School pupils sticking to rules praised

Pupils in Perth and Kinross have been praised for sticking to coronavirus prevention measures.

Education bosses said the youngsters’ compliance with the rules had been a key factor in keeping the number of positive cases in classrooms down.

Hundreds of youngsters and dozens of teachers from the local authority’s schools are self-isolating, but it is understood that only around 30 of the 21,000 pupils who are educated in Perth and Kinross have tested positive.

Education and children’ s services director Sheena Devlin said: “The majority of children have been accepting and recognising of why we need measures like hand sanitising and having windows open.

“The transition coming back is not a completed job, and for some young people that will be way beyond this year. Everyone is playing their part.”

In a challenging year, Ms Devlin’s department has also had to deal with the exam results fiasco, organising direct payments to families entitled to free school meals over the holidays and progressing home learning.

She said :“March 2020 seems, in many respects, so far back in the past simply because of all that has happened since we first went into lockdown. However, in other ways, because of how unusual the past eight or so months have been, devoid of so many of the usual milestones and event, it seems like no time at all.

“We were well prepared for the start of term in terms of dealing with the impact of the virus but we hadn’ t bargained on the impact of significant rainfall in August blighting the start of the new term for a small number of our schools.”