Child wet pants at school did nothing

[Ladybug85789]

Child (age 4) came home from
first day of school with wet underwear and smelling. It had dried by the time we arrived home. Therefore I feel it must have been morning some time when it had happened leaving child wet all day. Child is fully potty trained has been since age 2 with hardly any accidents but does still wear pull up at night. I know it being first day was probably overwhelmed however when i brought it up to the teacher that child had wet pants at school they said it’s normal which I’m sure it is but to leave them in it all day or for no one to notice does seem quite concerning. Is there a new policy that I’m not aware of that they can’t change them. If they had called I would have been more than happy to pick child up change or take home shower etc. It seems to have happened to a few children in the class.

How would they know? They are not mind readers

Don't know if it's already been suggested but could you put some spare clothes in her PE kit? Then she can at least change if she needs to (did this with my DD at that age)...

The union guidance was (and presumably still is) that teachers couldn’t routinely be responsible for cleaning up children I.e. they couldn’t be the person responsible for a child’s intimate care plan. There was a caveat in that in case of an unexpected circumstance they wouldn’t expect their members to leave a child in wet or soiled clothes. It was never a hard and fast rule that teachers couldn’t. Having enough staff to manage this is a whole different ball game though.

I teach in Scotland so it's maybe different but it's never been down to the teacher, even when I was a pupil myself. In the old days we had an auxiliary nurse and nowadays if a parent wasn't able to be contacted then a member of support staff would be called out of class to help.
We don't have the same level of support staff that many English schools seem to. Most classes receive one or two hours a day of support if lucky. It's one teacher to 25 children at P1 (reception age).

Not if theyve wet through their knickers only and they do not see. Staff don't routinely check pants.

We tucked a little pouch into book bags in year R with spare pants and socks for exactly this reason so DS could go to teacher and say he needs to change his pants. Might be worth thinking about. Haven't RTTT just for clarity.

Glad my children are in a kind caring well staffed school where they are changed after any accidents. One did once get sent home as they needed a bath. But in general there was a TA who was happy to help. They had 17 in reception with a teacher and FT TA. A nice gentle start to school life compared to some of the jobs worth stories on here!

It’s not even that clear cut in England. There are probably as many interpretations of any rules and guidance as there are schools. Which is why this topic has come up regularly on MN for at least a decade.

In this case I suspect that 60 children in a free flow environment, probably including outdoors means that nobody noticed.

I suspect the 1:8 ratio probably helps identify a wet child but even then it isn’t a given.

The key thing here is that it seems the staff didn’t know, with the best will in the world if it’s only a little accident then unless a staff member is told they can’t change them.

In the past week since going back I have helped a few children get cleaned up after accidents, the class teacher and the head teacher have also both helped children. But we need to know to be able to help!

We currently have 8 un toilet trained/in pull ups out of 46. 2 are fully understandable due to medical issues, another 2 questionable. The other 4 are more than able and our Skelton staff are having to take time out to try and toilet train them. One particular child is happy to tell you they don't want to and why. It's laziness at least 50% of the time ime

By whom the school?
Who may have made there own rules up ?

No but it's more the attitude of "they haven't got time or staff or not allowed" coming from some people. Children who don't feel secure and happy in school won't learn effectively. Obviously if staff aren't aware that's a different thing.

Not being allowed to doesn't make you unkind or uncaring or a "jobs worth". These policies are in place for a reason (mainly child protection) and any teacher who ignores this because they want to be kind is putting themselves at risk. Please don't suggest that the teachers don't care - most are parents themselves. They have procedures in place which must be followed for everyone's sake.

The school can't just make up their own rules regarding intimate care of children. At least not state schools in Scotland - I have no idea about other areas.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, there used to be auxillary staff who could do this sort of thing and now it is generally under the remit of pupil support staff (although this is often a disputed issue as guidance states that two adults should be present which is often extremely difficult in an understaffed school and as more and more children are needing support in this area.)
It's really not laziness or lack of kindness, it's the sad reality of the current school situation.

17 children and a full time TA would be an absolute dream for most teachers. However, if a child had obviously soiled themself and was noticeably distressed about it any class and nothing was done I would undoubtedly question what had happened.

When my brother was in reception he came home one day in some old shorts and a pair of girls knickers. Apparently the teacher spotted a wet patch on the class carpet so checked the kids to see who was wet. DB was indignant because he wasn't sitting where the wet patch was so it wasn't him. His wet shorts were irrelevant as far as he was concerned.

Come to my house and toilet trained my autistic non verbal 4 year old. I would be absolutely delighted if you can do this for me.
I have two older children who were both dry day and night by 2.5 but I'm sure others will still think I'm a lazy parent because my 4 year old has no idea when to use the toilet.
Thankfully the school we've chosen changes children who aren't toilet trained but I'm a bit sick of seeing children who aren't potty trained must have lazy parents posts everywhere.

The Eric guidelines suggest that leaving a child wet and or soiled is,tantamount to neglect so im not sure why were not allowed to change pupils
My son is disabled and wasn't out of nappies untill he was nine ,he goes to a special school, so obviously far more staff around ti change him and other kids
But he went ti a mainstream nursery attached a school and they changed him as necessary ,i also know other kids who started school in nappies ( mainstream) and school have changed them so im not sure whst laws you are talking about?

Indeed and why do people think it's easier just not toilet training an older child and having to change nappies anyway?

I've explained above that it's never been the policy where I teach (Scotland) but I don't know about other areas.
A child with specific needs will have a care plan which outlines who should provide the change when necessary. The person/people responsible will have that in their job description and nobody else is allowed to do it due to child protection guidelines.