Thousands of children returned to schools across England for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began in March, but many others remained at home because of parental concerns and warnings from some councils that it is still too early to reopen more widely. This week marks the start of the government’s phased reopening of schools in England, with pupils in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6 returning to classes from 1 June, but a survey of school leaders suggested about half of the 2 million pupils entitled to return this week would not turn up. Many school leaders were planning to hold training days to prepare for wider opening to more pupils this week and next, but among those headteachers who opened to more pupils on Monday was Matt Alcock, of Caldecote primary school in Braunstone, Leicester, who welcomed back about a third of his reception and year 1 pupils, and half of year 6. Alcock’s school remained open throughout the lockdown, catering for up to 70 children of key workers and vulnerable pupils. Normally the three-form entry primary would be buzzing with more than 600 pupils, but on Monday about 140 attended. “I’ve got mixed emotions. It’s a shame we could not get more in,” Alcock said. “I’m hoping that will remedy itself over time. “But there’s a sense of joy today, because the school is up and running in a more traditional capacity. It was great to see so many parents this morning. It’s been really nice to see them back. We know everything looks and feels very different. “But it’s just nice to see kids outside playing, doing what they do well. It’s been interesting to see. They are naturally self-distancing.” Also open for children from the three specified year groups was Moorgate primary academy in Tamworth, Staffordshire, where about 70% of pupils turned up for classes. “It’s gone really smoothly,” said the headteacher, Jonathan Williams. “Obviously, it’s very different. Some children are no longer with their normal class teacher. Some of them have found that a bit tricky. There’s been a few tears this morning – not too many. Most children were very excited and happy about being back.” He said some parents had chosen to keep their children at home: “We’ve some parents who are not bringing children back for shielding reasons and health reasons – either the child or a member of the family has asthma or other conditions. “We’ve also got parents who feel the daily death rate is too high at the moment to send their children back.” The most challenging thing, Williams said, was ensuring physical distancing among the youngest pupils. He also said he thought it would be impossible to welcome back all year groups before the summer holiday, as the government had hoped, warning the building was at capacity. Christopher King, the chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, says almost all of the 550 prep schools in England belonging to IAPS have opened to year six pupils on Monday morning. Those with nurseries or pre-prep are also opening to reception and year one age groups, with what King calls a mixture of enthusiasm and apprehension. “The vast majority of prep schools in England are open today, apart from a few that are opening tomorrow. They are enthusiastic about reopening, but for staff and parents there is a degree of apprehension particularly because of the younger year groups and the difficulty in social distancing,” King said. Like state schools, prep schools remained open for the children of key workers and to provide remote learning for the rest of their pupils. Initial reports of unhappy parents led to many private schools cutting their fees by 10-20% for this term. A number of councils remain opposed to the government’s 1 June reopening, including the Conservative-controlled Lancashire county council, which advised its schools not to reopen. It said the government’s test-and-trace programme “is not at a state of readiness to respond to Covid-19 community setting outbreaks in a timely manner. “Furthermore, we are not confident that adjustments to the current measures of the lockdown policy will not risk a second peak of infections locally.”