Parents will now be required to come into school or nursery to change their children’s nappies if they are not toilet trained under a new rule introduced by Blaenau Gwent council in South Wales.
The decision comes amid concerns that an increasing number of children are starting Reception unable to use the toilet or a potty independently, according to research by the Centre for Young Lives.
The council has argued that teachers are spending too much time changing nappies, detracting from teaching and lesson planning. The new rule, effective from the spring term starting Monday, states: “If a child is attending nursery/school in a nappy or pull-ups, parents will be expected to come in and change their child.”
Parents have received the letter from Dr Luisa Munro-Morris, Blaenau Gwent Director of Education, which states an exception is there for children with a medical need.
She wrote: “The reason for this policy change is due to the high number of children in our nursery and reception classes who require changes.
“This situation has led to our staff spending a significant amount of time changing children, which is adversely impacting teaching and learning.”
Laura Doel, National Association of Head Teachers Cymru national secretary, has backed the changes and said that something is needed with an “increasing number” of children not hitting their developmental milestones.
The Centre for Young Lives report highlighted a divide in the UK along poverty lines with kids from higher earning families less likely to be “school ready”.
This set a benchmark for children to be able to use the toilet, dress themselves, listen, hold a pencil and use a knife and fork.
In London, the centre found 84 per cent of children were ‘school ready’ compared to 59 per cent in Manchester.
But one father told Wales Online that he has written to Dr Munro-Morris to dispute the change, and said he is now unsure whether to send his nipper to nursery.
He said: “It is obviously a parent’s responsibility to potty train but my view, if you look at the literature, is that children hit their milestones at different ages... we are still undecided whether to send our son to school nursery next term now.”
