A SECONDARY school in Herefordshire is still asking its pupils to wear masks, despite the Government urging that face-to-face teaching is important.

A Government spokesperson said Prime Minister Boris Johnson “believes it is vital that children are receiving face-to-face education and can enjoy a normal experience in the classroom”, but Wigmore School, north of Leominster, said it had concerns.

The high school's headteacher Dr Rob Patterson said Government guidance changed on Thursday, "hopefully for the last time", as compulsory masks were ditched.

But he said Covid levels in the county were rising, and that was mirrored at the Ford Street school, particularly within year eight.

It trigged him to recommend pupils still wear masks, contrary to Government advice.

In a letter to parents on Wednesday he said: "We therefore advise that children continue to wear face coverings in communal spaces and, for year eight, in classrooms too.

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"But to stress, these are now advisory rather than mandatory. We would also like year eights to come to school in their PE kit when they have PE to reduce mixing in the changing area."

He said there were other measures in school to "help mitigate the levels of virus", but that the Omicron variant was "appearing to be more benign that predecessors".

The headteacher at the school, which has around 450 pupils, added: "With the huge majority of society now having some form of antibody protection it is time for us to move back towards normality.

"Thank you for supporting the school so consistently over the difficult past two years as we all have had to learn how to cope with a malign presence in our lives.

"There has been a huge impact on what schools are able to do and this will continue to be the case for some time to come as society adjusts to the new normal. But we will get back to normal."

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As well as Mr Johnson's comments about masks in schools, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said last week that he would personally vet plans any plans to reintroduce masks in schools.

He said it was needed “so that we can assess evidence and data to ensure any extra measures are proportionate”.

Latest data from the Government showed coronavirus cases in Herefordshire were rising.

In the seven days to January 22, 1,984 cases were reported in Herefordshire – 486 more than the week before.

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