Nappies at school make 'work and play difficult' Children from deprived homes are starting school wearing nappies and unable to recognise their own name, according to a report by the Centre for Social Justice. The think tank - which seeks to address poverty and its causes - said the four-year-olds risk becoming "an educational underclass." In February last year, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) carried out a study of the number of pupils starting school before they were toilet trained. It found that 62% of primary school staff in the UK noticed an increase in the number of children wetting or soiling themselves during the school day over the past five years. Nansi Ellis, ATL's assistant general secretary and a former primary school teacher, told BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire "It's a problem for the children who are suffering the issues but it's a problem for all the others as well who can find it difficult to work and play with those children."