Updated: 2:13 PM February 23, 2021 Haverstock School headteacher James Hadley (left) and Highgate School head Adam Pettitt (right) - Credit: Haverstock School/Highgate School Local headteachers have welcomed the government’s decision to allow schools to reopen on March 8. On Monday the prime minister Boris Johnson announced that the return of pupils would form part of the first step of easing lockdown restrictions, amid falling Covid infections. All primary school children will return on March 8 and they will not need to take a coronavirus test, but secondary school students – whose return may be slightly more staggered – will have to.