Return of pupils to school is significant step in post-lockdown life

Schools across Sheffield are preparing to reopen for the new academic year

All will, of course, depend on how we maintain self-discipline.

Personal experience of getting out and about has been mixed, with some pubs/shops highly organised with social distancing measures etc, with only a small minority of both businesses and customers leaving much to be desired.

Generally, there are welcome permanent changes in the use of protective screens etc. that will provide future security if we experience a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The curtailment of some foreign holiday destinations will have come as a disappointment to those wanting a well-deserved break after the restrictions of the pandemic.

However, staycations are booming, providing a welcome boost to hard-pressed domestic resorts.

We are on the cusp of schools returning and will require imaginative solutions to ensure they can reopen safely.

While many firms have operated efficiently with remote working, children being educated remotely is more problematical and less welcome.

There has been many communications and changes during the twists and turns of the pandemic, often confusing precipitating fear and complacency in equal measure.

It is disappointing too many of our young people have had the misfortune to question the fairness of their exam results, while already having to cope with the coronavirus affecting them and their families.

The lesson to consistently keep communications simple and generally acceptable during the current crisis was often not maintained, so it is doubly disappointing we had a repeat with the A-level results, with the government on the back foot again.

We all know it is not what you do, but as importantly how you do it, so hopefully as we cross our fingers hoping there is not second spike, we have both effective precautions to prevent a recurrence and more understanding of how to communicate adequately.

We have to be sensible and not fearful as we have learnt many personal and shielding lessons that should make a reoccurrence less likely, but equally better prepared if it does come back to haunt us.

I will keep a look out for when flu vaccines become available, as I am sure those eligible will also, as I view the next few months with cautious optimism.

Hopefully the worse of the pandemic is behind us and we can look forward to the run up to Christmas. Fingers crossed...