Christian charity Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) is calling on the Government to make children’s emotional wellbeing a priority in the recovery from Covid-19.

With the Government focused on the educational attainment of children who have been in and out of the classroom for the last year, TLG is asking that it give equal precedence to emotional support.

The charity warns of an “intensifying” emotional health crisis that may lead to a rise in exclusions if children’s emotions play out in a way that is deemed ‘disruptive’ in the classroom.

This in turn would place additional pressure on social services and lead to more children falling through the education system, with potentially catastrophic lifelong consequences, it warns. 

The call comes in a briefing paper from the charity published ahead of schools across England reopening on 8 March.

The paper recommends a trauma-responsive approach that regards ‘bad or disruptive behaviour’ as a coping mechanism and a cry for help.

It also flags the huge discrepancy between the £700m committed to help children catch up academically, compared to just £8m for the ‘Wellbeing for Education Return Fund’.

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