Some pupils are not complying with the new advice, and there are worries about vulnerable students.
aimed "to help reduce transmission and disruption to learning and maximise attendance". She pointed out that pupils of secondary school age and above are advised to test twice a week at home.
in the autumn did not provide proof of a statistically significant impact of wearing masks in schools. At one school in Lancashire, only 67 children out of 1,300 were prepared to do either, he said - while another in Manchester said "there was no point" in offering lateral flow tests when pupils returned.There was an element of teenagers "railing against" authority, he added, made worse by some wanting to "push boundaries" with supply teachers in charge.
Rachael Olley, chief executive of the Childhood Cancer Parents Alliance, said she imagined refusal to wear masks and take tests would be "of concern to both patients and their parents or carers".