The Department for Education is urging headteachers to contact the police if they see drones flying over their schools, after an increase in reported incidents at education settings.

Schools are being warned that most drones will be able to capture high-quality video or photo images from miles away.

The warning came in an email sent by the government department to school leaders today.

• Watch: School meals delivered by drone in UK first
• Tech: How a drone is helping children move up to “big school”
• Drones: How schools use drones to capture sports day

The email says: “There has been a reported recent increase in suspicious drone activity around education settings.

“Most drones will be equipped with video and still cameras which can obtain high-quality images from several kilometers away. Please contact your local police if you see a drone flying over your setting.”

Earlier this year it was revealed that pupils in remote parts of Scotland could soon have their school meals delivered by drone, in what would be a UK first.

Argyll and Bute Council launched a trial of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for delivering school meals.

In the same email to heads, the DfE has said schools should close on the additional May bank holiday next year, even though it is due to clash with key stage 2 Sats.

The DfE said that the Standards and Testing Agency would update schools as to what this means for the Sats test week “as soon as possible this month”.

An extra bank holiday has been announced for Monday 8 May, two days after the coronation of King Charles III.