Cath Mackie
BBC News

A primary school in Stoke-on-Trent has released a video for parents and pupils showing them the social distancing and safety measures that have been put in place for reopening.

Sandon Primary Academy's vice-principal, Gemma Willdigg, who fronts the seven-minute film, said it would help parents make an informed decision about whether to send their children back to school.

Measures include sanitising books, limiting pupil numbers and markers to help maintain two-metre distancing.

While most schools have remained open for key workers' children, today marks the first time other children in a handful of year groups will be able to return.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

A teacher working in the classroom during lockdown has said reopening schools today would "cause suffering and death".

The primary school staff member, who taught a small class of key workers' children, said social distancing the group of nine was "impossible".

Image source, Getty Images

In a letter to her local MP, she says teachers are "scared" and confused by the government's plans.

"During the course of an afternoon, I saw a child insert the end of a pencil into his nose, a child chewing the end of a pencil and twice when I was talking to a child their spittle flecked my face," the letter said.

"We are prohibited from having any cleaning products in classrooms. Therefore I was not able to use any antibacterial products to clean the pencils which had been inserted into various orifices."

Downing Street said it was taking all concerns "very seriously".

BBC Breakfast

Reporter John Maguire takes us around a Year 1 classroom at Roade Primary School in Northampton.

Daniel Wainwright
BBC England Data Unit

More than two million children are eligible to return to school today.

Only those in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 are going back today, apart from vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.

Not all of those two million children will go back as some schools are not reopening and some parents will decide to keep theirs at home.

That means that for the majority of pupils homeschooling continues.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

What will happen if someone has coronavirus in a school?

Can you attend school if you live with a vulnerable family member?

Children sent us their questions about going back to school.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

Image source, Sally Betton

Some schools across England have had to be creative with the little space they have to be able to have fewer children in each classroom due to social distancing.

At St Lawrence CE Primary School in Church Stretton, Shropshire, a local scout group helped them find a solution.

The 2nd Longmynd Scouts lent the school an events marquee and helped staff put it up next to the school to make an outdoor classroom.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

Head teachers have been working out how best to minimise risks for pupils, staff and parents who are returning to school today

Plans include keeping classroom doors and windows open to encourage air flow, and introducing one-way systems around school buildings.

Here are seven other things that could look different:

1. No more than 15 children per classroom - kept separate from others
2. Pupils asked to stay 2m (6ft 6in) apart where possible
3. More regular hand washing - for at least 20 seconds
4. Staggered break and lunch times, plus different arrival and departure arrangements
5. Less sharing of equipment such as books and toys, with fewer items taken home
6. Parents should not gather at school gates or in the playground
7. Carers should only enter school buildings by appointment

Parents of primary school children have said they are worried about today's limited reopening.

A number of schools are allowing Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils to return - though attendance is not compulsory.

Siobhan, from Dorchester in Dorset, and Michelle, from Reading describe their concerns.

Laura Foster
BBC Health correspondent

How likely children are to catch and spread coronavirus has been talked about a lot when deciding how and when to reopen schools and whether parents feel ready to send their kids back.

The problem is that Covid-19 is a new disease and not something scientists have had long to study - meaning the available data on the subject that's currently available is sparse.

Here's what we do know about how children are affected by the virus.

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, education correspondent

Image source, AFP

Primary schools in England are beginning to bring back more pupils but half of parents might not send in their children, surveys suggest.

There is a very mixed local picture in how schools are reopening, and in some areas schools will remain shut.

A study from the National Foundation for Educational Research, based on 1,200 school leaders, suggests:

• 46% of parents will keep children at home
• 50% of parents in schools in disadvantaged areas will keep children at home
• 25% of teachers are likely to be absent because of health issues for themselves or their families

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

Children in England in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 can start returning to the classroom today.

Schools have remained open for the children of key workers and vulnerable children, but today some are inviting back millions more primary pupils.

Image source, Getty Images

Many won't go though - up to half potentially kept off by worried parents, according to a survey.

Others can't go back because their local council has said no to schools reopening.

For those who do return, the day will look very different.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News

Thank you for joining us for live coverage on the first day that some primary schools across England begin to bring back more pupils.

Children in Reception, Years 1 and 6 are able to return, with many having been out of school for 10 weeks.

Image source, PA Media

We will take you through what a day at school looks like due to social distancing measures, how children, parents and teachers feel about the return and we will have live updates from inside a primary school.

You can also email or tweet, external us your back to school stories.