With one in four children in England and Wales starting school not toilet trained, teachers are facing a tricky time in September as some new reception class children may arrive untrained. In response, ERIC, The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity has launched an intervention to help families get their children ready for school by September 2025.
A report by early years charity Kindred found that school staff are diverting 2.4 hours a day, on average, away from teaching and towards supporting children who are not school-ready. This has a knock-on effect on pupils, who lose learning time each day.
The report also found that only 48% of parents think it’s completely their responsibility to ensure their children are toilet trained, while only 76% selected toilet training as something a child should be able to do before starting Reception.
ERIC, The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity is working to reverse the trend of later toilet training by offering non-judgmental, practical advice and a safe space for parents who may be facing external pressure and judgement.
ERIC, The Children’s Bowel & Bladder Charity, runs a helpline for families experiencing bladder and bowel issues. For the past few years it has seen an increase in calls to the helpline, particularly from July onwards, from parents whose children are due to start school but aren't ready.
Some are still in nappies or require a nappy to poo. Many discover, through speaking to an advisor, that there may be constipation which needs to be diagnosed and treated before they can work on toilet training in preparation for school.
Later toilet training can hide continence issues such as constipation, which can have a serious impact on a child and their family’s lives – from pain and discomfort, to practical issues like missing out on socialising or even school days.
Tackling the problem
The charity has launched an intervention, ‘All Aboard the Toilet Train!’, that aims to help more children get ready to use the toilets independently at school. It's fun with some lovely animations.
Parents and children are invited to ‘board the Toilet Train’ by signing up to the charity’s online support challenge that will help them prepare for school. They’ll receive information, advice and support via email over a six-week period to support them in their journey.
ERIC will also send digital packs to early years settings and primary schools across the country which contain helpful PDF leaflets, advice sheets, and a video they can share with families to help get children toilet ready for school.
Judgment-free support
Siân Wicks, CEO of ERIC, said: “There are many contributing factors that can impact a child's ability to be toilet trained before school, and there is often a great deal of stigma and shame associated with it. As a charity, our aim is to offer a judgement-free source of advice and information to ensure that as many children as possible receive the support they need to be toilet trained for school; working in partnership with families, early years providers, schools and our healthcare colleagues to ensure the best possible outcomes for children.
“As well as offering training and support to education and early years professionals, and our helpline which is a lifeline for so many families who are struggling, we’re launching this intervention to try to remove some of the stigma associated with toilet training at this stage, and offer encouragement and support.
“We hope that as many families as possible will hop aboard the Toilet Train this summer and we’ll be here to support them every step of the way.”
Parents can sign up to board The Toilet Train at https://eric.org.uk/all-aboard-the-toilet-train-get-ready-for-school/
