Many children across the region were up early and back in their uniforms on Monday as they returned to school after lockdown.

Schools were ordered to close in March as the country dealt with the Covid-19 outbreak, meaning children had been forced to complete their work from home.

However permission was granted to schools across England by the government to re-open to pupils in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from Monday.

But with parents being able to make the ultimate decision about whether or not their child, or children, should return to classrooms yet, Shropshire Council confirmed attendance levels at the start of the week stood at below 50 per cent.

While some parents have been keeping children at home, many believe it is the right decision for children to be going back to classrooms.

We asked our Facebook followers what decision they would be taking, with parents including Kaylee Lawrence and Jodie Jones deciding to allow their children back to school.

Kaylee said: “I have sent my daughter back. My daughter has struggled massively since the lockdown and if sending her back to school helps then I’ve made the right choice.

“The school is doing the best they can in such a bad time. I do worry on children’s mental health and the impact it’s going to have for their future.”

Jodie added: “I’ve sent my son back too for the same reasons. He has really struggled, it’s been so difficult for him and we have tried our best. His school have been brilliant and are also doing the best that they can and we feel happy to send him. He was so excited this morning

Some parents took the decision however to keep their children at home, including Lisa Hitch.

She said: “No we’ve decided not to send our little one back, we feel it’s way too early, she’s happy at home with us having fun and learning, whereas we feel the school environment now would not be healthy and it’s not a fun environment to thrive on.”

Susan Grice, who has two children of school age, decided against sending one of her children back, but allowed the other to return to school.

“I have two children – both with different mental health needs,” she said. “One went back today and was very excited and happy about it. The other is not returning until September.

“There is no right or wrong answer, it is up the the parents and the welfare of each individual child.”

Karen Bradshaw, executive director of children’s services with Shropshire Council, said: “As we expected, a number of parents are choosing to keep their children at home and typical attendance in the year groups attending is below 50 per cent.”

“We have always been very clear that the re-opening to wider year groups may need to be phased. Therefore schools may not have fully re-opened to reception, Year 1 and Year 6 but will aim to expand their offer to meet this ambition over the coming weeks.

“The safety of children and staff is our priority. All schools will have completed a risk assessment before re-opening.

“Headteachers have had to work incredibly hard to undertake these and put measures in place to make sure that children are as safe as possible in school.”