We must never abandon children during lockdown again

Schools are far more than mere exam factories. Across the UK, teachers in 32,000 schools and colleges care for children on over half the days in any given year. Or we did until the lockdown in March 2020. Since then, children have missed the best part of two full terms. And while they were out of our sight, some were at risk. Six year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, for example, may have been rescued from the terrible abuse he suffered had his teachers been able to see him every day.

But while most children have returned to class now that Covid restrictions are ending, some are still absent. News of anecdotal cases circulate within the profession. A colleague tells me that two sisters in her school never returned. The girls – both teenagers – have been kept at home, apparently to protect vulnerable adults who are shielding in their household.

It was therefore no surprise to hear Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, suggest that perhaps 80,000 to 100,000 children are now missing from school registers.