MSPs were today taking evidence on the impact of Covid on schools at the start of the new term.

Here are four key messages the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee received from education directors, council bosses, school leaders and parents.

1. Staff absence

Some primaries have had “20, 30, 40 per cent staff absence” since schools returned earlier this month, while others have had “little or no staff absence”, said Greg Dempster, the general secretary of primary school leaders’ body AHDS.

He said some schools were starting to see absences reduce because of the new self-isolation rules, but added that when there were high levels of staff absence in schools “everything starts to crack”.

Douglas Hutchison, president of the education directors’ body ADES and Glasgow’s new education director of just three days, said that at one point since the start of the new term 5 per cent of teachers were absent as a result of Covid.

Mr Hutchison said: “It’s the knock-on effect that has on the quality of learning and teaching because the whole system is then under pressure. Every teacher is then put under pressure because there is additional work to keep the whole thing going and to their credit, they have done it - but that comes at a cost. 

“There is a cumulative effect of that level of additional work caused by staff being absent. So we kept going because it is absolutely important that schools keep going, it’s absolutely important that children and young people are able to get that regular experience of coming to school and learning and teaching keeps going, but there is an acceptance that through this there’s been a knock-on effect on the quality of what schools have been able to offer.”

2. Uncertainty over exams

ADES president and Glasgow director of education Douglas Hutchison called on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to move “the sooner, the better” to the contingency plan that will see students being told more about what will come up in the exams. 

Mr Hutchison said: “In terms of reducing stress on the system, the more people know, the more information young people have, and the earlier they have that information, the more that reduces pressure on young people, and it reduces pressure on teaching staff in secondary schools preparing young people for exams. 

“So my own view would be the sooner the better.”

He said the end of January is the deadline by which the SQA intends to tell teachers and pupils if it considers there has been enough disruption to learning and teaching for it to move to “scenario 2”.

However, the SQA has said even if it does move to scenario 2, the promised “revision support” will not be issued until March “for most courses, to allow as much time as possible for learning and teaching”.

3. Already vulnerable pupils have become more vulnerable

The youngest and most deprived pupils’ literacy and numeracy suffered most owing to the pandemic, said Mr Hutchison.

He referenced the Achievement of the Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) figures published in December and said: “It seemed to me it was the youngest and most deprived children who had suffered most when you looked at that data.”

Mr Hutchison also said that children with additional support needs had been hit hard by the pandemic.

He added: “Children with complex additional support needs struggled, and probably their families struggled when schools were closed, which is a significant part of that young person’s life and that family’s life.”

4. Persistent non-attendance

Returning to school has been “problematic” for some pupils - in both primary and secondary - who are suffering from “heightened anxiety about coming back” due to Covid, said Mr Hutchison

He was responding to a question from the Labour MSP Michael Marra, who said that about one in 100 young people were “basically not attending school anymore” - roughly 6,900 pupils. 

Mr Marra said an inquiry into the issue had been launched by the children’s commissioner in England, Dame Rachel de Souza, who has said that between 80,000 and 100,000 children in England are not on school rolls anymore.

Mr Marra asked the panel the extent to which they were aware of the issue in Scotland.

In response, Mr Hutchison said: “It’s anecdotal, but what I’m hearing is that there are young people who have heightened anxiety about coming back to school due to Covid.”

He added: “I do get a sense that there is a group of children and young people with increased anxiety about returning to school and it is a case of working with them in the same way that we would with young people pre-Covid in order to build up their confidence, address their fears and anxieties and enable them to return, part-time initially, and then full-time eventually.”