UK schools: Why are some areas bringing back face coverings?

By now, many of you will feel like life has returned to 'normal' after months of strict coronavirus restrictions.

But, a number of schools around the UK are bringing back some safety measures in order to curb rising infection rates.

The UK government has said that if infections rise substantially during the autumn and winter months, some restrictions may be brought back in.

This would include reintroducing face coverings in secondary schools in England and Wales.

Some schools in Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester and other areas of the UK have already brought masks back as an extra precaution.

In Scottish secondary schools, face coverings are still required to be worn until at least October half-term, and in Northern Ireland, masks are required in class for at least the first six weeks of term.

What about other restrictions in schools?

The Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said he does not intend to bring back the "bubble system" which meant entire classes or year groups had to remain at home if they came into contact with someone who tests positive with Covid-19.

"I don't want to return to that. My priority is to protect education and keeps schools open and children at school," he said.

However, some schools in Greater London and Lincolnshire have already reintroduced the bubble system as infection rates were increasing.

What hasn't changed?

There may still be some rules in place at your school, for example, large gatherings like assemblies may not be going ahead or have been replaced by virtual ones.

Some school pupils may have to wait in the playground to be collected, despite restrictions being lifted. This is because some areas of the country have higher coronavirus rates than others.

There may still be rules on where you can be picked up or dropped off, and you will still be maintaining high standards of hygiene and sticking to one-way systems in corridors.

At the moment, each school's headteacher is able to decide what rules to keep or re-introduce.

During the second half of September, there were around one in 10 students absent from English schools due to Covid-19 restrictions or positive cases of the virus.

In secondary schools, the figure was higher - around one in seven pupils were absent for a part of the month.

What do you think about reintroducing masks? Let us know in the comments...