Toilet training left to teachers, says Ofsted

TEACHERS should not be expected to toilet train fouryear-olds, Ofsted’s chief will tell parents.

Delivering her second annual report as the body’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman will state how a rising number of children are starting school without being able to carry out basic functions like communicating and using the lavatory.

“This is difficult for teachers, disruptive for other children and has a terrible social impact on the children affected,” she will say. “This is wrong. Toilet training is the role of parents and carers and should not be left to schools. Only in the most extreme cases should parents be excused from this most basic of parenting tasks.”

Earlier this year Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said that “society asks more of schools than it did a generation ago”.

Teachers are now expected to look after pupils’ mental health and check for signs of radicalisation, as well as monitor health and social issues such as domestic violence.

In front of an audience of education and social care professionals in central London next week, Ms Spielman will also highlight a blurring of the lines of responsibility for tackling issues such as obesity, child neglect and gang-related violence.

She will add: “While schools can play a role in educating young people about the danger of knives, they cannot be a panacea for this particular societal ill. Preventing knife crime requires all local safeguarding partners to work together.”