Ms Áine Lynch:

Parents have certainly raised that with us. It is one of the reasons we want schools to reopen fully. Any form of blended learning will have mental health implications and will raise issues around reconnecting. I refer also to the family dynamics of trying to sort out multiple drop-offs. There is a limit to how much a school can manage because sometimes a family's children are not all in the same school. This is another reason why children need to return to school fully. All of those pressures and anxieties around getting to school, different class teachers etc. add to children's stress levels when they return and will have an impact on them. This is not just a technical planning scenario for parents. Those anxieties and pressures on the family will impact on how children reintegrate at school.