STUDENTS returning to a York secondary school from their summer holidays will have to cover their faces again inside communal areas - at least for the rest of September.

Steve Lewis, head of Fulford School, has written to parents to say he hoped the year ahead would see minimum disruption from Covid-19 to children and young people’s education.

He said the school would continue to do all it could to mitigate against the spread of the coronavirus but needed to be realistic about a possible upturn in transmission on the return of pupils. "With this in mind and in consultation with Public Health, we have decided to continue to ask students and staff to wear face coverings in inside communal areas for the rest of this month," he said.

"We will review this decision in line with infection rates and decisions around the continuation of lateral flow tests and use of face coverings on school transport, which will be made at the end of September."

He said he was 'very mindful' of the amount of classroom time students had missed, including the need to return to remote learning at the end of the last academic year due to the amount of Covid-19 infections at the school.

"We hope that, along with continued later flow testing, good hygiene and ventilation, the use of face coverings will help keep students in school," he added.

*What are the face mask plans at other York schools? Email mike.laycock@thepress.co.uk.