In this section, we will answer questions about health and safety, the support your child should receive for starting or returning to school or nursery and the support they should get with their learning once back in school. Our answers are all based on Scottish Government guidance.

If you have a question that we have not answered in the sections below, or if you have other concerns about returning to school or nursery, please get in touch with our helpline. We will listen to your concerns and do our best to answer any questions you may have.

During lockdown, some changes were made to timescales for responding to placing requests and the way that education appeal committees and the Additional Support Needs Tribunal operate. This section summarises these changes.

In this section, we will describe the changes to the law that have happened due to coronavirus, and how this has affected co-ordinated support plans (CSPs).

If coronavirus cases start to rise again in Scotland, or if your child or someone they come into contact with develops coronavirus symptoms, this may impact on your child’s education.

In this section we’ll explain what might happen in these situations and what this will mean for your child’s learning and support.

In this section we have summarised some of the key information about exams and qualifications and how these have been affected by coronavirus.

In this section we will explain how you can continue to work together with your child’s school or nursery while there are still some restrictions in place due to coronavirus, including changes to how meetings about your child’s support might happen.

All schools are expected to reopen from 11 August, with all pupils returning to school by 18 August at the latest. The details of how this will work in your area will be decided by your local authority and school. This is because different areas and schools will have different things to consider, including the size and layout of each school and how pupils travel to and from school.

Schools and local authorities should be doing their best to update parents on local developments and plans for your child’s education and support. It may be helpful to start by looking at your local authority’s website for updates if you are not sure what is happening in your area. If your child’s school has a website or newsletter it may be helpful to check these too. If you are not able to find the information you are looking for, get in touch with the school.