Children at Schools in most of the UK will remain at home after the half-term break, just as their Scottish and Welsh counterparts begin returning to the classroom.

The Scottish government has confirmed plans to allow the youngest children - those in primary classes one to three - to return to schools on Monday February 22^nd, along with pre-school children.

At present, older children will remain off, but could start returning in early March. An exception to this will be those older pupils who need to access school premises to complete coursework.

First minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "We are choosing to use the very limited headroom we have right now to get at least some children back to school - because children's education and wellbeing is such a priority.”

This may mean the rest of Scottish society has to put up with other restrictions for longer in order to enable youngsters to return to classrooms, she added.

Scotland is joining Wales in starting the phased return of younger pupils to schools from next Monday, with Welsh children aged from three to seven going back.

The scenario is very different from that in England, where the earliest date that could be set for a return is March 8^th, based on this being the time when the impact of the Coronavirus vaccinations on the top priority groups will start to take effect.

Parents in England may feel some frustration at having to continue home schooling while those in devolved nations get back to the classroom, with many feeling their kids are missing out.

However, there are plenty of ways parents may be able to give their children’s education a big boost in the months ahead, such as signing them up to coding camps for kids.  

Prime minister Boris Johnson will set out plans to ease lockdown in England next week, including the return of schools, although the roadmap will be “data driven, not date driven”, Vaccines minister Nadim Zahawi told BBC Breakfast.