THE government must urgently address a surge in Covid-related anxiety and mental health problems among children as part of its school catch-up plans, according to a report published today. 

Researchers have found that school leaders are seeing increasing cases of actual or threatened self-harm, including suicide, among children during the pandemic. 

The study by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) involved interviews by senior staff at 50 schools, predominantly in deprived areas of England. 

Most reported a deterioration in children’s mental health and wellbeing since the start of the coronavirus crisis, including a rise in separation anxiety — where children experience extreme distress while separated from loved ones — hypervigilance, germ phobia and performance anxiety. 

The NFER said its research showed that extra resources were needed to tackle the mental health effects of the pandemic as well as the academic impact caused by the disruption to learning. 

As part of the Tories’ school recovery programme, £1 billion has been pledged to support up to six million 15-hour courses of tutoring for disadvantaged pupils. 

But senior school staff say that the emphasis on academic tuition is “unhelpful” and are calling for there to be an equal focus on emotional support.

NFER research director Caroline Sharp, who co-wrote the paper, stressed that school leaders were struggling to support pupils “without adequate funding and being able to rely on specialist services.

“That is why they are calling on the government to provide them and critical support services with the necessary funding and give them the independence to enable them to best support the needs of young people,” she said.