THE mother of York twins who have been shielding since lockdown and are due to start school next month has welcomed the government's U-turn over face masks - but says it does not go far enough.

Helen Meadows' twin 16-year-olds, Martha and Reuben, who will be starting at All Saints Sixth Form, have been shielding since lockdown started due to health reasons - and want to wear masks when they return to school in September.

But until late on Tuesday night, the government advice was that children and staff in secondary schools should NOT wear face masks.

That advice changed late in the evening, when the Department for Education (DfE) advised that face coverings should be worn by secondary pupils and staff in local lockdown areas of England - and can be worn at the discretion of secondary schools across the country not in local lockdown areas.

The advice is that face coverings should only be worn when moving around corridors and communal areas. They will not need to be worn in classrooms, the DfE says, because other protective measures will already be in place and they might affect learning.

The change follows World Health Organisation (WHO) advice that children aged over 12 should wear masks, the Government said. It comes after the Scottish government said secondary school pupils in Scotland would have to wear face coverings when moving through corridors and other communal areas from next week.

Helen welcomed the latest government U-turn, but said the government should have gone further and made the wearing of masks in secondary schools mandatory.

Under the current government advice it would be possible for Martha and Reuben to be the only two students wearing masks at school, she said. "The evidence is that the more people who wear them the safer everybody is," she said. "In fact, the evidence is that they are more to protect others rather than yourself.

"The latest U-turn is a step in the right direction but leaving it up to schools (outside of lockdown areas) leads to inconsistent practices and behaviours. The government should mandate or at the very least strongly advise that they are worn."

Earlier on Tuesday, Martha and Reuben said: "We feel like the government has failed to present the virus as a serious issue for students and therefore many won't view mask-wearing and hand-washing as a necessary requirement.  The only viable way to re-start education in the UK is to make face masks mandatory."

York council said earlier on Tuesday that it was speaking with education leaders across the city, as well as the Department for Education, to agree on a city-wide position on the wearing of masks in schools. 

Some York schools - including All Saints - were already planning to allow students or staff to wear masks.

"We did a risk assessment and we decided that if staff or students wish to wear a face covering, it is fine to do so," said All Saints headteacher Sharon Keelan-Beardsley.

But Rod Sims, headteacher at York High, said the school was told its risk assessments would not pass health and safety if they allowed staff or students to wear masks - because taking them on and off repeatedly would reduce effectiveness. 

Speaking earlier on Tuesday, he said: "At the moment we are being asked not to allow the wearing of masks at school. We suspect that will be changed. We would like to be in a position where the wearing of face masks is encouraged but not compulsory."

Earlioer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said if the government needed to change the advice on face masks in schools it would do so. 

MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, said: “The World Health Organisation - which recommends face masks for pupils over 12 years old - clearly has a leading role in providing evidenced-based solutions to the current challenge, and therefore York council and the government should be reviewing its plans in the light of this." 

City of York Council Director of Public Health, Sharon Stoltz, said: “We recognise parents’ concerns and therefore we are actively speaking with education leaders across the city ... so we can agree on a city-wide position on the wearing of masks for schools over the coming days and provide further support as the national guidance evolves."