When a child complains of a headache or inability to concentrate in the afternoon lesson, the inevitable question is – Have you taken any water? And the risk is that they haven’t, the water fountain isn’t easily accessible, or it is not regularly used.
Everyone agrees that it is a principle of great importance that educational settings should promote the hydration of children and young people. There is large evidence that hydration influences mental performance, including concentration, memory, mood, and information processing. However, the evidence suggests that children are particularly susceptible to mild dehydration. This susceptibility is partly explained by body size and the delay in the thirst signal.
Children face various barriers in school settings that prevent them from drinking at will. These barriers include schools’ rules that prohibit drinking in classrooms or require children to leave the classroom to access a water source. Such rules can lead to a culture of low-level dehydration, and no clear person is assigned responsibility for this. For Water Cooler Wales, consider https://www.waterforyou.net
Providing easy access to water through coolers in breaks in common areas and/or dining spaces does away with the various barriers to drinking and leaves no responsibility with teachers to ensure that children access water during the school day, other than to model good practice themselves. This does not affect their teaching practice or classroom management in any way.
The investment is modest.
The return to mental function of children in our schools, hundreds of children and school days every year, is a pretty amazing one.