Updated 23 March, 17:00
As the second week back at school for most children in England comes to an end, parents and teachers in Lincoln have praised the return.
All schools in the country welcomed pupils back on 8 March, with safety measures implemented to restrict the spread of COVID-19.
Emma Jackson, whose 10-year-old daughter is now back in classes, said she’s grateful.
“My girl’s school have been amazing and my best friend has been even more amazing, homeschooling her with her two while I’ve been unable to due to work,” Ms Jackson said.
“Ours love school and seeing their friends. And, while it’s all following guidelines, they still get to see them and have a proper routine again,” she added.
Becky Hirst, a mother to a 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, found that remote learning had a negative impact on her children.
“It was having a detrimental effect on mental health being out of routines and not being able to interact with other people,” she said.
She added that the quality of education is markedly better when children are back in class.
“We are not teachers and there is a reason we are not: we couldn’t educate our children anywhere near the standard that our teachers do!”
And those same teachers are also pleased that all children are back in school.
Danny Hodson, key stage leader at Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School, said it’s as safe as it could be.
“School’s been great,” he said. “We’re trying to limit the contact between staff from different bubbles as much as possible. So, at the moment, even things like our own lunches, we don’t sit in the staffroom and talk with people from other bubbles – we keep to our own areas.”
But for some parents, the safety measures aren’t as reassuring.
Laura Thomas has watched tentatively as her two sons, Cody and Riley, six and nine years old respectively, go back to class.
Both of them suffer from Crohn’s disease and take immunosuppressant medication, as well as undergoing a type of chemotherapy treatment. As a result, they are both vulnerable to COVID-19, despite being so young.
Ms Thomas is unable to homeschool them and said her youngest son, Cody, has been especially anxious about returning. “He’s said he’s worried that if he catches it, he could die,” she said. “For a six-year-old to say that, it’s heartbreaking.”
Her sons fall outside of the mainstream view of COVID-19 – that it doesn’t pose a risk to children. She said it’s been difficult to find others going through the same thing.
Another parent, Kieron Moyles, said: “The schools are doing a great job, but it’s a shame the government didn’t invest in air conditioning and temporary classrooms to allow better social distancing.”
While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that reopening schools is safe, officials will be watching closely to monitor the impact it has on new infections.
But for many parents, the return to an aspect of normalcy has been welcomed with open arms, representing an important step in moving past COVID-19.