telling them the R rate of Covid-19 infection was now ‘above the critical value of 1’.Karen Burns, a former headteacher in the borough and now the trust’s CEO explained the challenges staff will face, including pupils struggling being away from home.She said: “If they have not been vulnerable children or the child of a key worker it’s a good ten weeks since they were last in school.“There will be separation anxiety from leaving their parents and not necessarily going back to the same classroom or the same teacher.“The first couple of weeks, the teaching centres predominantly around mental health and well-being.“Dealing with the separation from home, getting children confident again and confident to communicate, to be speaking to their peers.