Skip to main content Every Australian child has a right to education. For young people living with chronic illness, access to education can prove challenging and endometriosis is no exception. From dealing with chronic pain and heavy menstruation in the school environment, to missing school due to difficult symptoms, students with endometriosis can encounter multiple barriers to achieving their full academic potential.
There are many ways that you as a teacher can support your students with endometriosis, pelvic pain symptoms or heavy periods, even if they don’t want to share their diagnosis. You may find that many of your students can benefit from some of these ideas!
Make a plan for students who can’t make it to the classroom
But don’t expect everyone to be able to use it
Endometriosis symptoms can be severe enough to require students to stay home, especially during their period. They may not necessarily be unable to learn. Fortunately, in the post COVID-19 world there are many ways to educate students remotely. Lesson notes, worksheets, YouTube links and other materials that you use for your class can be emailed to students at home. Keep in mind, however, that some students will be unable to engage at all if they are too unwell.
Free access to toilet breaks
Heavy menstrual bleeding, bowel disturbances, and urinary urgency (needing to go NOW) are all symptoms that can occur with endometriosis. Dealing with these uncomfortable occurrences in the school environment can be embarrassing, more so if students are challenged to explain the need for a toilet break in front of the class, so please try not to ask! You could consider hanging a pass or a token near the door that a student can take on their way out to signal that they are on a bathroom break without having to interrupt the lesson.
Set up a necessities station
Periods can start when you aren’t ready. Periods can start when you haven’t got the budget to buy menstrual products. Periods can be heavier than you expect, and suddenly all your pads are gone. Whatever the reason, menstruating students can find themselves without the basic hygiene products required to manage a period. Having ready access to free menstrual supplies that can be obtained with minimal embarrassment, such as via a free vending machine in bathrooms, is essential for all menstruating students. On a related note, children with endometriosis (and early menstruators in general) need ready access to sanitary bins during their toilet breaks. These should be provided in all toilets from Year 3 and up as some children start menstruating as young as 9 years old.
Be guided by your students
There can be a lot of shame around periods, period pain, and gynaecological conditions, especially for children and teenagers. You can help reduce that shame and embarrassment by not shutting down conversations about periods or gynae issues. Take students at their word if they say they are menstruating at irregular times and need support to manage. Don’t punish students for being unable to participate in swimming or sports when they are menstruating. Instead, allow them to take part in an alternate activity appropriate for their current capabilities. The aim is to create a learning environment where the student’s individual medical needs are accommodated, but not made a focal point of their classroom experience.
Organise a PPEP talk to educate your school community
One way to get your whole school community to understand more about period pain, pelvic pain, and endometriosis is to organise a PPEP Talk® at your school. PPEP provides the latest in modern knowledge, incorporating new neuroscience of pain. For students with pain, PPEP introduces helpful self-management strategies which they can try themselves immediately, and provides guidance on where to find further good quality information and when to seek professional health advice. PPEP Talk® is free to public, private and independent schools, and has inclusive and modified programs suitable for boys, students with special needs and Indigenous students.
Additional resources
Adolescents & Endometriosis Webinar: