Cornwall mum describes seven-year-old son's tears at missing friends during lockdown
Lara from St Agnes has been speaking out as the schools go back after months of home learning
A mum from Cornwall has described how her seven-year-old son has been in tears during lockdown, because he missed his friends.
Lara from St Agnes has two school-age children and has been speaking out as pupils across England return to class.
Many have struggled during months of learning from home.
The return of schools on Monday 8th March marks the start of the roadmap out of lockdown.
To help youngsters catch up, the government is considering shorter summer holidays, longer school days and five-term years in the future.
"We've had tears. He's had days where he says he feels lonely".
"I'm absolutely thrilled that they're going to go back to school on Monday. Both of them love school - they have a wonderful school here in St Agnes.
"My five-year-old's has only done one term so she'd just started to really settle in and she can't wait to go back and see all new friends.
"My seven-year-old's found it tougher. We've had tears. He's had days where he's said he feels lonely and he misses his friends and he wants to kick a football around.
"For him, I think the social aspect of going back as well as the teacher support in education is going to be such a relief to all of us.
"I'm surprised every day by how much they do actually understand about what's going on and they tell me constantly that they hate the virus and they can't wait for the virus to be over so they can see play with their friends again.
"But there's one thing them understanding that on one level and then trying to deal with emotionally in terms of how they feel".
St Agnes mum, Lara Trubshaw
Cornwall Council has issued a 'Hands, Face, Space' reminder on back to school day.
Families are being urged to take extra care to stop the spread of Covid in homes and communities.
But officials say the benefits outweigh the risk, because school is an essential part of children's development.
The authority has released this message to reassure parents who might be worried about the safety of the school environment...