Millions of children in England return to school after lockdown
One way systems, screens keeping pupils apart and staggered start times are introduced
Teachers will assess how much pupils need to catch up 160 days after schools closed
Updates on Wednesday 2 September
Rob England
BBC News
Our updates on the return of schools in England have finished for today.
We saw millions of school pupils step back into the classroom, with more to follow throughout the week.
You can stay updated with all the latest coronavirus news on our daily live page.
Stay safe.
A mum has said she has "mixed feelings" about sending her children back to school after months in lockdown.
Image source, Natalie Reeves BillingNathaniel, aged 8, is starting Year 4, while Ellie-Rose, aged 7, is starting Year 3 at a school in Wirral, Merseyside..
Natalie Reeves Billing said: "They have been incredibly isolated as we live on a large farm and have no neighbours, and they are eager to see their friends and return to some sort of routine.
"Selfishly perhaps, I will miss the chaos and the noise. A very quiet, spooky house will be left behind today, with me rattling around in it - but I’m happy they’re happy."
A primary school tutor says she has missed "real life, side-by-side interaction."
"I will be very happy to see my little learners again."
Image source, Liz ClayLiz Clay, 56, from South Manchester, said: "Children need to be active, play learning games and just wriggle and jiggle in a way that you can't really do online.
"I feel happy to see children returning to school and, in general, looking happy to be back."
"Earlier a little girl skipped past my window on her way to school with her dad," she added.
"I've not seen that in a very long time."
Image source, Wikipedia/Henry Hering/National Portrait GalleryA primary school has changed its name to The Florence Nightingale Academy to thank the NHS during the pandemic.
The new name for Brookhill Leys Primary School, in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, came as millions of pupils returned to school on Wednesday.
Head teacher Jacquie Sainsbury, who contracted coronavirus just after lockdown, said it was an "opportunity to acknowledge and thank our NHS".
Florence Nightingale - a nurse in the 1800s - changed the way people nursed. The Derbyshire-raised nurse was a pioneer of stopping the spread of infection and disease in hospitals.
Local Democracy Reporting Service
A senior GP has urged schools to relax uniform rules, claiming poor families cannot afford to wash them every day to stop the spread of Covid-19.
At Walsall Council meeting, Dr Anand Rischie, chairman of Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group, said schools should be more tolerant of children wearing non-uniform clothing.
“Walsall is a very poor borough," he said. “Parents will not be able to run their washing machines every day for those uniforms to be cleaned." He added the evidence was still unclear on how long it took for coronavirus to degrade, so washing clothes was "key".
“But if they are going in their regular clothes, they can be washed on the weekend. It’s common sense and locally if we can advise that of schools, we should be recommending that,” he said.
Image source, Getty ImagesStephen Gunther, Walsall’s Director of Public Health, said the authority was working with schools and academy trusts to provide guidance.
“It will be difficult for some parts of our community and we need to recognise that. If we are going to prevent [coronavirus] we are might need to be flexible and tolerant around the school uniforms,” Mr Gunther added.
Millions of students have stepped back into the classroom today for the first time.
But for some this is their second day in their new Covid-19 safe surroundings.
Lauren Findley, a Year 6 teacher in Leicester, made a video to show us behind the scenes of her first day back.
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A father has spoken of his appreciation of efforts teachers have made in preparation for children returning to school.
Image source, Dr Shengke ZhiDr Shengke Zhi said his daughter, May, aged 8, "could not wait to reunite with her friends and teachers" at her school in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.
"It is like a new year feeling and we start the forward looking again.
"I am confident and trust the school's arrangement and much appreciate what teachers have done for pupils return to school."
BBC Radio 5 Live
Image source, HelenThis morning BBC Radio 5 Live heard from parents and pupils on the impact of schools returning. Helen in Fife has three children who have already gone back to school, however now the whole family are off with various illnesses.
"I think perhaps we just forgot that at this time of year, how many things kids can get," she said.
Helen's children go to three different schools. "The younger one who went back to primary school immediately caught the cold. I think, probably, his whole class caught the cold, the whole school caught the cold."
Her middle son's school has had a positive coronavirus case, and her eldest son has tonsillitis and a cough. He's now being tested.
"So we will now have to all stay in until we get the results back. It's been quite a process of taking temperature and assessing symptoms,” she added.
Click here to listen back to the whole programme on BBC Sounds.
Tolu Adeoye
BBC London
I'm spending the morning at Fulham Boys School in west London where pupils have been returning to their classrooms.
The first to arrive were the Year 7s.
Alun Ebenezer, the school's executive head master, told me the morning had been "really good" so far.
"It's nice to see they boys back, they all look very smart in their uniforms and they just want to get back to business as usual," he said.
He explained they would first be given an introduction in the school yard, "then they're going to go into their Year 7 assembly and then they'll go off to their rooms and set up for the rest of the day.
"They'll start their first lessons just after lunch," he said.
According to the government about 40% of local authorities started the autumn term today.
Others will be opening schools to all pupils later this week and early next week.
According to the National Association of Head Teachers, 97% of schools are ready to reopen fully, external over the next week.
Yesterday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said getting all children back into classrooms was "a national priority".
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Staggered start times, regular hand washing and face masks are just some of the measures in place at one Doncaster academy as students go back to school.
Image source, Danny Lawson/PA MediaOutwood Academy at Adwick says students are to arrive at school at specific times to avoid contact with other children.
It asks students to wear face masks in communal areas where social distancing might be difficult.
Image source, Danny Lawson/PA MediaOne-way systems are also operating in the school to keep students safely apart at the academy.
Image source, Danny Lawson/PA MediaWhile thousands of pupils have returned to school today, and more are due to return tomorrow, some parents have decided to keep their children at home.
A YouGov poll this morning suggests close to one in six parents have seriously considered not sending their children to school over coronavirus fears.
Image source, GoogleThe headteacher at St John's C of E Primary School at Allesley in Coventry, Gary Watson, said they are having conversations with those parents.
Mr Watson said only a handful of pupils haven't returned, adding: "We're in constant communication with them and we're visiting them and we'll be supporting them through the process in the decisions that they make."
Tolu Adeoye
Reporter, BBC London
Akif, Omar and Youssef are all starting Year 9 at Fulham Boys School in West London.
Akif said he was glad to be back in the classroom "so we can get our one-to-one learning again and can get back to school", while Youssef told me he was also looking forward to having "teachers supporting us and stuff so we can improve even more now".
Asked if he was at all concerned about returning, Omar said he felt the school "is taking good precautions and we all feel safe".
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Children in North Yorkshire are more likely to be harmed by not returning to school this week than if they catch coronavirus, a senior health official has said.
Director of Public Health Dr Lincoln Sargeant said the risk of pupils getting seriously ill from Covid-19 is dwarfed by what he described as the “certainty of long-term harm” if they do not attend classes.
“Very few, if any, children or teenagers will come to long-term harm from Covid-19 due solely to attending school,” he said.
“There is an overwhelming need for children and young people to return to school now, not just so they can catch up with their missed studies and go on and fulfil their academic potential in the future, but also for their mental health, their well-being and their wider development.”
Thousands of pupils have begun returning from Wednesday.
A head teacher said she was "so happy" to be welcoming pupils back to the school.
Jan Christie at Whitefield Primary Academy in Luton said it was a "very positive" start to the new academic year in a "challenging time".
"It's lovely to see our parents and children coming back.
"The children were very smiley and we want to reassure parents the children are safe and well looked after," she added.
Meanwhile, Sarah Pollard at Southfield Primary School, also in Luton, said she felt confident everything was in place.
"I'm happy to be in work, I feel safe here and I hope everyone feels as safe as I do."
Judith Burns
Education reporter
Image source, Richard CaveBreak time is a moment for extra swotting for year 13s at Riverside School, Barking, who have returned to school to face two days of back-to-back exams.
It’s been particularly difficult, having missed so much teaching last year, says 17-year-old Yousuf.
“We’ve had to learn a lot ourselves. It’s a lot harder than if we’d had a teacher.”
All the group will be writing personal statements and filling in UCAS forms in a few weeks.
Yousuf is doing maths, economics and art A-levels and is hoping to study architecture.
Children are returning to school today, and for many it will be the first time they have seen their friends and teachers since 20 March.
Schools were closed to all but vulnerable children and those of key workers, to try to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Quote MessageOur number one concern is making sure all the children's well-being is good, and their mental health is fine and make sure we are reassuring them at what for some of them will be a scary time, but children are quite resilient."
Mark Ashto, Head teacher at Warwick Bridge Primary School, Carlisle
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Sisters Chloe, nine, and seven-year-old Sophie are heading back to school in Oxfordshire tomorrow.
Ahead of their return to the classroom, mum Kate and Chloe spoke to BBC Radio Oxford about how they felt "generally OK" about getting back into the old routine.
Chloe said her "best story" of the summer was "that I was on the radio".
"I am looking forward to seeing my friends. I have been able to see some of them but not all of them," she said.
BBC Radio 5 Live
Image source, SarahBBC Radio 5 Live has been putting questions from listeners to experts on this morning's Your Call programme.
Sarah in Cardiff got in touch about the issue juggling work around reduced nursery hours - her three-year-old's nursery hours have been reduced to just two hours a day.
"I'm able to work flexibly but his hours have been cut to 09:10 until 11:10, so that they can manage the amount of children going in, and if you work then that is nigh on impossible.
“I have a lot of parents saying to me that they don't know how they're going to cope with it and wraparound care. They've got unsympathetic employers."
Anne Longfield, England's children's commissioner, said: "School hours have never fitted with office hours and as school hours start being more flexible it makes it more difficult.
"We may all think because schools are opening that it is going to be much easier now for parents to be able to work, but it isn't always going to be the case."
"Employers really need to support their workers,” she added.
Click here to listen back to the special Your Call programme on BBC Sounds.
The BBC speaks to parents to discover how they feel as they take their children back to school.
