The full picture of how many children and young people returned to school for the new academic year will not be fully clear until November.
That is according to Tanya Ward, the Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, who said that the return to school for thousands of primary and secondary students "has been a success".
However, she added that young people's wellbeing, particularly their mental health, has been "very affected" by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, she said it is hard to know how many vulnerable children or those with underlying conditions or extra needs have not returned to school.
Ms Ward added that the Government would analyse who came back to school in September.
She said: "Sometimes the stats in September give you a false read anyway, when young people disengage and drop out of school it usually happens in October or November.
"We'll get a fuller picture of who returned to school probably in November."
She said we will then need to assess what types of supports are needed to make sure those young people re-engage, including ensuring there are enough psychologists in schools.
'Good attendance'
However, Ms Ward said she had received "anecdotal evidence from officials and education contacts that it looks like there was good attendance coming through on the first days of school".
She said: "That's really important because our underlying concern was we've had children and young people missing out on school now for a six-month period.
"There were certainly lots of cases where home learning was working really well but the level of disengagement we were hearing, especially with teenagers, was shocking."
She said there is a lot of anxiety among parents about whether it is safe for their children to return to school, especially those with underlying health conditions.
She added: "There are also scenarios where they might be someone in the household who has an underlying health condition and the parents are still concerned about sending their children back.
"What's come through this week is a real push to tell parents it's ok, our guidelines are in line with international best practice, the school's have it under control.
"I think in situations where the principal has a good relationship with parents, is giving information, is also demonstrating that the school is taking it seriously.
"I know the Acting Chief Medical Officer wrote to parents this week through the schools and tried to reassure parents that infection among children is actually quite low and international evidence is that once you open the schools, it doesn't lead to enormous outbreaks."
COVID-19 figures
Ms Ward said she "like everyone else at different points" has had to "zone out" when looking at the daily figures on new cases.
She said it would help parents and young people if context was added to the numbers, including information on how many children became infected, how they caught the virus, and what age they are.
She added: "That's going to reassure people, including staff working in schools who have an underlying health condition."
Her comments come after Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail also told Newstalk Breakfast that the daily release of new COVID-19 figures in Ireland is causing "huge anxiety" for some people.
