Children washing their hands in a primary school bathroom

Teachers say they are spending less time teaching and more time helping pupils who are not toilet trained

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Rising numbers of children in Kent are starting school without being toilet trained with teachers forced to spend more time helping youngsters who have had accidents than teaching their class.

Some children are starting school – aged four or five – wearing nappies, and one east Kent primary said the problem had got so bad they have had to replace the carpet in two classrooms.

Health chiefs have been drafted in to address the growing issue where teachers say they are spending less time teaching and more time dealing with youngsters who have wet themselves.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers told KoS while it could partly be down to children starting school younger – with some going into a primary after just turning four – much of it was caused by parents failing to toilet train their youngsters.

“It ought to be the parent’s responsibility but there are some who lack parenting skills or are yet to master them,” said the ATL spokeswoman.

“Because the children are in school it’s then left to teachers to deal with the situation.”

She said, however, there were also now more special educational needs children in maintained schools instead of special schools as before, which might also contribute to the problem.

But health chiefs from the Kent Community Health NHS Trust said the main problem was children not drinking enough during the day and therefore not recognising the feeling of needing to go to the toilet.

They said reliance on products such as pull-ups also failed to help the situation where youngsters did not recognise what it felt like to be wet and uncomfortable.

Health visitor practice teacher Janet Marsh and school nurse practice teacher Chris Beer from the NHS trust said it was a countywide – and national – problem.

They had been contacted by schools saying they were seeing a rising number of children starting school still wearing nappies or not staying dry.

“Teachers were concerned they were spending less time teaching and more time helping the children who were having accidents,” said Mrs Beer.

“While the odd accident is acceptable, we want to make sure children and parents are supported so children are clean and dry before they start school and therefore ready to learn.

“It’s not that parents don’t do it (toilet train), it’s just there are a lot of products these days, such as pull-ups, where children don’t feel they are wet – not like the old nappies.

“It sends out confused messages to children and they don’t recognise when they need to go to the toilet.

“By trying to encourage parents to put them in knickers or pants will help – it’s like going cold turkey.”

A groundbreaking pilot scheme is being rolled out in Dover and Deal – where some 24 children in 18 schools are not toilet trained – looking at tackling the problem.

Called Clean, Dry and Ready for School, the initiative involves school nurses and health visitors working with nurseries and primary schools to identify children who need help with toilet training before starting school and young pupils who are not staying clean and dry throughout the day.

The pilot will run at Warden House Primary School in Deal, Bright Sparks Pre-school in Deal and Shatterlocks Infants School and Nursery in Dover. If successful, it will be rolled out across the county.

Parents with children who do not have underlying medical problems but who struggle to stay dry during the day will be given support.

Children with more complex needs will be referred to the specialist bladder and bowel team at the health trust.

Mrs Marsh said: “What we need to do is normalise potty training. We want everyone to have the same advice and support and for people to know where they can get help.”

Parents needing support or tips should speak to their health visitor or school nurse.

Schools who need help can phone 01304 873590 for more information.