A Scottish teaching union is stressing that mitigations such as masks and distancing remain “essential” in schools, given the threat posed by new strains of Covid-19 “against which the vaccines may offer less protection”.

Mitigations such as masks continue to be required in Scottish schools. The Scottish government has said that these rules will be reviewed six weeks into the new school year - which got under way in most parts of Scotland this week - “following which further advice will be provided”.

However, the EIS teaching union is calling for caution arguing that, while most school staff will have received both vaccinations, the majority of young people have not and new strains of the virus could emerge.

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EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The continuing emergence of new strains of the virus, against which the vaccines may offer less protection, increases the risk of further outbreaks within our school communities. It remains essential, therefore, that schools continue to exercise all due caution in rigorously applying continuing safety mitigations to reduce the risk of Covid outbreaks.”

Mr Flanagan said that keeping the mitigations that were in place before the summer was “a sensible step”, especially as case numbers over the summer among young people “continued to be a cause for concern”.

Mr Flanagan added: “The rollout of the vaccine programme has allowed the country to move out of lockdown and lift many restrictions, but it is very clear that the virus has not gone away and remains a threat - particularly to those in vulnerable groups.

“The EIS continues to expect local authorities to take all possible steps to protect pupils and staff within those groups, including the continued ability to work from home for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

“While we all want to see life in society at large and in our schools return to normality, we must continue to exercise appropriate caution to reduce the risk of further Covid spread through school communities.”

Tes Scotland reported in June that official estimates were that 85 per cent of teachers would be double vaccinated by the time schools returned in the middle of this month.

While many of the mitigations in place in schools are set to continue - at least initially - there have been changes to the rules on self-isolation.

Whole classes or groupings of pupils - sometimes called bubbles - will no longer be required to self-isolate in the event of a positive test result.

Rather, Test and Protect will identify any “high-risk” close contacts and get in touch with them, with other members of the grouping or bubble receiving “warn and inform” letters that advise them of the case and ask them to be vigilant.

The government guidance can be found here.