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Not all pupils will return to school at once when coronavirus restrictions are eased, Education Minister Kirsty Williams has said.

Schools have been closed for five weeks, apart from for key workers' children and vulnerable pupils.

On Tuesday, Ms Williams will appear before an assembly committee setting out plans on how schools might reopen once restrictions are eased.

But she said she did not expect schools to "suddenly open" for all pupils.

Ms Williams is not expected to set a timetable for when pupils will be able to head back to the classroom when she appears before the Children and Young People and Education Committee.

Ahead of the meeting she said there would be "a phased approach in allowing more pupils to return to school", and there would be five principals to determine the approach to allowing more pupils to go back to the classroom.

Ms Williams, who has previously said schools may not open until September, said she did not expect schools to "suddenly open for all pupils, from all years, all week".

But she said school provision would "gradually adapt and extend further during the next phase in line with changes to the current restrictions outlined by the first minister last week".

On Friday, Mark Drakeford said ending lockdown would be "like a traffic light in reverse", with a move from red - some "careful and controlled" relaxation - to green, which would be "much more like the lives we had before the crisis hit"

The five principals for returning to school

1. The safety and mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of students and staff
2. Continuing contribution to the national effort and strategy to fight the spread of Covid-19
3. Having the confidence of parents, staff and students - based on evidence and information - so that they can plan ahead
4. Ability to prioritise learners at key points, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds
5. Having guidance in place to support measures such as distancing, managing attendance and wider protective actions.

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Ms Williams said the latest information on the rate of transmission of coronavirus "allows us to be hopeful, but still requires us to be cautious".

"We will only enter the next phase when the evidence and advice suggests that it is the right thing to do".

She said schools, pupils and parents would be told of any changes "well in advance" to allow them to plan ahead.

"Schools will not immediately return to operating at full capacity," she said.

"It will be a phased approach and I do not expect schools will suddenly open for all pupils, from all years, all week."

Calling school staff and childcare workers "national heroes", she said they would prepare schools for "a range of scenarios for the foreseeable future".

"However unlikely, we must prepare for an eventuality that requires schools to reduce operations at specific future points", she added.