New figures confirm 1 in 4 children are not toilet trained by the time they start school - why are we so surprised?
28 February 2024, 12:49
Jackie Harland MBE and Helen Garnett are the founders of Arc Pathway
Over the past three years, there has been a move away from tracking children’s progress in nurseries and preschools, in favour of letting children develop at their own rate.
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In an effort to relieve pressure on families and celebrate individuality, we as a nation are disregarding the fact that when children start school there will nevertheless be significant expectations on them to be school-ready.
School readiness is not just about being out of nappies; it is also about children being able to dress themselves, eat and drink independently, and communicate effectively with adults and other children.
It is not just in toilet training that children are experiencing worrying delays in their development.
The recent Kindred2 School Readiness Survey didn’t just highlight the fact that more children than ever are starting school in nappies. It also showed that roughly half of Reception-aged children can’t sit still, one-third can’t communicate their needs, and a quarter cannot use basic language skills.
If we are going to be up in arms about toilet training stats, it’s vital we see the whole picture and recognise that this is just one element in an overall trend of children not being prepared for starting school.
So, why is this happening?
We believe that the result of moving away from tracking using age-appropriate milestones means that children may not be being given the essential support and encouragement they need to develop these skills.
Children are then put in the position of being emotionally vulnerable because they are not able to meet the expectations placed on them once they find themselves in a classroom.
We can’t expect children to make this huge transition and flourish at school if we haven’t given them the necessary tools to be successful. Parents and professionals are doing a fantastic job in challenging circumstances, but how can we best equip them?
Evidence-based tracking and effective support of children’s development in their first five years of life will have a transformative impact on school readiness.
Every child deserves to have their unique developmental pattern recognised and understood.
Every child deserves to be given the right support at the right time to enable them to move forward.
In this way we can give our children the best possible start in life.
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