health benefits and took account of the potential for extremely rare heart complications. authorities in england, wales and northern ireland are monitoring the situation closely in scotland, where schools returned in the middle of august. some experts are linking this with a sharp rise in covid infections. in england, cases have remained steady throughout august, but the rate of infection among five to 15—year—olds to the end of the month was 30 times higher compared with the same time last year. everybody is working really hard to keep children safe and to be very alert for any rises and act if there are any rises. i've been in schools right through summer and, actually, right through covid. i was in schools myself until march as a head teacher and ceo. and i know that everyone's working really hard to make this return safe. the uk government has pledged to give english schoolchildren the most normal classroom experience possible.