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Glow usage is monitored monthly and Education Scotland publishes statistics on the use of Glow at a national level on a monthly basis on the Glow Connect website - https://glowconnect.org.uk/about-glow/glow-usage-stats/

These figures cover the period from October 2015 until May 2020 and shows both national unique users and national monthly logins broken down into teaching staff, non-teaching staff and pupils.

The national figures published monthly on Glow Connect are based on users logging into Glow via RM Unify but they do not include users accessing Glow through desktop or mobile apps which may be used on devices such as tablet/ iPads distributed by local authorities.

Glow provides a digital collaboration and productivity platform for all learners in Scotland. Glow and other digital services can provide local authorities, schools and practitioners with data they can use to identify inequalities which can be used to target support.

Practitioners are able to connect with learners within Glow using Microsoft or Google tools and hold virtual meetings, share learning materials, set assignments, monitor progress in learning and track engagement. This enables practitioners to factor in Glow when planning and setting tasks and searching and teaching activities for their learners.

The industry standard productivity tools offered by Microsoft and Google are free to download for all Glow users. There are also learning tools built in to the Microsoft Office suite making learning materials more accessible for pupils.

Schools and practitioners in Scotland are using digital platforms and tools such as those in Glow to engage with our most disadvantaged young people in our communities. School pastoral care and senior leadership teams are using the functionalities of Glow to encourage and communicate positive and motivational messages to learners within their communities as a result of each schools provision of digital resources to young people.

Local authorities are expected to adhere to guidance on environmental decontamination (cleaning and disinfection) as an important mitigating action to contain the spread of COVID-19. That guidance is disseminated through Public Health Scotland and can be found here:

https://hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/covid-19-guidance-for-non-healthcare-settings/

Decontamination needs to be done alongside other measures such as physical distancing, frequent hand washing, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces and on public transport, and cough etiquette; as well as, where it is deemed appropriate, wearing PPE.

Evidence on this matter has been received through the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and Scotland's Chief Medical Officer. The Scottish Government also monitors international evidence, in particular that from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Under most circumstances, even without cleaning or disinfection, the amount of infectious virus on any contaminated surfaces is likely to have decreased significantly by 72 hours. We know that similar viruses, are transferred to and by people’s hands and therefore frequent hand hygiene and regular decontamination of frequently touched environmental and equipment surfaces will help to reduce the risk of infection transmission.

The Government set out its planning assumption that schools should return full-time for all pupils in August. Further detailed planning will be undertaken with the Education Recovery Group which includes COSLA and the teaching unions.

Test and Protect is being delivered by Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards and all Boards had an enhanced contact tracing approach in place by 28 May. Scotland’s approach uses established, tried and tested contact tracing techniques, delivered by health protection professionals in local teams, with support arrangements at national level. Local Health Protection Teams and their respective health boards have established processes in place to address accessibility issues which they can draw on. Processes are also being put in place for the national contact tracing service which is due to be stood up later this month.

Technology will support contact tracing, but not replace contact tracing teams who have knowledge of their localities. For these localised interventions, public health teams will be able to use simple digital tools to facilitate phone interviews and enter contact tracing data. People who can access public facing digital tools will be able to do so, to ensure phone interview time is spent on those who need it most.

We are co-designing our digital tools with the Scottish public and the Digital Health and Care Institute is working with Scottish Universities to undertake qualitative interviews, focused surveys and seek feedback from citizens. This will be used to inform and refine our public-facing digital tools. We will seek to ensure the digital service is as accessible as possible by seeking input from representatives from minority ethnic communities, and recognised hard-to-reach groups.

We recognise that not everyone in Scotland will want, or be able, to use digital technology in this way, and so we are working to ensure that telephone support will be available for everyone who needs it.

Guidance for individuals and employers was published on 26 May on the Scottish Government website, for those asked to self-isolate because they have tested positive for COVID-19, or because have been in close contact with a positive case.

A public awareness campaign has started and, during the week commencing 22 June, information will be sent to every household in Scotland which sets out how Test and Protect will work. This Test and Protect mailer is being created in multiple languages and formats, including easy read, audio, British Sign Language and large print format, and will be available on the Scottish Government website from the 22 June.

Our use of contact tracing teams, involvement of the public in the development of digital tools and the option to engage with the programme via telephone will help ensure the Test and Protect Programme is accessible to blind and partially-sighted people.

All NHS Scotland staff should be paid the appropriate rate for any hours worked. This has always been the case and has not changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recording hours worked and ensuring correct payment is a matter for Boards to manage locally. We engage regularly with employers and staff side partners to identify how we can best support NHS staff through this challenging time, and one of the measures agreed is the extension of overtime provisions to senior staff working beyond their contracted hours in order to assist with the COVID-19 response.

The COVID-19 data and trend charts for Scotland are published daily and provide a range of information, including the number of care homes notifying cases of COVID-19 and the number of suspected cases of COVID-19 in care homes. The data also includes the daily number of people in hospital with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 but does not include details on how many of these are care home residents or staff. The cumulative number of people tested and the number of positive and negative tests is also provided.

Weekly data on COVID-19 in adult care homes in Scotland is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-additional-data-about-adult-care-homes-in-scotland/

You can find figures updated every day at 2pm (including care home data) here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Daily data for Scotland .

Education Scotland’s Regional Team role is to support improvement across the education system. Regional teams are working in partnership with local authority and school staff, discussing what is working well and what further support is required. This intelligence is used to share practice at both a regional level and to inform national support via the Education Scotland website and social media. A comprehensive professional learning package, focused on aspects of digital learning, is available on the Education Scotland website. This was, in part, built on the intelligence from Senior Education Officers’ national networks with officers and schools throughout Scotland.

The Scottish Government is publishing a range of Coronavirus (Covid-19) guidance. The education guidance now available has been developed by the Scottish Government's CERG workstreams, in which Education Scotland is an important partner. Members of the leadership team and other colleagues work across all of the workstreams and support on the development of the guidance. The publications cover a range of topics from physical distancing in education and childcare settings, to approaches to blended learning.

With the expectation now that all learners should be able to return to schools in August, these arrangements will ensure that support is in place for blended learning should there be an increase in infection rates or outbreaks that require action to control. The support will also be required for learners who may not be able to attend school for health reasons.

One of our key priorities is to ensure that children and young people, who may be finding this difficult time particularly challenging, continue to be fully supported with their learning as we begin to transition back to a greater level of face-to-face education.

The needs of individual children should be carefully considered by education authorities, schools and early learning centres within the plans for anticipating a return to schools on a full-time basis in August. Our national guidance on continuity of learning supports this approach.

To support this, we will invest an additional £100 million over the next two years to help to tackle the impact of coronavirus in our schools and ensure that children and young people get the support that they need.

We also recognise the challenges that this unprecedented situation presents, in particular for children and families from the most deprived backgrounds. Pupil Equity Fund allocations have been 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 them in their planning and decision making, in the short and longer term to help level attainment.

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 education authorities and headteachers with flexibility on the use of Attainment Scotland Funding, including Pupil Equity Funding, in order that they can best support our most vulnerable children.

In addition, we are committed to working with local authority partners to deliver digital equity for our most disadvantaged children and young people through a £30m investment to support digital inclusion. That will include £25 million of funding for a roll-out of digital devices to school pupils to enable them to study online.