Chamber and committees

Scotland’s Strategic Framework emphasises the commitment to prioritise keeping schools and regulated childcare, including early learning and childcare (ELC), open while ensuring the safety of children and young people and the staff who have worked hard to keep settings open. This recognises the unique impacts of closures on children and young people, and ensures that the virus does not prevent them receiving the best start in life.

While the current public health measures set out in the ELC guidance may have some impact on capacity, we have removed earlier measures that reduced number of children that could be accommodated for in each setting, while maintaining a package of age appropriate public health measures based on the latest expert advice from the Advisory Sub Group on Education and Children’s Issues. The guidance allows services to continue safely, without reducing access even in the highest level tier set out in the Strategic Framework. The recent Delivery Assurance assessment of 1140 with Local Authorities shows that the ELC guidance is not significantly impacting capacity for the sector .

To support the ELC sector the Transitional Support Fund was launched to help day care of children providers in the private, voluntary and not-for profit sectors, including out-of-school care providers, meet the extra costs incurred to comply with public health guidance in response to COVID-19.

All of the guidance and restrictions on childcare provision is based on scientific and expert advice including advice from the Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues.

The most recent advice from the Advisory Sub-Group , published on 30 October, states that given the evidence base they support a move to cohort sizes for children under five in line with those aged 5-12 assuming the level of infection remains low, appropriate surveillance, test and protect and all the other appropriate mitigations and measures are in place.

The guidance on reducing the risks in schools states that in primary schools it may be appropriate to have groups organised according to full-class sizes. Full class sizes in primary schools are governed by Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers agreements and regulations, and range from 25-33.

The guidance for the Early Learning and Childcare sector outlines that it would be reasonable for children to be managed in groups up to the size encountered in primary school, for example no more than 25 to 33 children in any one group. The adult to child ratios in the national care standards must continue to apply.

Schools and local authorities retain the main responsibility for arranging remote learning for those at highest clinical risk, including people with cystic fibrosis.

In order to broaden the options available to schools the national e-learning offer provides access to live lessons, recorded lessons and online learning and teaching materials across the Broad General Education and the Senior Phase. https://education.gov.scot/improvement/national-e-learning-offer/

Similarly, schools and authorities are responsible for providing direct advice and support to parents and carers on how to support their child’s learning. In order to complement and support the advice from schools and authorities, the Scottish Government’s Parent Club website provides advice on working from home whilst caring for children, advice on helping children with remote and blended learning as well as links to additional learning resources from third sector organisations which can help to complement the learning activities and advice provided by schools. https://www.parentclub.scot/topics/coronavirus/learning-at-home?age=0. Parent Club also includes tailored advice to parents who are supporting children and young people with additional support needs

https://www.parentclub.scot/articles/supporting-children-and-young-people-with-additional-support-needs

Education Scotland’s Scotland Learns website also provides learning resources and advice and support to parents and carers via online newsletters.

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/scotland-learns/ In addition, the National Parent Forum of Scotland have developed “Nutshell” advice pamphlets on “Learning at Home During Lockdown” and Online Safety. https://www.npfs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/edd/2020/05/NPFS_learning-at-home_E.pdf and

https://www.npfs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/edd/2020/05/NPFS_online_safety_E.pdf

The Scottish Government guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on reducing the risks in schools takes into account the arrangements for children and young people who may be asked to shield at protection level 4.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32875 on 11 November 2020. The answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Contacts are traced from information collected and made available to Test and Protect by Incident Management Teams. This allows Test and Protect to contact those who may have been exposed to the virus in a particular setting, and request them to take appropriate steps to prevent potential onward spread.

Public Health Scotland has produced a table of settings and events that index cases have attended over the previous 7 days. This is based on interviews conducted with cases identified in the Case Management System and involves cases recalling where they have been in the 7 days prior to symptom onset (or date of test if asymptomatic).

https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/

However, Public Health Scotland cannot infer from the figures whether a specific setting or an event indicates where the COVID-19 transmission took place. This is because cases may have attended multiple settings or events within a short space of time, some of which may be low risk settings and events where it is highly improbable that transmission took place. In addition, it is possible that even though a case visited a few settings and events, transmission may have taken place within their home setting.

I recognise that this has been and continues to be an extremely difficult time for students, particularly for those who would normally have taken up employment opportunities during their studies.

Eligible students in Further and Higher Education have continued to access bursary, grant and loan payments throughout the pandemic.

In addition to that, the Scottish Government provided emergency funding earlier this year of £5 million to support students impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. We also provided early access to £11.4 million of Higher Education Discretionary Funds to support students over the summer period and into this academic year. £2M was brought forward for Further Education students at college by the Scottish Funding Council.

I also announced a Digital Inclusion Fund of £5 million to support access to digital equipment and tackle digital poverty.

Finally, the First Minister announced £1.32 million of additional funding to help students deal with the mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If students are facing financial hardship due to the reduced employment opportunities as a result of Covid-19, they should continue to apply for discretionary fund support from their college or university.

Information on the additional support needs of school children is not held on a month by month basis but is collected annually in September as part of the pupil census. The statistics from the 2019 census are published on the Scottish Government website here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/

These statistics show that 23,211 school pupils were reported as having dyslexia as a reason for support in September 2019.

The equivalent statistics from the September 2020 census will be published in March 2021

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has kept families informed via the Parent Club website, which contains information and FAQs on key subjects, including informal childcare. This has been publicised using social media and via partners. A recent targeted social media post regarding informal childcare was viewed by over 245,000 people.

Wider Parent Club activity has included a campaign around the new levels approach, directing families to the information on Parentclub.scot. This has been supported by work with partners such as local authorities, health boards, and charities. We reached out to SG Partners via email on three separate occasions to update them on SG informal childcare guidance . This included sharing information and materials, and directing families to Parent Club for more information.

Information is also regularly shared with a range of partners who work with families –such as Parentline Scotland and One Parent Families Scotland who provide families with information, including via helplines.

Our Strategic Framework states clearly that if a local authority area has been placed in level 3 or 4, there should be no non-essential travel in or out of the area. This applies to use of campervans for overnight stays, as the purpose of travel would be leisure which is deemed non-essential.

Travel between devolved nations is restricted unless for essential purposes.

Leisure travel and overnight stays are permitted within areas designated as level 0,1 or 2, so campervan users residing in these levels may travel between them freely, including staying overnight. Covid guidance and restrictions must be respected at all times. Transit through areas designated as level 3 or 4 is also permitted, provided you do not stop.

Users residing in level 3 may only use a campervan for leisure purposes, including overnight, within their own local authority area (other than when being used for essential travel purposes). Use of campervans (other than when being used for essential travel purposes) is discouraged in level 4 areas, in line with restrictions on tourism.

If users elect not to use a formal campsite they should be aware that the Scottish Outdoor Access Code does not cover vehicular camping, and should follow normal good practice for ‘freedom camping’, including seeking the landowner’s permission, and respecting local communities.

The Scottish Government has now introduced short term regulations that will make breaching travel restrictions a punishable offence. We would ask therefore that those undertaking such trips ensure that they plan their trip in advance and keep up to date with the information to ensure any travel for leisure purposes is compliant with the Strategic Framework.

The Scottish Government issued COVID-19 guidance on travel and transport states that anyone living in a Protection Level 3 or Level 4 local authority area should avoid unnecessary travel outwith their area, although we also recognise there may be a limited number of cases it may be necessary to do so.

This includes travel for work, or to provide voluntary or charitable services, where they cannot be done from home. Our guidance on travel and transport is available on the Scottish Government’s website through the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-travel-and-transport/

At the moment, face-to-face cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in communities has been put on hold due to Covid related restrictions. However, the Save A Life for Scotland Partnership - which also includes Police Scotland, the British Heart Foundation, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service - have a range of resources available on their website for both adults and children to safely learn how to perform CPR in the comfort of their own homes or offices during lockdown. These resources are available through the following link: https://www.savealife.scot/our-resources/

In the case of teaching first aid classes in schools, there is no statutory curriculum in Scottish schools. Therefore education authorities, and individual schools themselves, have the flexibility to decide whether they wish to offer first aid education at this point in time. Where they wish to do so, these decisions should be informed through individual risk assessments and following the protocols set out in the Scottish Government’s guidance on minimising the risk of COVID-19 in schools. This guidance is available on the Scottish Government’s website through the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-reducing-the-risks-in-schools/pages/protection-levels-3-and-4/