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A refreshed version of the Scottish Government’s guidance on arrangements for the phased re-opening of schools was published on 8 March 2021. This guidance reiterates the Scottish Government’s message that schools should consider the increased use of outdoor spaces. This is because the outdoors can provide extra space for distancing between consistent groups of learners, help to decrease the risk of transmission and improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of young people. This refreshed Scottish Government guidance also complements recent Education Scotland school reopening guidance which states that learning outdoors can help learners to continue to connect with one another and the school environment, support readiness for the full-time return to in-school learning and provide experiences which enhance learning.

In order to support more outdoor learning, the Scottish Government has funded the development of the Teaching Learning Outdoors and Supporting Learning Outdoors professional development courses. These courses are available free of charge to all teachers and support staff across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is funding Scholar to provide online resources to support the Applications of Mathematics courses at National 5 and Higher level from 2021-22. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is developing resources, including additional question papers and exemplar coursework, and are working with Education Scotland and the University of Strathclyde to support teachers with the roll out of the qualification.

The University of Strathclyde secured funding from the Scottish Funding Council to develop and provide online courses to upskill teachers in statistics and mathematical modelling to enable them to be well prepared to deliver the new Higher. A significant number of teachers have successfully completed these online courses. In addition, information has been made available to teachers through events such as the Scottish Mathematical Council’s Annual Conference. The most recent online conference, held on 6 March, had almost 1000 participants, with 130 attending the SQA session on the new Higher course.

Prior to the development of the new Higher, a national survey was undertaken to identify the purpose and content that teachers and other stakeholders believed were necessary in such a course. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) worked with practising teachers and lecturers, academics and industry specialists to develop the new Higher, to ensure it is fit for purpose and develops the mathematical and statistical skills needed for life, employment and further study.

In recognition of the need to support teachers implementing the new course, the Scottish Government is funding Scholar to provide online resources to support the Applications of Mathematics courses at National 5 and Higher from 2021-22. The SQA is developing resources, including additional question papers and exemplar coursework, and is working with Education Scotland and the University of Strathclyde to support the roll out of the qualification.

The University of Strathclyde secured funding from the Scottish Funding Council to develop and provide online courses to upskill teachers in statistics and mathematical modelling to enable them to be well prepared to deliver the new Higher. A significant number of teachers have successfully completed these online courses. In addition, information has been made available to teachers through events such as the Scottish Mathematical Council’s annual conference. The most recent online conference, held on 6 March, had almost 1000 participants, with 130 attending the SQA session on the new Higher course.

Guidelines on physical education and dance have been prepared by Education Scotland to assist with decision-making and the safe implementation of timetabled physical education. The guidelines are continually updated to reflect any changes in the scientific advice. Currently, physical education and dance can only take place outdoors, which reflects the hierarchy of risk:

• outdoors being safer than indoors;

• activities undertaken at a quiet volume or that have lower respiratory exertion being safer than aerosol-generating activities;

On 9 February 2021, Education Scotland ran a webinar attended by 227 teachers to share online pedagogy and how to create a supportive learning environment. Through online learning, teachers have set physical activity challenges, both indoors and outdoors, so that learners can choose depending on their home setting. These practices were shared at the webinar and welcomed by the attendees. The webinar Teams space is now ‘live’ for teachers to continue to collaborate, share practice, and seek solutions in these challenging times. A recorded version of the webinar will be shared on DigiLearn in due course and similar events will be considered for the future.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority is not prescribing particular software for the delivery of the course. Learners are expected to be able to use spreadsheets to explore mathematical models and manipulate data. R studio, freeware that is commonly used in industry and Higher Education, is expected to be used for undertaking statistical analysis and there is considerable support available to upskill teachers in the use of this software.

There are no plans to provide guidance on this specific point. The existing schools guidance available at: Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on schools reopening - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) provides a range of information on preparing for and implementing the return to in-school learning. Schools and local authorities are best placed to make decisions on appropriate arrangements for individual learners during the return to school and beyond.

The new Higher Applications of Mathematics course is designed to get more young people studying mathematics and developing the skills they need for modern citizenry, such as statistical literacy, financial literacy and being able to use technology to solve problems and inform decision making.

The course has been in development for more than two years and the specification and specimen assessment materials were made available at the start of the current session for first teaching in 2021-22. An additional specimen paper and sample coursework will be made available in June 2021.

There is considerable interest in, and appetite for the new Higher, and there is no intention to delay the introduction of the course.

The Scottish Government's draft new air quality strategy includes a proposal to ban the sale of house coal. A consultation on the draft strategy closed on 22 January 2021. The strategy will now be finalised, taking into account consultation responses, and published later in the year.

A consultation on a draft new air quality strategy for Scotland, which included several proposed actions relating to domestic fuels, concluded on 22 January 2021. The strategy will be finalised, taking into account consultation responses, and published later in the year.

The Scottish Government's policy framework for reducing air pollution levels, including PM2.5, is set out in the Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy. Following an independent review of Cleaner Air for Scotland which identified priorities for additional action, a consultation was undertaken on a draft new air quality strategy which concluded on 22 January 2021. The final strategy, taking into account consultation responses, will be published later in the year.