More than half of Norfolk's key stage two pupils are behind in reading, writing and mathematics, "sobering" new figures have shown.
According to latest government statistics just 49pc of primary school pupils are meeting expected standards in all three of these key areas - although these figures are considerably higher in each individual area.
It has prompted Chris Snudden, Norfolk County County's assistant director of children's services, to write an open letter to the region's headteachers highlighting her concerns.
She wrote: "There are many schools celebrating some great results.
"Unfortunately, the outcomes for our county suggest that overall children in Norfolk have fallen behind national benchmarks in some key areas.
"Some outcomes in the primary phase are now further adrift from national averages than before the pandemic.
"Given the monumental collective effort during the last two years, that's sobering."
It comes following three academic years of disruption due to the Covid pandemic, which saw youngsters miss out on large chunks of face-to-face teaching - although remote learning was carried out.
Mrs Snudden's letter also highlights concerns over an increased number of exclusions - despite the national trend of this slightly reducing.
She added that the county's executive director for children's services would also be writing to heads to outline priorities for the coming years.
Daniel Elmer, deputy cabinet member for children's services at the Conservative-led council said: "Children who finished primary school last year had a significant proportion of key stage two disruption and schools have worked hard to help them catch up, with some achieving very good results.
"Some [schools] have had their best ever results.
"Overall though, results are not where we want them to be and we have written to all schools at the start of the new academic year to reflect our concerns and outline our collective priorities for the year ahead.
"We will be working closely with schools throughout the education investment area and Norfolk learning board to focus on raising standards.
"We no longer have a role to deliver school improvements directly, but key stage two results will be a focus of our conversations with school leaders and governors, chief executives and the regional director's office.
"In addition, we will work with the local teaching school hubs to provide any support that we can."
However, Mike Smith Clare, education spokesman for the Labour group at County Hall, has said it is an issue the government needs to do more to address.
He said: "It is hugely disappointing to see so many children unable to achieve their full potential in numeracy and literacy.
"Education is currently an undervalued and underinvested resource - one which this government has shown little interest in.
"Effective learning can only take place with appropriate support - these figures show that our young people are not just being short-changed, but robbed of opportunities by a failing system."
The figures show that the 2021-22 academic year saw 41pc of Norfolk's primary school children meet expected standards in reading, writing and maths - a drop of 11pc on the pre-Covid levels of 2018-19.
This figure is also the lowest its been since 2015-16, when it was exactly 50pc.
However, 70pc were at the expected level in reading alone, an unchanged figure from 2018-19.
In maths, there was a 10pc decline, from 75pc to 65pc, along with 15pc drop in writing skills.
The statistics also show a disparity between boys and girls, continuing a trend of girls attaining at a higher level.
In 2021-22, 55pc of boys failed to reach expected attainment levels in reading, writing and maths combined.
This was a 10pc drop on pre-Covid levels.
Girls saw a similar decrease, although a greater percentage did perform at the anticipated levels.
In 2021-22, 53pc of girls met or exceeded expected standards. However, this figure was an 11pc drop on the levels of 2018-19.
For girls, the figure was the lowest it has been since 2015-16, when it was identical. For boys, the figure dropped below 2015-16 levels of 47pc.
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