Parents were given a glimpse of how schools will operate when they reopen to more pupils as lockdown restrictions are eased.
Class sizes will be halved, start times will be staggered and contact will be severely reduced for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 who return to primary school from June 1.
Plans for the reopening were ramped up as the Government announced tests would be available to everyone over five who shows symptoms.
It comes as the Department of Health revealed 34,796 people had died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, a rise of 160 on the previous day. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted the UK proposals for schools to return is “sensible”.
He said: “It is very clear that the number of children who are badly affected by this disease is very, very, very small.
“So, the proposals that we’ve made for schools are safe and they are sensible.”
He added it is up to head teachers whether staff are allowed to wear face masks or visors while they teach.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, has urged the Government to write to him setting out the scientific evidence behind the decision.
It is understood the Government has examined an Australian study which showed kids are “not the primary drivers of Covid-19 spread” in schools.
The Government is looking at a phased reopening of primary schools from June 1.
A planning guide – from the National Education Union, Unite, Unison and GMB – advises schools that two-metre social distancing must be maintained as there is a lack of scientific evidence that children do not transmit the virus.
Political leader s in Liverpool and Hartlepool have pledged to keep schools closed while the infection rate remains higher in their regions.
And Bury council in Greater Manchester said that while high levels of the infection remain in the North West “the borough will not be reopening schools on June 1”.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “I worry the June 1 date is too soon for the North.
“The virus is at a different stage in different parts of the country. It can’t be fair parents and pupils here are being told it’s OK for schools to reopen when their areas still face a higher risk than the South.”
Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden repeatedly refused to rule out teachers, heads or council leaders being “penalised” for defying advice to open from June 1.
Marsden Infant and Nursery School near Huddersfield, West Yorks, has laid out markings on the floor to keep children separate.
Headteacher Frances Swallow and colleague Sarah Yates were also pictured converting the assembly and dining hall into a classroom.
At Kempsey Primary School in Worcestershire, children of key workers were photographed yesterday keeping apart while eating, studying and washing their hands. Elsewhere individual head teachers are refusing to act, while some are warning of huge problems.
Evelyn Davies, of Coldfall Primary School in North London, said: “You can’t get young kids to keep away from each other and to not touch each other, it is impossible.”
Denmark became the first European country to reopen its primary schools on April 15. Other countries with schools back open include Belgium, Austria and Portugal.
Downing Street has hinted a decision on if schools in England will return in June is likely to be made this week. The PM’s spokesman said: “Safety comes first, but we must also be aware of the potential damage to a child’s education from not getting back in the classroom.”
