Toilet trouble at school is holding kids back

Thursday 14 April 2016

Up to six children in every reception class on the Island are starting school before being fully toilet-trained and school nurses say they are likely to fall behind in class because of it.

They say it’s become a big problem for them and are hoping to give the Island’s GP’s, paediatricians, teaching and nursery staff some advice on how to deal with it.

Family Nursing & Home Care (FNHC) are hosting a conference later this month at L’Horizon Hotel and bringing over a Paediatric Continence Specialist from the UK children’s charity ERIC and PromoCon to talk about toilet training.

School Nurse Lead at FNHC Jo Davies said: “A significant number of young children in Jersey start school before they are toilet trained, which inevitably means a large amount of our School Nurses’ time is taken up dealing with these issues.

“We go into schools, into reception class when the children come into our remit at the start of term and in every class – out of 20 or 30 children there could be up to six children with toilet problems of varying natures from daytime wetting, night-time wetting or constipation.

“As there is no specialist continence service for children on the Island, we have decided to bring in a specialist trainer to help us to improve care standards in this very important area.

‘Research shows that children who have ongoing continence issues before they start school find it harder to keep up and are more likely to fall behind. This training will help FNHC School Nurses and the wider healthcare community to provide a more effective service to children, young people and families. The conference also aims to equip colleagues in education, working in partnership with the School Nurse Service, to support children experiencing this problem in the school setting."

Mrs Davies said that continence problems can have a social and emotional effect on children, they can't talk about it, they can't tell their friends and sometimes they have to miss some of their lessons because their parents have to come and pick them up if they've had an accident and the school can't deal with it. She said that children who still wet the bed at night are often tired and all these factors mean they are more likely to fall behind at school.

She said the school nursing team are keen to make sure children aren't frightened to go to school toilets and said they work with schools to make sure the toilets are private and safe where other children can't look over or under the door.  

The all day ‘Positive Steps to Childhood Continence’ conference on Thursday 28 April at L’Horizon Hotel is being subsidised by FNHC. Tickets cost £60 and you can get hold of one by emailing Rachel Evans at Rac.Evans@fnhc.org.je