MENTAL health must be put at the heart of the education system once schools reopen, children’s charity Barnardo’s has argued.

The charity says that the government could miss “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” if it does not allow schools to address the emotional impact of the coronavirus on children.

It argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the country’s children and young people to an unprecedented level of trauma, loss and adversity, and that the government should put child welfare and wellbeing on a par with academic achievement.

In its Time For A Clean Slate report published today, it warns that some children who were already extremely vulnerable will have been badly affected.

These include children and young people who will have experienced domestic abuse, poverty or child abuse for the first time.

Others will be grieving for loved ones, including those from black and ethnic-minority communities which the virus has disproportionately affected.

Barnardo’s suggests that schools should be allowed to consider at least one term as a “readjustment period” so that children can work through the emotional impact of the pandemic.

This would enable teachers to help their pupils reintegrate into the school environment and re-socialise with their friends, as well as change the structure of the day, it said.

The call comes as the results of a survey, undertaken by Barnardo’s for the report, revealed that 88 per cent of school staff say the pandemic is likely to have an effect on the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils.

More than two thirds (67 per cent) also said they want to see changes in the curriculum structure and exams process.