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Following an agreement led by SOLACE, local partnerships are providing weekly data to the Scottish Government on what is happening locally across children’s services partnerships during the current pandemic crisis. This dataset includes information about how many children with multi-agency plans have been contacted by a professional in health, education, social work or third sector services in the last week.

In the most recent data returned, all 32 local authorities provided this information, reporting that there had been contact, in the last week, with 29,782 children which is 71% of the total number of children reported to have a multi-agency plan. It is not possible to report whether any of the children with a multi-agency plan have had no contact with services since schools closed.

Further information about the data from local partnerships and other available intelligence relating to vulnerable children and young people is detailed in the reports published on the Scottish Government website in April and May:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-vulnerable-children-young-people-data-intelligence-report/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/vulnerable-children-report-15-2020-scottish-government-solace/

We continue to monitor a range of evidence to help to inform our approach. This includes ongoing monitoring of the young person surveys conducted by Young Scot and the Children’s Parliament, both of which have addressed the theme of young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

In recognition of the central role of pupils’ mental health the Strategic Framework for Reopening Schools, Early Learning and Childcare Provision in Scotland states that authorities should protect “the physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people”.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/excellent-equity-during-covid-19-pandemic-strategic-framework-reopening-schools-early-learning-childcare-provision-scotland/

We have provided £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental health and wellbeing. This will be updated based on what young people tell us they need.

The government will continue to work with young people organisations to draw on evidence from their surveys of children and young people in relation both to learning-related issues and wider issues.

Education Scotland, the national improvement agency for education, is providing a range of additional resources to support parents and practitioners with providing learning at home, and to deliver continuity for learners across Scotland.

To support teachers in particular, Education Scotland has organised and run a series of webinars which have covered topics such as digital literacy skills, evidencing learning using ipads, and getting the most out of Glow.

These webinars remain available for practitioners to view and a further 9 webinars have been scheduled which will look at numeracy and mathematics through computing science; the use of g-suite collaboration tools within Glow and other topics to assist educators across Scotland.

Education Scotland also published Learning and Teaching online: Advice for practitioners on the 12 May.

While the provision of distance learning by schools is a matter for local authorities and individual schools, we have no formal plans that remote learning continues in the summer break. There are, however, a number of home learning initiatives we support (for example, the Deputy First Minister's Maths Challenge), by community learning and development providers, by third sector organisations, and local community organisations that will be available during the summer holidays.

As in previous years, we anticipate that a range of summer learning activities will be promoted to families in the lead up to and during the summer holidays. In addition, Education Scotland's new "Scotland Learns" website, set up to assist with distance learning during Covid-19, hosts a wide range of learn at home materials and resources which parents and carers can access. Our Education Recovery group is considering how learning can best be supported during the summer break.

Local authorities are responsible for monitoring education provision, including where there are barriers to accessing that provision.

We recognise that digital exclusion is an issue for some learners in Scotland and have undertaken exploratory work with local authorities through SOLACE, ADES and Cosla to understand the scale of the issue. Subsequently, we have committed to investing £30m to help ensure that learners without access to the internet or devices are catered for ahead of the 20-21 academic year and we are working closely with local authorities to take that forward.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of home learning rests with schools and local authorities. Individuals schools and local authorities are utilising a range of methods to maintain contact with pupils during this period.

We recognise that there are some pupils who are more difficult to reach at this time. Education Scotland is supporting local authorities to ensure that critical provision for the most vulnerable children and families is maintained and extended through flexible use of Pupil Equity Funding and Attainment Scotland Funding.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of learning and teaching, including the use of home learning rests with schools and local authorities.

We know from local authorities, that they are working extremely hard with schools and partner organisations to identify and reach children who may struggle to engage in home learning and to provide support which best suits their needs.

This information is not held centrally and is only gathered annually. The latest detailed figures available, showing 2018-19 Pupil Equity Funding levels of spend, at both Local Authority and School level, were published on 31 October 2019 and are available to access here:- https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/pupil-attainment/

On 1 May 2020, for the first time, Pupil Equity Funding allocations were confirmed for two years, with over £250 million committed to schools across 2020-21 and 2021-22. This will help to provide more certainty for head teachers and aid learning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and beyond.

In recognition of the financial and other resource implications of maintaining critical provision for children and families at this time, the Scottish Government is providing Local Authorities and Headteachers with flexibility on the use of Attainment Scotland Funding, including Pupil Equity Funding, in order that Local Authorities and Headteachers can best support our most vulnerable children.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of home learning rests with schools and local authorities. However, we are working closely with local authority partners, teaching unions, parent representatives and other stakeholders through the Education Recovery Group to support home learning. The Group allows stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience on current home learning provision, building the widest possible agreement as we plan the way ahead.

The four capacities at the centre of Curriculum for Excellence remain, however, learning and teaching practice has had to adapt to ensure children and young people can continue to progress in their learning whilst at home. Our ‘Supporting Pupils, Parents And Teachers – Learning During Term 4’ guidance outlines the steps that are being taken to ensure that learning can continue during term 4 of the current academic year.

We have also recently published a strategic framework on the re-opening of schools and early learning and childcare settings, which is designed to achieve the safe reopening of schools and provides consistency and equity in a national approach for children and young people that is underpinned by local planning and delivery. A suite of supporting guidance is being published to cover the practical issues that local authorities and learning settings must consider when developing local arrangements. This will include advice and guidance on implementation measures, preparing the curriculum offer, wellbeing support, and delivery of early learning and childcare. It will also include specific considerations for each sector, based upon the health evidence relevant to each age group.