Dozens of councils are set to give out potty training guides to parents after data showed one in four children arrive at school in nappies.
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children → set → nappies
From this spring, up to 20 councils plan to deliver instruction leaflets to parents alongside their primary school place offer.
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councils → plan → offer
A recent survey of teachers found one in four children nationwide last year were not toilet trained when they started Reception class, which is for ages four to five.
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which → find → ages
Teachers were wasting on average 1.4 hours per day having to deal with toileting mishaps.
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Teachers → waste → mishaps
The charity Kindred Squared, which undertook the research, has already funded a pilot of the scheme for City of York Council, resulting in a 46 per cent reduction in this problem.
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which → undertake → problem
Primary school offers are made in April each year, meaning parents have five months to put the guides into practice.
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parents → make → practice
Among the councils planning to sign up to the scheme are Hounslow, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Hampshire, Suffolk, Halton, London Borough of Redbridge, Cheshire West & Chester and Solihull.
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Hounslow → plan → Redbridge
However, Iain Mansfield, head of education at the think-tank Policy Exchange said: 'Unless there is a genuine physical disability, four is remarkably late for a child to be being potty-trained.
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child → say → Exchange
Dozens of councils are set to give out potty training guides to parents after data showed one in four children arrive at school in nappies (file picture)
'
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children → set → nappies
We are witnessing a further example of the collapse of parental responsibility, with the state once more stepping in to do a role it was never intended to fulfil.'
Tory peer Baroness Maclean of Redditch said on X: 'This is a potty idea.
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This → witness → X
The government shouldn't be toilet training children.
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government → train → children
We need to bring back the concept of shame.
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We → need → shame
Parents should feel embarrassed that their child is in nappies at age four and stir themselves to grip the problem.
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child → feel → problem
'Don't have children if you don't want to deal with the challenges that come with raising them.'
In the York scheme, 1,700 families were sent hard copies of a potty training guide on Primary National Offer Day, April 16, 2026.
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families → have → Day
The guide provided detailed advice and said the ideal age to potty train is between 18 and 30 months old, unless a child has a medical condition preventing this.
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child → provide → this
It added: 'It's really important that children are out of all nappies well in advance of starting Reception year in school.'
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children → add → school
Leaflets were also distributed at libraries and GP surgeries, and drop-in sessions were laid on for parents.
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sessions → distribute → parents
The 55 mainstream primary schools covered by the scheme reported 85 out of 1,374 (6 per cent) not being toilet trained in 2026, a decrease compared with 148 out of 1,364 (11 per cent) the year before.
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schools → cover → 1,364
Jo Mould, a teacher at Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy in York, said of the pilot: 'We don't have to spend so much time changing children now.
'For safeguarding reasons it took two people to change a child and that meant taking those two members of staff out of the classroom.'
Felicity Gillespie, chief executive of Kindred Squared, said: 'These impressive results are making such a huge difference.
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results → say → difference
On average, teachers have been losing the equivalent of a day a week of teaching time helping children who are not able to go to the toilet themselves.'
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who → lose → toilet
Early education minister Paul Waugh said: 'Toilet training can be one of the biggest milestones in a child's early years, so it's encouraging to see this pilot helping more children develop the confidence and independence they need before starting school.'
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they → say → school
The Aporia
