Amira, the UK government advice is quite clear:
'Wearing a face covering or face mask in schools or other education settings is not recommended. Face coverings may be beneficial for short periods indoors where there is a risk of close social contact with people you do not usually meet and where social distancing and other measures cannot be maintained, for example on public transport or in some shops. This does not apply to schools or other education settings. Schools and other education or childcare settings should therefore not require staff, children and learners to wear face coverings. '
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implemen...
In relation to children with special needs, there is likely to be resistance to using a mask and so I imagine that masks should only be considered in very high risk settings (crowded buses or shops) where these children are unlikely to be present anyway.
In relation to distancing, schools have used circles and other marks on the floor as suggested by Maryam, and also place children in small groups of other children (bubbles) with whom they can maintain closer contact and this seems to work very well. Other measures are included in this useful article in the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/19/distanced-drop-offs-an...
Tony
CHIFA profile: Tony Waterston is a retired consultant paediatrician who worked mainly in the community in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He spent 6 years working in Zambia and Zimbabwe and directed the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Diploma in Palestinian Child Health teaching programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was an Editor of the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and is on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics. His academic interests are child poverty, advocacy for child health and children's rights. He is currently the lead moderator of CHIFA (HIFA's sister forum on child health and rights). www.chifa.org He is also a member of the HIFA Steering Group.
www.hifa.org/people/steering-group www.hifa.org/support/members/tony
Tony.Waterston AT newcastle.ac.uk
