Schools are installing hand-washing troughs in playgrounds and preparing to mark out two-metre lines to keep parents apart as they drop off their children in anticipation of the coronavirus lockdown ending.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has not yet set a date for schools to reopen and insists it will happen “when the time is right”.
But headteachers are already planning for life after lockdown so they can ensure all children and staff are safe.
Downing Street sources today confirmed that ministers want to reopen primary schools on June 1.
A phased approach is likely to be adopted, with year six children, aged ten and 11, reported to be the first cohort to return, closely followed by years 10 and 12, the penultimate year of secondary school and sixth form.
Details of the plan are expected to be revealed within days. Ministers are reportedly keen to reopen schools before the summer holidays so there will be a natural break if infections start to rise again.
However, there is doubt about whether children will be able to abide by social distancing rules.
Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts said: “However hard teachers try, children still touch each other, cough, sneeze and inevitably pick their noses.”
Jane Prescott, president of the Girls Schools’ Association, said: “We will have to mark out two-metre lines, very much like the supermarkets, and ask families to observe distances when they drop off or pick up younger children.”
Hygiene will more rigorous. The Harris Federation, which educates 30,000 children in London academies, has already bought sink troughs so children can wash their hands in the playground before going into classrooms.
CEO Dan Moynihan said: “We are trying to plan to have split days where year groups arrive in the morning and the other half will come in the afternoon.
"Classes will need to be split in two, using two rooms instead of one so the maximum capacity will be half a school. We are looking at staggered start times, staggered end times.”
Professor Russell Viner, of UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said schools should be cleaning desks every night, but there is little need for a deep clean before reopening because the virus only lasts for 48 to 72 hours on hard surfaces.
He added the key issue for schools is social distancing, so there should be also no assemblies and fewer children in the playground.
Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham, said teachers must be protected but full PPE might frighten younger children.
“The PPE also remains effective for limited periods only,” he added.
“The protection of teachers is one of the more difficult aspects to solve.”
Ms Roberts said: “There are practical considerations, given a key aspect of teaching is communication, and that’s pretty difficult in a full face mask.”
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A Department for Education spokeswoman said schools will remain closed, except for children of critical workers and the most vulnerable children, until the scientific advice changes.