The sudden announcement that masks would no longer be required in secondary schools from today came as somewhat of a shock to education leaders.
As part of the government's ending of Plan B restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Commons on Wednesday afternoon that from Thursday, face coverings would no longer be needed in classrooms - and in a week's time they won't be needed in communal areas either.
But as with most changes that have happened throughout the pandemic, the move has proved somewhat controversial.
While some parents and campaigners have welcomed the decision, saying students should never have been made to wear them in the first place, others - including teaching unions - feel that case numbers in schools are still too high and it's therefore too soon to lift the restriction.
And ultimately, while the PM can stand up and say masks are no more, it's not where it ends.
Because when schools and local health leaders still have concerns over infection rates in their areas, they can still recommend that masks be worn - and that's not going down well with some parents.
One school that is keeping masks in class is Crompton House C of E School, in Shaw, Oldham.
The school acted swiftly following the PM's announcement and sent a message to parents on Wednesday evening to inform them that face coverings will still be required.
"You may have seen in the news that the Prime Minister has announced that from tomorrow it will no longer be mandatory for students to wear masks in class. However, local rates of Covid cases are still high," the message said.
"To help reduce the transmission of the virus and to keep staff and student attendance rates as high as possible we are keeping our current school mask rules in place for the time being.
"Students are still expected to wear masks in class, hallways and communal areas unless exempt. We will contact you as and when this changes. We thank you for your support in in this matter."
One mum told us she's unhappy about the school's decision as she doesn't feel masks have made any difference in preventing transmission anyway.
"There are positive cases in the school and people are having to isolate still," she told us. "I don’t agree with the face mask throughout all this. We just need to keep a safe distance and clean hygienic routines."
Parent group UsForThem, which campaigned to get classrooms reopened during the pandemic, is urging its supporters to bombard MPs and ministers with letters to ‘stop overzealous local public health authorities from unilaterally implementing face masks in schools’.
“As we have seen throughout the pandemic when the instruction from government is simply guidance, or just withdrawn, schools and local public health often go far beyond the recommendations and over and above what adults are required to do," said UsForThem director Arabella Skinner.
"In the case of masks being removed from class, we've had over a 100 schools raised with UsForThem who are choosing - against government guidance - to keep masks in class."
She says the 'evidence basis for masks being effective in class is very weak' and believes the Department for Education needs to 'mandate that masks are purely voluntary at the choice of the child and can not be enforced, required or strongly encouraged in school'.
"No child should be treated differently - penalised, isolated, made to sit at the back of class - for choosing not to wear a mask," she said.
"When the evidence for mask effectiveness in schools is so weak and the harms increasingly evidenced, masks should never have a place in schools."
What do you think about the scrapping of masks in secondary schools and colleges? Is your child still being asked to wear one in class? Let us know your views in the comments here.
At another school in Oldham - Newman RC College in Chadderton - students and staff are being allowed to choose for themselves whether to carry on wearing a face covering in the classroom.
"We were a little taken back with the announcement from the PM at lunchtime yesterday and this was made all the more challenging as the guidance from the DfE only came out after 5pm," said headteacher Glyn Potts.
"However, we have allowed students to make their own choice on masks in classroom due to the very high rates still in Oldham and the fact that we have 40 positive cases this week in the student body."
Despite the government saying masks won't be required in school communal areas or anywhere else from next Thursday, the PM said they will 'continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces'.
At Newman, and in other schools across Greater Manchester, mask wearing is likely to continue in communal spots until at least February half term.
"We are still encouraging students to wear masks beyond January 27 for crowded spaces as recommended in the DfE guidance," said Mr Potts.
"We are keen to get back to the ‘normal’ way of working, but do not wish to pressurise students nor increase anxieties either way."
He said most teachers at Newman 'would prefer to not wear masks when teaching, nor to have children wear them, as visual cues and clarity are important'.
"Now that the decision has been taken, I would suggest that most will want to drop the masks in favour of the continuation of good hygiene and awareness," he said.
"Staff at Newman do have a choice to continue to wear them with a variety of different covers to accommodate students with hearing impairments etc. We also have some pregnant staff who would wish to continue to use masks when they feel appropriate."
Wigan Council is among the local authorities recommending that masks remain in communal areas even after next Thursday.
A spokesperson for the authority said: "The local recommendations from Professor Ardern, Wigan Council’s Director of Public Health, to all schools and other educational settings in relation to the wearing face coverings in corridors and communal areas by all staff and visitors, and by all pupils in Year 7 and above, will continue to be in place until the end of the February half term.
"This recommendation will continue to be reviewed on a regular basis and may be lifted earlier if the evidence supports such a move."
The council says the recommendation is based on 'the continued significantly high local transmission rates', current hospital admission numbers of residents who have tested positive in the preceding 28 days and to safeguard the continued roll out of the 12-15 vaccination programme.
Here's what other councils across Greater Manchester are saying
Stockport
Councillor Colin Foster, Stockport Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Family Services & Education, said: “Our schools will continue to follow national advice on a borough-wide basis. However, we will continue to work with any school that is experiencing an outbreak to understand whether additional measures, including additional face covering recommendations, are necessary.”
Bury
"While there is no longer a blanket requirement to retain wearing of face masks in classrooms (and when moving around schools from next week), we can and will continue to advise individual schools to continue with this in circumstances where there are a high number of cases/outbreaks. This is in line with the National Education Contingency Framework. As case rates are still high in Bury, there may be a number of schools where this advice could apply."
Oldham
"Individual schools are able to retain these measures where the local context warrants it, and this may be specifically the case for those schools that are still experiencing high case rates, and where the school believes there is benefit in retaining face coverings in classrooms.
"Whilst case numbers have fallen in Oldham, they are still very high and we would support any school that wishes to retain measures at this time, and particularly where our public health team is working with schools that have high case rates."
Salford
"Salford’s Director of Public Health is advising staff and pupils in secondary schools and colleges to keep testing and to continue wearing face coverings in communal areas because rates of infection remain very high in the city.
"The public health team will continue to monitor community transmission rates and work with schools in outbreaks and will revise the advice accordingly."
Manchester
"Keeping schools open is obviously a priority for everyone and locally schools have therefore been advised to retain any measures, including mask-wearing, they think their school needs to help with this. This is against a backdrop in the city of rates in secondary schools appearing to be reducing, but still on the increase in primary schools, which means some schools are continuing to struggle with staff absences."
Trafford
Helen Gollins, acting director of public health at Trafford Council, said: “In line with the new government guidance, face coverings are no longer required in education settings. We will only recommend face coverings in settings if they are experiencing an outbreak. In an outbreak situation face coverings are a useful tool in reducing transmission and minimising disruption to the delivery of children’s face-to-face education.
“Although case numbers have fallen in Trafford, they are not yet low and we support settings that take their own decision to retain face coverings at this time.”
Department for Education
The updated guidance from the DfE states: "Local directors of public health are able to recommend the use of face coverings in communal areas—across their area only—where DfE and public health experts judge the measure to be proportionate due to specific health concerns. This is a temporary measure.
"Directors of public health will also continue to advise individual settings experiencing outbreaks. Any local introduction of face coverings will be subject to routine review and removed at the earliest opportunity."
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Face-to-face education for all students has consistently been my priority, and that is why I am removing face coverings from classrooms – as promised – on the earliest possible date, making sure there is as little disruption to students’ learning as possible and children can enjoy a normal experience in the classroom.
“National guidance to wear face coverings in communal areas will also be removed in line with the national move out of plan B. This applies to all schools - and if required local teams from DfE would work with individual schools to support them in implementing the guidance.
“As we transition from pandemic to endemic, my message remains the same as ever – testing and vaccinations are our best weapons against the virus – keep testing, and get your vaccination as soon as possible.”
