There is “every possibility” that secondary schools will have to use blended learning for a “considerable” period of time when more pupils are allowed to return to school buildings, Scotland’s education secretary has said.
John Swinney was speaking on BBC Radio Scotland after it was confirmed that some senior students would be able to return to school from Monday for essential work in practical subjects.
Children in P1 to P3 and nursery are also due to return to class on Monday, on a full-time basis.
But when first minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the move to MSPs yesterday, she said it is unlikely that any other pupils will return to face-to-face learning before 15 March.
Covid: 10 things we learned about the phased return to school buildings
Background: Youngest pupils shouldn’t return full-time, says union
Catch-up: The pressure to lengthen school day ‘relies on a myth’
Remote learning reports: What you need to know
Also today: New SQA timeline for grading - what you need to know
Senior students permitted to return to class next week will need to stick to two-metre social distancing within schools and on school buses, Ms Sturgeon confirmed, with Covid-19 testing also being made available to them and their teachers.
Coronavirus: Why online learning needs to continue
Mr Swinney said the need to ensure social distancing means that fewer students can be in school at the same time.
He was asked on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland today about teaching unions saying that some schools will have to operate a blended-learning model - which would see pupils in class for part of the week and learning remotely at other times - for a “considerable period of time” in order to comply with social distancing measures in classes.
Mr Swinney replied: “Yes. The scientific advice that I have available to me just now recognises that physical distancing will be required for at least senior phase pupils within our secondary schools.
“Now that obviously means that we could have fewer pupils in schools at the same time - so there is every possibility, unless that advice changes, that we have to operate on such a model.”
When asked if blended learning could last until the summer, Mr Swinney said: “I can’t be definitive about timescales.”
He said that “there is a very successful programme of remote learning being delivered by schools around the country, which is delivering education in the home to many, many pupils”.
Mr Swinney added that “those senior pupils who need to have access to schools for practical exercises will be able to get that access from Monday onwards”.
When pressed on whether families should be geared up to support home-based learning for “quite some time yet”, Mr Swinney replied that “that may well be a scenario”.
He added that “we are working to reduce the prevalence of the virus, to make sure we can restore education on a safe basis”.
Mr Swinney also said: “We will take considered decisions based on the evidence that is available to us about when we can return pupils to face-to-face learning, and I am absolutely crystal clear, I want to make sure we return pupils to face-to-face learning as soon as it is safe to do so.
“But I have to be mindful of the clinical and scientific advice that is put to me to make sure that everybody - staff and pupils - are safe in this process.”
