Primary schoolchildren ‘must be priority’, says children’s commissioner Anne Longfield

Coronavirus - Sat Apr 25, 2020
Anne Longfield told the Evening Standard that keeping most children out of school has had a “significant impact” on both their attainment and their mental wellbeing
PA
Anna Davis @_annadavis15 February 2021

Primary schoolchildren should be the first to return to school because so many struggle with remote learning, the children’s commissioner has said.

Anne Longfield told the Evening Standard that keeping most children out of school has had a “significant impact” on both their attainment and their mental wellbeing.

And she called for a regional approach to reopening schools, saying that if it is not possible for all schools to reopen at the same time across the country, some children should be allowed back based on local circumstances.

It has been reported that the government plans to reopen schools on March 8, but headteachers have not yet been told and it is not clear if this will include a phased approach, with primaries reopening before secondary schools.

Ms Longfield said: “It may not be possible for schools to fully reopen nationally at the same time, but that does not mean it is impossible for some children to go back in some areas on a smaller scale, depending on local circumstances.

“The Government should set out a feasible scale of reopening in each local area, and how that will develop over time as local infection rates and R numbers come down. Children in primary should be first priority as many primary children struggle with remote learning.”

She added: “There is no doubt that keeping most children out of school has had a significant impact on attainment and mental wellbeing. The number of children with a probable mental health condition soared during the first national lockdown. That is one of the reasons why I have always said schools must be last to close and first to open.”

Steve Chalke, chief executive of the Oasis Academies trust, also called for a phased approach to reopening to be considered.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, he said: “We do need to ask questions about regional responses rather than national responses. We need to work out the difference between primary schools and secondary schools.”

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