Chamber and committees

There is potential for outdoor settings to be utilised more often as schools reopen. The outdoors provides greater space for education to be delivered if physical distancing remains in place. Visits to outdoor centres can also positively impact the physical and mental health and wellbeing of young people following a period of lockdown.

In light of this, Scottish Government officials have held discussions with a number of organisations within the outdoor learning sector and this includes organisations that run outdoor education centres. Those discussions have covered the potential for outdoor education centres to be used to help schools deliver learning at a safe physical distance and for visits to centres to be used as a mechanism to improve the health and wellbeing of learners. We continue to engage with the sector and this includes facilitating discussions between representatives of outdoor education centres and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland.

Ultimately decisions in relation to visits to centres rest with schools and should be considered in line with local priorities and circumstances.

The Scottish Government is aware of the current challenges faced by organisations that run outdoor education centres. In response we have committed to a package of support aimed at helping to ensure that visitor numbers return to viable levels more quickly than first anticipated. This includes:

• Commissioning the Scottish Advisory Panel on Outdoor Education (SAPOE) to set up a sub-group tasked with:

-  developing detailed guidance on ‘post covid’ visits to outdoor education centres for schools and local authorities; and

-  collating and communicating evidence of the educational value of visits to outdoor education centres.

SAPOE will invite representatives from outdoor education centres to join the group to ensure that both local authority and wider outdoor education centre perspectives are considered. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland will also feed into this group to ensure that there is clear direction in relation to the Covid recovery period and national education policy and practice.

• Facilitating a meeting between representatives of outdoor education centres and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). This meeting will give outdoor education centres access to strategic decision makers within local authorities and will provide a platform from which outdoor education centres can discuss the potential for:

-  experienced outdoor education centre staff to support local authority employed educators to take learning outdoors during the education recovery phase;

-  outdoor education centres to be used to provide space for learning at a safe physical distance; and

- the use of outdoor education centres to provide immersive, fun and curricular relevant outdoor experiences that can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people transitioning from a potentially damaging period of lockdown.

• The Scottish Government continuing to support YouthLink Scotland to offer assistance and guidance to outdoor learning providers in respect of their youth work offer and the links to wider community learning and development policy at a national and local level.

As set out in the answer to S5W-29738 on 19 June 2020, in accordance with the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 the responsibility for the delivery of education rests with individual local authorities. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on outdoor learning, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The majority of authorities’ education funding is provided via the General Revenue Grant. Additional funding is provided via the £750 million Attainment Scotland Fund which includes Challenge Authorities funding, an additional schools programme and Pupil Equity Funding. This funding can be used flexibly to achieve equity in education. This can include spending on outdoor learning experiences.

All 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

There is potential for individuals who deliver Duke of Edinburgh Awards, John Muir Awards and the Leave No Trace initiatives to support the reopening of schools by helping to upskill school staff in relevant ways. However, decisions as to whether to utilise individuals in this way rest with individual schools and their associated local authorities. We would expect these decisions to be made in line with local priorities and circumstances.

As part of the Test and Protect system, to protect patient confidentiality, close contacts are informed that they may have been exposed, so that they can be given relevant health information and told to self-isolate in order to interrupt chains of transmission. Identifiable data about index cases will not be disclosed to their close contacts or employer without prior consent. What constitutes identifiable data will differ, depending on the case, and expressing details to known contacts will be at the professional discretion of the contact tracer handling the case.

Six Non-Executive Directors have been appointed to a newly created Board. Members have a range of relevant skills and experience and will pro-actively assist and advise the current Turnaround Director with the restructuring and development of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd over the next 12 - 18 months. Information about Board members can be found here.

The Covid-19 Education Recovery Group was created to make the best decisions possible for Scotland’s children and young people, families and education staff during these uniquely difficult times for the whole of our society. The Group's membership includes representatives from COSLA, local authorities, professional associations, parent representatives and other stakeholders in Scottish education.

The Group undertook work collectively to produce comprehensive supporting guidance for schools returning under a blended learning model, in order to restore some form of face-to-face learning in view of the expected ongoing challenges in suppressing Coronavirus.

However, because of the efforts of people staying at home and remaining vigilant, we have recently seen Scotland make significant progress in suppressing Coronavirus. We therefore believe that, if we stay on track, we should now prepare for pupils to return to school full time from August.

The Scottish Government has already provided over £2.3 billion of support to businesses across Scotland and is continuing to keep the needs of business under review as we work to restart the economy safely in line with our Routemap.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19): re-opening schools guide sets out that the use of PPE by staff within education and childcare facilities should be based on a clear assessment of risk and need for an individual child or young person. In addition, it sets out where face coverings should be used in relation to school transport. This guidance is being kept under constant review and any further updates will be made in line with scientific advice.

As part of the work of the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group, we recently published the Coronavirus (COVID-19): re-opening schools guidance which includes important sections on personal hygiene.

The guidance states that adequate facilities should be available for hand hygiene, and gives as an example the provision of alcohol based hand rub at key areas. It also encourages frequent washing/sanitising of hands. Local authorities are responsible for developing local delivery plans which should be informed by this guidance.

We have committed to keeping the guidance under constant review and updated based on the latest advice from Health Protection Scotland .