SCHOOLS could open up on Saturdays with pupils offered extra evening help during the week to catch up on teaching lost during Covid.
Between 95,000 and 135,000 kids did not return to school this term, new figures published today revealed.
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Pupils could have the option to come in on Saturdays if schools get more funding Credit: AFP
It is feared that some have developed anxiety or mental health problems during the pandemic - and schools have recognised a need to offer more support and safety.
Plans to offer kids more time in class are expected to be unveiled later this month and would see schools funded to stay open from 8am to 6pm.
Heads could also ask parents if they would like their kids to come in on Saturday mornings, with some schools already putting the plans into place.
The work, to be unveiled as part of the Government's spending review, is expected to start as a pilot scheme before being rolled out as results come in, The Times reports.
Anne Longfield, the former children’s commissioner for England, who is heading up a new taskforce on the issue of “ghost children”, which produced today’s new data, said: "There is a big group of kids not in school, missing out on learning."
Some schools in towns like Blackpool have already started hiring tutors to teach extra classes early in the morning, evening and on Saturdays.
Meanwhile, Billesley Primary School in Birmingham stays open until 6pm already and its head teacher Karl Rogerson is looking to hire graduate tutors to teach catch-up classes.
Mr Rogerson told The Times: “Last year we used academic mentors for kids coming in before school and after school for 30-minute slots.
“Our wraparound care for parents finishes at 6pm. We are looking to enhance that with small group tutoring or individual group tutoring in the evenings or on Saturdays.’’
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Tory MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the education select committee, says the struggle kids have gone through in the pandemic is “a disaster” with "thousands of kids not in school".
He also believes a longer school day is crucial, noting that “half of all knife crime among young people is done between four and six in the afternoon so this would have a massive advantage in reducing knife crime and keeping children safe in big cities.”
Mr Halfon hopes a longer school day would be rolled out slowly across England and build on the work of schools that already stay open into the evenings.
Teachers are aware that children are attending school without having eaten breakfast