Children in England will have lost 850million hours of in-person teaching by the time schools are due to reopen on March 8, the Children s Commissioner warned Boris Johnson today.
Anne Longfield revealed the stark impact of the coronavirus lockdown on vulnerable and at-risk youngsters as she took aim at the Prime Minister over a lack of investment.
In a blunt assessment of Government policy the outgoing commissioner warned the Prime Minister his plan to level up Britain would remain just a slogan unless he stumps up cash on a large scale.
She suggested he emulate new US president Joe Biden and introduce family-orientated fiscal stimulus and criticised plans to axe a £20 increase to Universal Credit.
An academy chief today cast doubt on optimistic plans to get all pupils in England back into school at the start of March as he warned dates were being pulled out of thin air.
Dr Mike Tildesley and Dr Ed Hill, of Warwick University and advisers to SAGE, said their study was not evidence that schools were safe and called for reopening to be cautious .
Pupils have been swabbing themselves as school nurses watch on despite proof rapid tests only work if they are administered properly.
Students at Oasis Academy in Coulsdon, Surrey, were sent the kits on Monday and given instructions by nurses on how to carry out the tests themselves.
Only vulnerable children or those whose parents are key workers are allowed to attend lessons in person during the latest national lockdown. It comes as figures suggest schools could still be attended by up to 20 per cent of pupils.
But children are now being supervised by nurses, similar to how some walk-in testing centres are run, rather than having a nurse carry out the tests themselves.
Oasis Trust chief calls for schools to stay closed for further two weeks
The head of Oasis Trust Steve Chalke, who runs Oasis Wintringham and Oasis Immingham, wants schools to remain closed
The video will auto-play soon8Cancel
Play now
Sign up to the Grimsby Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking newsInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Sign up here!
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.