WATCH: Thousands of children return to classroom following lockdown

By Rebecca Black, PA

Thousands of school children have returned to the classroom in Northern Ireland following lockdown.

Primary 7 children and sixth formers returned last week, but the full school population were back on Tuesday.

Health and safety measures including hand sanitising stations, staggered start times and one-way systems are in place at schools, and face covering are being used by post-primary pupils.

Stormont Education Minister Peter Weir described the day as a “major step forward”.

Education Minister Peter Weir welcomes today’s full return to school
@Ed_Authority @nidirect @niexecutive pic.twitter.com/Hiv4XijD5y

— Education NI (@Education_NI) September 1, 2020

“Obviously we will be monitoring the situation closely, but I think this is a good day for education and for all young people, that we are able to get a third of a million children back into school,” he told the BBC.

“There are bound to be some bumps in the road.”

Oisin Hicks (right) and Leo Di Vecsi colouring in on their first day of P1 at St John the Baptist Primary School in west Belfast

He said where cases of Covid-19 arise, schools will work closely with the Public Health Agency.

“It may be their response will be different from case to case depending on the circumstances and, undoubtedly, there’s likely to be some level of interruption in terms of education, but across the board I think we want to ensure that schools remain open,” he added.

Mr Weir said he “held his hands up” over a photograph of him at a school last week, which showed him not wearing a face covering inside a classroom.

“I was socially distant from them. I didn’t wear a mask on that particular occasion. Perhaps I should have done, I thought it was better to make myself understood,” he said.

Dinner staff, Eileen Keenan, Gerri Casey and Marian Mullholland wearing PPE dispense a hot lunch to pupils Ben Dorothy, Kaycee McCabe, and Lottie McAvoy at St John the Baptist Primary School in west Belfast

“The guidance has been put there for a particular purpose, it was an unusual situation. Can everything always be got absolutely right? I took a view on that particular occasion.

“Some level of flexibility should be given to schools. We have recommended that face coverings should be worn – is it right in general in the classroom for children to be wearing face masks for six to seven hours a day? I don’t think that’s particularly practical.”