Do you have a child at nursery or school who has toileting needs? A few weeks back I posted regarding some schools/school nurseries in the borough insisting all children should be trained prior to admittance and refusing to attend to children who soiled, asking instead that parents be called to school to change their child. Now that we’re a few weeks into the new term, I thought I’d repost in case any parent who may benefit from this information missed my original post. To clarify, it is illegal for a school to mandate a level of continence for all children and it is illegal for any setting to refuse to change a child who has soiled (Disability Discrimination Act and Equalities Act). Recently, I spoke to a lady at the Town Hall who is head of organisations for Schools and Sure Starts in South Tyneside. It was confirmed that the Local Authority has made it clear to all their schools that this policy is unacceptable and that “every child, irrespective of their age, has the right to be comfortable at school.” Children who have toileting accidents should be cared for immediately by support staff and there is no legal requirement, or safe-guarding requirement, for two members of staff to change a child, one member of staff is sufficient. I was assured that all schools will once again be reminded of their responsibilities, but in the meantime parents must complain to their head teacher in the first instance about this policy and to school governors thereafter.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 13:25:45 +0000