Some of the county’s youngsters will be returning to school after the half term holidays are over.

Monmouthshire County Council says it has been working to prepare for the return of all Foundation Phase age children to schools across the county starting the week commencing February 22, with most schools opening from Wednesday February 24.

Provision for face-to-face learning is in place for vulnerable children, and those of critical workers in Key Stage 2 throughout, and for Foundation phase children on 22nd and 23rd February, following half-term.

Letters have been sent to all parents and carers of school age children confirming the latest announcement.

This comes as Monmouthshire has seen a steady fall in the number of new Covid-19 cases, which have been in single figures on a daily basis.

This is in comparison to a figure in the region of 80 daily cases not so long ago. The all-important ‘R’ number, which describes how fast the virus is spreading is now below 1.0 in Wales, at 0.7, a notable improvement but one which should not be taken for granted as the battle to reduce transmission continues.

Councillor Richard John, cabinet member for Children and Young People said: “Although we are seeing sustained improvements in the situation here in Monmouthshire, we can’t afford to become complacent.

’’We will be undertaking comprehensive risk assessments and checking that all measures are in place to protect pupils and staff.

’’This lockdown has been extremely challenging for young children and their families and I recognise how welcome a return to school will be for Foundation Phase pupils.

“I would strongly ask that all parents remember to socially distance when dropping off and picking up children from school. With the significant progress being made to reduce transmission, we all need to continue to do everything possible to help keep Covid cases low so we can continue to open up schools to further pupils.”

To keep up-to-date with the latest information about schools visit the website at Monmouthshire.gov.uk and click on ‘education’ or follow the council’s feeds on Twitter and Facebook @MonmouthshireCC