back to school — with a difference. millions of pupils in england return after the coronavirus lockdown. for many of the children, it's the first time they've been in a classroom for months. it is a mixture of emotions and stuff. ifeel, like, really, really excited but really nervous as well. i just can't wait to get in and start learning and stuff. we'll be seeing how they're getting on and asking if the safety measures are working. also this lunchtime... we wanted exams to go ahead but were overruled — the head of quual launches a robust defence of the regulator's role in the a—level and gcse fiasco. another government u—turn — hours after lifting them, restrictions in two parts of manchester are reimposed. # rule, britannia...

bbc u—turn — the broadcaster says there will now be singing of rule, britannia and land of hope and glory at the last night of the proms, after a chorus of criticism. making history — boxer nicola adams becomes the first contestant to be part of a same—sex pairing in strictly come dancing. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, 20,000 fans could be heading to twickenham next month for england's match against the barbarians. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. it's a huge day for many families in england and wales, as millions of pupils return to the classroom after almost six months.

schools look very different from how they did back in march — with one—way systems and staggered start times helping to keep students safe. but there are still many questions over how easy it will be for children to catch up on learning and the impact on next year's exams. schools in scotland and northern ireland have already reopened. 0ur education correspondent dan johnson is at a secondary school in nottinghamshire. 0ver over to you. yes, don't underestimate how important this day is, for so many stu d e nts important this day is, for so many students and for the teachers who have done so much work preparing for this return today. now, here at 0utwood academy portland in worksop, these are corridors that are being protected from certain year groups, to keep students apart and we have seen year to keep students apart and we have seen year seven return here to keep students apart and we have seen year seven return here this morning ahead of the rest of the 1,500 pupils coming back to classes tomorrow. put yourself in amy's new school shoes. that strange first day in the uncertain world

of secondary school. i am a bit nervous, because i don't know anyone and it is a big day. then throw in the added baggage of coronavirus, weighing on 11—year—old shoulders. it is a mixture of emotions and stuff. ifeel, like, really, really excited but really nervous as well. i just really can't wait to get in and start learning and stuff. good morning, year seven and welcome to portland! and here are 300 more fresh faces. masked for the bus ride but eager to learn after months of lockdown. a bit nervous, but i'm feeling good. it made me feel safe but i couldn't breathe. can't breathe in these masks, i don't like it. it's funny, though. we were missing out on a lot of learning during covid, so it's good to be back. having been at home, it's been quite hard however, being at school, obviously staying two metres apart and things like that,

it's definitely going to help. i'm ok, i mean, the school's put lots of things on the website, they've given us, like, a virtual tour of the school, so i know what i'm expecting and, today, it isjust year sevens in, so we do have a bit of a transition. so i'm feeling fine. waving them off is always a wrench, so parents could be forgiven some anxious worries. you know, it's like a sense of trepidation, he's starting a new part of his schooljourney, but, you know, other than that, yeah, good. yeah, i think it is the right time, they've been at home for a long time without having as much teacher support as they would normally have, so it's great that they are back with people their own age and back in a learning environment. the signage around the school is excellent, amy knows what's expected of her, so i think we're feeling as positive as we can. we hope that, at least, this will give them the chance to get settled into school and then if there are cases and we find there has to be lockdowns, or things change again, then they will at least know what they are doing and they will be sort of settled into school and the new routine. so, yeah, we'll just

have to see how it goes. at secondary school, you get the opportunity to study lots and lots of new subjects... this is welcome to a new school and a new way of learning, in rows facing the front isn't how it's supposed to be, but there's lots to get used to and so much to catch up on. it's important that, when they walk through the door, we actually assess their frame of mind and the state of their learning and be able to make a judgment call professionally as to where they are at and what sort of interventions we need to put in place to help them catch up, so we've got a challenge in reintegrating students back into school, into routines, but we've got what it takes to get it done. the new school day is governed by regimes of hand sanitising, corridor separation and protective bubbles keeping year groups apart. getting everything right may take some time, for these are just the first few steps of a new term in a different age. the hope is, the most difficult days are behind these pupils now, but further tests may still lie ahead.

and those challenges are helping everybody settle back in and get used to the new realities, the new practicalities, then working out what they need in terms of catching up, bringing every pupil back to the right level. and, then, on top of that, there are plans to be put in place if there is a case in school that needs to be handled or date there are local outbreaks that need to be responded to. schools have plans to a rota system that could potentially see pupils learn at home for some of the time. so a lot still to work out and contemplate but a huge day, no doubt, and the real test will be whether parents have the confidence to send children back. it is still early to give a picture of that across the country but, here at this school today, they reckon attendance has been 97%. than, thank you. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan is at a primary school in barry island which welcomed back pupils this morning.

good morning. the main differences between wales and england, really, for those in primary school is that under 11s don't have to socially distance, according to the welsh government. when it comes to high schools, pupils over 11 have been recommended to wear a face mask but only when social distance and cannot be maintained. this is barry island primary in south wales and you can see behind me, the yearfive class just having their lunch. now, school is going to feel very different for these pupils for the foreseeable. they will be staying within their 30 pupil classroom for pretty much all of the day, having lunch in the classroom, all of the lessons in the classroom, all of the lessons in the classroom and having break time outside as one bubble and that is of course to make sure they can maintain that bubble so they can track and trace. the decision by the welsh government has been based on science, because they say the risk of transmission is so low, so the

protection really is for the adults mostly. so the classroom here will look very different, they will stay as they are in their bubbles, through corridors behind us here there will be one—way systems in place to make sure there is a lack of transmission between everyone, but, for the foreseeable, there will be no mixing between year groups and different classrooms across wales. thank you very much. the chair of the exams regulator 0fqual has said the organisation told the government it was wrong to cancel this year's a—levels and gcses. giving evidence to a committee of mps, roger taylor, defended 0fqual‘s role in the chaos and said the government and said the government was warned about problems with the controversial algorithm used to assess results. 0ur education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. it was a marking system that failed thousands of students and led to widespread protests. nearly 40% of a—level results in england were downgraded and many missed out on university places. 0fqual, the exam regulator,

and the government, finally accepted they had got it wrong. today, questions and scrutiny over how it happened. we fully accept our share of responsibility for what has gone wrong this year. i have personally apologised to students and parents. missing from the line—up, sally collier, the chief regulator, who oversaw the methods used. she resigned. today, the chair said the education secretary gavin williamson must take some responsibility for what went wrong. at the outset, our initial advice to the secretary of state was the best way to handle this was to try to hold exams in a socially distanced manner. that our second option was to delay exams. but the third option, if neither of these were acceptable, would be to have to try and look at some form of calculated grade. it was the secretary of state who then subsequently took the decision, unannounced, without further consultation with 0fqual, that exams were to be cancelled and a system of calculated grades

was to be implemented. from the offset, there were concerns about a difficult appeals process laid out by 0fqual. and the impact the algorithm used to standardise grades would have on students from poorer backgrounds. we knew that there would be candidates that would get a grade that would be probably one down from the grade they expected. it would mean they would not have a university place and this would strike them as fundamentally unjust. i believe these grades are not a reflection of what i'm capable of achieving! this is now about lessons learned for the government and the exam regulator, but that will be little comfort to students whose teachers have been thrown into disarray. elaine dunkley, bbc news. coronavirus restrictions are being reimposed in two parts of greater manchester, just hours after they were lifted by the government. the health secretary says infection rates in bolton and trafford have increased significantly. our health correspondent dominic hughes is in trafford. what is going on? well, simon, it

was a brief respite for residents of bolton and trafford from these restrictions that were put in place over two households meeting in homes or gardens, they were put in place towards the end ofjuly. those restrictions were lifted at midnight and a little over 12 hours later, they were put back in place. what's extraordinary about this is that, when the announcement was made that these restrictions were going to be lifted at the end of last week, on friday, councillors here at trafford town hall wrote to the government at that point and said we don't want to have restrictions lifted because infection rates are rising. yesterday, councillors and bolton did the same, they pointed out their infection rates had risen by three times. the government at that stage showed no sign whatsoever of rowing back on their decision and this morning, at lunchtime, less than an hour ago, they decided that, given the evidence that infection rates we re the evidence that infection rates were rising, those restrictions would be reimposed but i think that

has left people right across greater manchester, not just trafford has left people right across greater manchester, notjust trafford and bolton, very confused about exactly where they stand. dominic, thank you. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon says the decision to impose new local lockdown restrictions in glasgow and surrounding areas is a "wake—up call". hundreds of thousands of people can no longer visit another household. the new restrictions were imposed at midnight after 135 new cases were detected in the region over the past two days. from glasgow, our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. another local lockdown, this time in scotland's biggest city. with more than three quarters of a million people living in glasgow and the surrounding areas of east renfrewshire and dumbartonshire facing new restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus. the number of positive cases has been rising in these areas over the past few days and the message from government was that early action was needed. it is not exponential, so it

hasn't rocketed, but it's just enough for us to try and do something relatively mild, although it doesn't feel that if you are waking up in glasgow today and you we re waking up in glasgow today and you were going to see your mum and you now cannot, but we wanted to do something that would just restrict that and human behaviour, which is our only treatment against this disease, would kick in and keep that number down. schools which have now been back for three weeks remain open, as do gyms, pubs and cafes, but the new restrictions mean that for those living in the affected areas, visits to friends and family homes are, for now, off. it is difficult, very difficult. it puts a strain on families, it really does andi strain on families, it really does and i was a bit confused as to why it was just households and not other restrictions. these new mums sees challenges ahead. it will mean that my wee baby can't be with my parents inside and stuff, so it will affect us inside and stuff, so it will affect us and, also, they were starting to look after the wee one so i could

have some time to myself and that won't be happening. scotland's first minister defended the decision. won't be happening. scotland's first minister defended the decisionm has not been put in place lightly but they are necessary and, we believe, proportionate and we hope they will allow spread to be contained at an early stage without the need for further measures later. they apply only in these three council areas right now but i think they should be a wake—up call for all of us. the restrictions will remain in place for two weeks. this intervention, an attempt to stem the spread of the virus which, in these parts of the west of scotland, has been driven by contact within homes. lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. the exams chaos was one of the subjects brought up in a testy prime minister's questions in the past hour. after a number of government u—turns, sir keir starmer accused borisjohnson of "serial incompetence" and criticised him for not meeting a pressure group representing relatives of those who've died from coronavirus. boris johnson attacked what he called the labour leader's "sniping and negativity". 0ur political correspondent

iain watson reports. borisjohnson is boris johnson is under borisjohnson is under pressure to meet the campaign group, bereaved families forjustice. it's1,500 members have all lost family to covid—19. they want a public inquiry and, lastly, borisjohnson sounded like he may be willing to meet them. of course i will meet anybody... 0f course, i will meet anybody. the people who have... the bereaved, who suffered from covid, of course i will. in a letter, he told the group, iam will. in a letter, he told the group, i am unable to meet you but it does reiterate that there will be an inquiry at an appropriate time. we, asa an inquiry at an appropriate time. we, as a group, have first—hand experience of what led to our loved ones' deaths and there are lots of lessons to be learned and yet we have repeatedly asked and asked to see him and matt hancock and they will not even look us in the eye. at

prime minister's questions, the labour leader said he had met the bereaved families and urged boris johnson to reconsider. the prime minister will understand the frustration and the hurt of those families that he said one thing to camera and another to them. can i urge the prime minister to reconsider? to do the right thing and find time to meet these grieving families? i sympathise deeply with all those who have lost loved ones throughout this pandemic. we all feel their throughout this pandemic. we all feeltheir pain and throughout this pandemic. we all feel their pain and their grief, but it turns out that this particular group that he refers to are currently in litigation against the government and i will certainly meet them once that litigation is concluded. this was a first commons clash between the party leaders sincejuly. keir starmer clash between the party leaders since july. keir starmer pointed clash between the party leaders sincejuly. keir starmer pointed to discontent amongst some conservative mps over the handling of the coronavirus crisis and he stowed up

a series of criticisms of his own. this has been a wasted summer. the government should have spent it preparing for the autumn and winter. instead, they have lurched from crisis to crisis, u—turn to u—turn. to correct one error, even to might make sense but when the government has done 12 u—turns and rising, the only conclusion is serial incompetence. actually, what has happened so far as we have succeeded in turning the tide of this pandemic and in spite of the negativity and the constant sniping from the opposition, we are seeing a country thatis opposition, we are seeing a country that is not only going back to school but going back to work. theme of keir starmer‘s leadership has been an attempt to establish a reputation for competence and to compare this with the government's turbulent handling of the coronavirus crisis, but by the time of the next election, borisjohnson will be hoping that voters' mines have moved on from the process of government and are now considering his party's policies. iain watson,

bbc news, westminster. the bbc has performed a u—turn and confirmed that rule britannia and land of hope and glory will now be sung during the last night of the proms. 0ur media editor amol rajan is here. what is behind the change? the bbc singers are going to sing the lyrics after all. the bbc has a new director general tim davies and he is making his presence felt. he said that he wanted the bbc to be a universal public service in touch with every part of the country. he will be sensitive to the fact that bbc has had a week of damaging headlines from this slightly bizarre saga. 0ne sunday newspaper front page lambasted the bbc as being wet and woke in the bbc itself got into something of a tangle of a weather to sing the lyrics of this song which mentions slavery. the bbc avoided the question of principle,

whether it was correct in principle to sing those lyrics. the director—general has taken a stance and this i think is relatively easy when for him, it will be seen as a decisive intervention underlined the bbc along with the opinion of the majority of people in the country. but there is the licence fee payers who fund the bbc and the one hand and then the enemies and critics of the bbc in westminster and in number ten with the director—general is about to have a fraught and difficult negotiation over the future of the bbc. so i think this is his way of saying to both these audiences listen and i get it. our top story this lunchtime... back to school with a difference — millions of pupils in england return after the coronavirus lockdown. and coming up, andy murray's remarkable comeback — on his return to grand slam singles tennis after career—saving hip surgery.

coming up in sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news. the premier league season is less than two weeks away and arsenal say they could let fans back into their stadium as early as next month. 1a people have gone on trial in paris charged with supporting the deadly terror attacks at the satirical magazine, charlie hebdo, and ajewish supermarket, five years ago. the trial is expected to clarify what really happened, which islamist group ordered the attacks, and what its reasons were. from paris, hugh schofield reports. five years ago, these pictures brought france face—to—face with a new kind of horror. shouting "we have avenged the prophet" the kouachi brothers emerged from the office of charlie hebdo where they've just killed 11 people. in the getaway, they kill a 12th, a policeman.

it's the start of a frantic two days which end when the two are cornered at a print works north of paris and shot by police. but in the meantime there has been another islamist attack, this time a jewish supermarket, with four hostages dead before there too, police killed the assailant, amedy coulibaly, who had previously videotaped statement of support for islamic state. francois molins was paris chief prosecutor. he recalled what he felt when he first saw the charlie hebdo office. translation: it was surreal. there was this powerful silence and the smell of blood and gunpowder. and the editorial room was carnage. it was no longer a crime scene, it was a war zone, with bodies piled up one on top of the other. it was frightful. the charlie hebdo attack here marked the start of a long, violent period. the bataclan attack, nice, which changed france. now for the first time with this

trial comes a chance to tell a story and put it on record. who did what, who knew what, who, if anyone, gave the orders. the killers are dead, so the trial that opened this morning amid tight security is of the alleged aiders and abetters. 1a in all. some of whom, it's claimed, provided guns or money or mobile phones. not necessarily aware of the enormities that were being planned. in the immediate aftermath, the world was outraged. hundreds of thousands marched in sympathy for the dad — the dead and to support the right of anti religious satirists to speak freely and to offend. five years on, though, some say the issue has become lukewarm. translation: today freedom of expression has been lost in france. it still exists on paper, but do it at your risk if you draw the prophet. so no, the lesson was not learnt. what happened, but also why it happened. the two—month trial,

unusually, is being filmed for france's national archives, so future generations can look back and, maybe, learn. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. the government is facing pressure to reconsider quarantine rules for people returning to england from greece. last night scotland and wales introduced new measures over concerns about rising coronavirus cases in greece. there's also increased speculation that portugal could be put back on the quarantine list. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, is here. it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the changes. portugal i think it is likely to go back in the uk government quarantine list and probably there will be an announcement tomorrow applying of the uk but the uk government is speaking to the scottish and welsh government is about that. greece is much more complicated because first date the infection rate is much lower there, below the uk government benchmark of 20 cases for every

100,000 people, unlike portugal right now. but the scottish government late last night announced that they will impose the quarantine for the whole of greece from tomorrow in the welsh government has said that we are just going to do that for the island of zante weather seems to be a problem you remember that tui flight that came back last week the 16 passengers on board infected with the virus. the welsh government are going for a more original quarantine approach by doing that and also talk about testing passengers on arrival. things which aviation bosses and calling in the uk government to do for months. they're pleading with uk government quite literally to do that. and so far they have not had a kind of ringing endorsement publicly on those ideas. ministers in london say this is about public health and about making sure all cases of virus do not want mitigate the risk that cases of the virus can be brought the uk but aviation bosses are increasingly frustrated and say they cannot run their businesses like this and they warn of many more job

losses if this continues and the uk government does not give them more support. thank you very much. police safety training in england and wales is to be overhauled, after a major survey of rank and file officers. nearly 90% of officers who responded to the review said they'd been assaulted at some point during their careers. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, is at kent police college in maidstone. what is likely to change?” what is likely to change? i think one of the key things is going to be training. there is concern from one third of those officers surveyed that their training had not been adequate and so there will be a focus on making sure all offices across the country are getting the same kind of safety training. there will be a focus on taser of course which will be important in terms of keeping the office of safe but modern due at the chair of the national police chief counsel said he was keen police officer should not become overly reliant on taser and there is still concerned that black suspect seem to get to visit

more often than white suspects. 0ne key element of the training will be about conflict resolution, training officers to better handle situations and try to talk them down rather than coming to the moment when the suspect resorts to violence or the police officers are having themselves to use force to make an arrest. so the police federation of rank—and—file officers are saying the public were appalled by the atrocious levels of violence faced by their members and this needs to be not just about words by their members and this needs to be notjust about words but by their members and this needs to be not just about words but also actions. daniel, thank you. sir andy murray staged a remarkable comeback on his return to grand slam singles tennis after career—saving hip surgery. the 33—year—old fought back from two sets down to win his opening match at the us open against japan's yoshihito nishioka, in what he said was the hardest match of his career. our sports correspondent andy swiss reports. the man with the metal hip and the iron will, proving once again that you write him off at your peril. from great britain, andy murray.

earlier, he had emerged to eerie emptiness and limited expectations. after his last grand slam match some 20 months ago, many assumed he would retire. and his opponent, yoshihito nishioka, was soon giving him the runaround. andy murray two sets down and, at times, almost painful to watch. but, from the brink of defeat, the old murray started to stir. a roar of defiance as he clinched the third set, and the comeback was on. staving off a match point as stubbornly, stunningly, he rediscovered his form. it took him four and a half gruelling hours, but finally... what a remarkable performance! after all his injuries, all his operations, murray said it was the hardest match of his entire career. i don't know how many of us actually, you know, believed that

i would be back kind of winning matches like that. so, yes, it was emotional. there was also success for another british star. jo konta, who beat her compatriot heather watson in straight sets. with six of the world's top ten women absent, she will also be hoping it isjust the start of something special. andy swiss, bbc news. she's already made history in the boxing ring — now the olympic gold medalist nicola adams will do the same in the new series of strictly come dancing. she'll become the first contestant to compete as part of a same—sex pairing. lizo mzimba reports. she has already made sporting history... nicola adams, the first woman to win two 0lympic titles in the boxing ring! soon, double olympic champion nicola adams will be making television history. the first celebrity to have a same—sex dancing partner. nicola, who has already been showing

off a few moves on to tiktok, knows that this is a big moment. i think it's really important, yes. it is definitely time for change, it is definitely time to move on and be more diverse. and this is a brilliant step in the right direction. it all comes after this year's series of itv‘s dancing on ice saw former pop star ian h watkins competing alongside professional skater matt evers. although until now strictly has had only mixed sex celebrity parents, last year did see two male professionals dancers performing part of a routine together. the show has now gone a step further. the uk's most popularfamily entertainment series reflecting families of all kinds. strictly spin offs in other

countries, though, have embraced it for years. israel's dancing with the stars was the first in 2009. while a same—sex couple competed in last year's version of the show in denmark. they went on to win in the final. which as in the uk was decided by public vote. the strongest possible message from its viewers. whatever ends up happening here, strictly following the lead of other shows by including a same—sex couple is being seen by many as an unmistakably visible sign of positivity and inclusion on one of the bbc‘s most high—profile shows. lizo mzimba, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. the weather was

pretty good for some of us at least earlier