Tue 21 Sep 2021 11.41 EDT

By Richard Adams

Headteachers say the government needs to be on “high alert” to curb school Covid outbreaks, after more than 100,000 children were absent with confirmed or suspected infections last week – the highest number for England during the pandemic.

The figures from the Department for Educationshowed that fewer than 92% of pupils were present in classrooms on 16 September, with 59,000 absent with confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a further 45,000 off with suspected cases.

In total, 122,000 children were absent from state schools for Covid-related reasons last week, including 16,000 marked off as isolating and another 2,000 “due to attendance restrictions being in place to manage an outbreak,” according to the DfE.