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Problems Experienced with School
We have heard of many difficulties from parents and carers when it comes to schooling whilst their child is on their constipation journey. Some have included:​
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Children being sent home from school for having diarrhoea (when it is overflow soiling)
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Parents have been called into school to change their child or to clean them after a soiling accident
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Children have been left in soiled clothing during the school day
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​Children are not provided with a separate, discreet toilet to use or are denied a toilet pass
School Concerns
We have extensive knowledge of issues that school feel faced with, when caring for a pupil suffering from chronic constipation. These have included:
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A severe lack of knowledge. Please inform your child's school they are more than welcome to attend one of our clinics to improve their understanding of constipation
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School staff are usually unaware of what overflow soiling is. They often assume that the child has not been toilet trained or that the child does not have a well balanced diet if constipation is mentioned
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School staff are under the assumption that two members of staff are required for personal care of their pupils
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School staff have expressed a fear of being accused or feel vulnerable to accusation of sexual abuse
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Many school staff are unclear on what their role is with regards to changing or assisting pupils that suffer with soiling problems
Your child's school may ask you to provide a letter from a healthcare professional to confirm they are suffering from a medical condition which means they may need additional support, assistance and a toilet pass at all times, along with a dedicated separate toilet to be accessible to them.
We will be more than happy to help you with this and provide all relevant letters that your school may need.
The "Right to Go" Campaign
The Right to Go campaign aims to help schools and education settings support children and teenagers with bowel and bladder problems and to provide high quality and accessible toilets.
Since the passing of the Children and Families Act in 2014, educational settings have a statutory duty to support children with health consitions, including bowel and bladder problems. ERIC's "Our Right to Go" campaign is helping schools to uphold this legal responsibility by providing free resources and guidance on best practice in the management of continence problems. Good School toilet facilities go hand in hand with improvements in care for pupils with bowel and bladder problems. The Right to Go campaign helps schools to establish good toileting through the promotion of the school toilet charter.
Individual School Health Care Plan
We have developed our own Childhood Constipation Health Care Plan which includes a school contact stool diary
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It is designed to be a working document, that includes detailed information about your child - behaviour, emotional needs, what they can/can't do and what help they need from someone else, words/signs/social cues for using the toilet (toileting bag.)
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A Health Care Plan should be completed when both a parent/carer and staff member are present, and should be regularly reviewed to ensure that your child's constipation needs are kept up to date.
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Reward charts can be helpful in reinforcing good toileting routines.
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Having a named staff member that is a dedicated person for your child to approach if they need assistance with their continence needs can greatly reduce anxiety when at school.​​
To download and print a copy of our Childhood Constipation Health Care plan, please head to our "Useful Information" page
