How education is getting softer
October 1st 2009

A village school in Hertfordshire is the centre of a hygiene and environmental awareness campaign for 5–11 year olds.

Katrin tells the story

All Saints Primary School in Datchworth is led by head teacher Mary Willatt.There is a strong hygiene and environmental theme running through most aspects of the school, from recycling and equipment re-use to an award winning wildlife garden that the children look after.

Willatt had received complaints about hard, non-absorbent hand towels and inadequate toilet paper. In conjunction with some industry advice, and based on its environmental qualifications, the school then switched its washroom and wiping products to softer, kinder products from the Katrin range.

Youth care "With winter approaching, and the threat of Swine Flu ever present, it was time to take action to encourage and maximise hand washing among our susceptible young pupils," says Willatt."I looked for products that would be kind to them and compatible with our environmental ethos; products that would save the environment by having less waste from using less product and hopefully save us money too. Katrin fits the bill perfectly." Trials on Katrin hand towels, toilet tissue and centre feed paper rolls were run at the start of the new term.White towels were perceived as cleaner and more hygienic than the previous blue ones.Children regarded the previous toilet tissue as flimsy and the Katrin product as 'soft like cotton wool'. They described the Katrin towels as easy to get out of the dispenser, softer and not scratchy.

There was a 100% preference for the Katrin hand towels because the previous range absorbed very little and pupils would take several towels – now the children said they found that one towel was sufficient.

With the potential for a renewed outbreak of Swine Flu, teachers have increased pupils' focus on personal hygiene.The school teaches the children to wash their hands after visiting the toilet, before eating and after arts and craft classes.They have hand-cleansing gel on desks and in all staff and administration rooms.

Hand washing is now an easier task with more gentle towels.Time spent in the toilets has reduced, as hand drying is now quicker and minimises possible overcrowding at break time.

Wiping out waste "We expect to save money as we now know we will buy fewer towels with the children taking one towel not three," says Willatt."We have chosen a range of Katrin towels that are slightly smaller and more suitable for children's hands – giving them adult sized towels is so wasteful.This illustrates that our environmental awareness policy is working because we now create less waste for disposal." Since making the switch, All Saints School has experienced a reduction in use of toilet tissue, which is another example of 'less is more' and provides real 'cost in use' savings over the lower quality, less effective products.

Katrin hand towel and centre feed roll dispensers are now being installed throughout the school in staff and pupil washrooms, classrooms, the first aid room and staff kitchen.

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