David White's letter in the Gazette (May 28), "Back to school", seemed to make returning to school as being a simple matter, let me assure you Mr. White it is not!

The amount of work head teachers and their staff have had to put into just a few children returning to school is mind boggling.

It starts with staggered entry, with one way systems, special class lay-outs, PPE equipment training (close contact of any form will require PPE, and training is required to ensure it is worn correctly, and removed correctly as the removal can be just as hazardous as not wearing it), meals in classrooms, a member of staff with the Bubble of 10 to 15 children at all times, caring for key worker children and vulnerable children as well as (in primary schools) some year R, 1 and 6 children.

I could go on, but the list of detailed measures required to keep children and staff safe is extremely long.

The one outstanding problem that is impossible to solve is how to carry out all of the necessary measures required to maintain social distancing and keep children and staff safe once all children are asked to return to school.

As things stand to do that will require at least twice as many classrooms in every school, because a class of 30 children will now need two classrooms instead of the one they occupied previously.

But let me assure Mr. White that just the limited number of pupils that are going to return to school has created tremendous pressures and strains upon schools, our teachers and teaching assistants and all of the schools staff will be working on the front line and deserve our thanks and gratitude for all they will be doing, and have already done.

Brian Simmonds (School Governor), Belmont Heights, Hatch Warren