Norfolk's schools should be doing more to support pupils and their families through the cost of living crisis.
The call came from Dame Rachel de Souza, the children's commissioner, when she visited a school in the county on Friday.
She said children should be able to spend longer hours in school, to help hard-pressed families save on the cost of childcare.
Dame Rachel was visiting the King Edward VII (KES) Academy in King's Lynn, where school hours have been extended, the school kitchen prepares food parcels for families and free uniform items are available for pupils whose parents can't afford them.
Dame Rachel, who was appointed commissioner last March, said she had travelled around the country speaking to families their concerns, after being asked to carry out a review of family life by the government.
She said the biggest issues facing many families were childcare and the cost of living.
"What mums and dads were telling us is there's not enough of it for school-age children," she said. "It doesn't fit in with their lives."
Dame Rachel said the problem for many parents was finding and affording care before and after school which fitted around their work patterns.
"We want to look at after-school activities, parents would trust them for childcare. We're not talking about teachers teaching, we're talking about fun stuff. I'm calling on the government to look at how to do that as a key idea."
Dame Rachel was formerly head of the Inspiration Trust - a Norwich-based chain of 14 schools, which KES joined last September.
Since becoming part of the trust the school has been able to invest £3.3m in facilities including new science labs, a new library, new study areas, music rooms and performance and dance studios.
Principal Sarah Hartshorn said KES had already bought into Dame Rachel's call for children to be able to spend more time on the premises.
"We've clearly embraced it," she said. "We've extended our school day with an extra hour at the end of the day on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
"We also have all the enrichment of the house system with activities. We have house karaoke, we have a house bake-off, we have house rugby."
KES's catchment area covers a diverse range of areas of Lynn. Shoes, blazers and uniform items are available free for those who need them.
"We do further outreach, we're leading the community," said Ms Hartshorn. "We've organised food parcels for families who are struggling, we have our own catering staff and they'll put together a food parcel."
Ms Hartshorn, who became the first female head at KES in Easter 2019, said a homework club she described as "good old-fashioned prep" was also available.
Dame Rachel was given a tour of the site before meeting a group of students.
She said: “I’m astonished at the transformation of the learning spaces at King Edward VII Academy. The work has been completed to the highest standard, and the students and staff talk about their school with such pride."
Previously blank walls contain displays on the history of the school, which dates back to 1510.
The current building was opened in 1906 by King Edward VII, whose statue presides over the entrance.
In 1942, boys saved it from disaster when they climbed onto the roof and kicked off a German incendiary bomb before it set the building alight.
A former gym has been converted into a theatre with full lighting rig, while next door a new dance studio's walls are lined with mirrors.
Science is taught in smart new labs, while the school's 300-odd sixth formers have their own spaces for teaching and study.
MESSAGES FROM KING'S LYNN
Dame Rachel, whose job is to champion the voices and needs of children at the highest levels of government, met a group of 30 or so students from different year groups at the end of her visit.
"I sit down with cabinet ministers, I sit down with Liz Truss," she said. "So what do you want me to tell them, what do the children of King's Lynn want?"
One girl said: "Sometimes, when the news is on, my parents are talking. They're saying we're going to be in so much debt."
A boy added: "The economy is not something we're meant to worry about but the things that are happening now will have an impact in two or three years' time when we're getting ourselves into student debt, or five or six years later when we're buying houses."
Others said they feared they might never be able to afford to buy a house.
One girl said she feared many would struggle to afford the £70 or £100 registration fees some universities now charge before students can apply.
Ms Hartshorn said: "The highlight of the day was listening to our students talking to her about their families and what family means to them.
"They were honoured to know that their voices were truly heard and would be used to inform future government policy."
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