According to the poll, nearly two-thirds of primary school staff in the UK have seen an increase in the number of children wetting or soiling themselves during the school day over the past five years. This increased to 71 per cent for those working with three- to five-year-olds.
The online survey of 848 staff by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), in partnership with charity Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence (ERIC), revealed the main reason given by staff for the rising number of children with continence problems was parents not toilet training them before they start school.
A foundation stage teacher and member of the senior management group, who took part in the survey, said, 'This is a major problem for us - over 45 per cent of our nursery children are not toilet trained when coming into nursery when they are three-years-old.
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