The Children’s Commissioner for England said she would urge the Prime Minister 'not to close schools' following the arrival of the Omicron variant.
On BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show she spoke about how lockdown had 'weakened the system of support'.
“It was a terrible time for the whole nation, it’s also why I think we must not close schools again, we must not," she said.
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She added: “I would urge him (Prime Minister) not to close schools… They (children) want things back to normal, they took a huge hit for us.
“We must not close schools again, and my headteacher colleagues across the country are incredibly good at managing this situation.
“I watched them rush in to support the most vulnerable and I would definitely advise not to do this, if there is any other option.”
She went on to say: “We can’t let them down, as long as we can keep them safe – and nothing is ever 100 per cent safe – we need schools open", Wales Online reported.
The latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency (HSA) showed as of Saturday, a further 26 cases of the Omicron variant had been reported across the UK – taking the total so far to 160.
On Saturday, it was announced all passengers arriving in the UK will have to take a Covid pre-departure test amid fears about the spread of the Omicron variant.
Ministers said it was intended to be a temporary measure following new data showing an increase in the number of cases of the new strain linked to foreign travel.
From 4am on Saturday, passengers travelling to the UK will have to take either a PCR or a lateral flow test up to a maximum of 48 hours before they depart regardless of their vaccination status.
It comes after a study suggested younger pupils in England are around three months behind where they should be in reading due to the pandemic.
Researchers say more efforts will be needed to support reading development after a report found little progress in closing the Covid-19 reading attainment gap for Year 1 pupils from spring to summer 2021.
Despite schools being fully open in the summer term, children in England had not recovered all the learning lost during 2020 and 2021, research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) charity has found.
The report concludes: “By the end of the summer term, Year 1 children remained three months behind where we would expect them to be in reading, with no improvement since the spring.”
But the study suggests there was some education recovery in maths, as Year 1 pupils were only one month behind expectations by summer 2021 compared to three months behind in spring 2021.
For Year 2 pupils, the Covid gap in reading and maths was three and two months respectively in the spring term this year – when schools closed their doors to the majority of pupils as a result of the pandemic.
The report found that Year 2 pupils were still two months behind in reading by the summer term of 2021, but they had recovered to above expected standards in maths.
The study, by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), looks at data from reading and maths assessments taken by more than 10,000 Key Stage 1 pupils (five to seven-year-olds) from 168 primary schools in England in the autumn term of 2020 and the spring and summer terms of 2021.
Their attainment was compared with that of a representative sample of Year 1 and 2 children prior to the pandemic to give estimates of the “Covid gap”.
The research also looks at the impact of the pandemic on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates.
The disadvantage gap for both reading and maths, in both year groups, was around seven months’ progress in the spring of 2021 – and it is wider than pre-pandemic levels (approximately six months).
Researchers suggest that education recovery support should be targeted at disadvantaged pupils as they have been the worst affected by school closures.
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the EEF, said “continued efforts” are needed to support education recovery in schools.
She said: “Important work is already being done in schools to ensure that children’s progress is brought back on track and their wellbeing is restored in the wake of the pandemic.
“There are signs that this is already paying off, particularly in maths.
“However, schools need ongoing access to resources and capacity which will allow them to perform at their best, and to ensure that pupils surpass ‘recovery’ and achieve the full extent of their potential.”
