Very different end to the school year
In ordinary times, schools would have started back this week for the beginning of the summer term, a particularly busy time for those pupils in S4, S5 and S6 with the 2020 diet of SQA kicking off on Monday.
These are not, of course, normal times.
The schools remain shut and the exams have been cancelled.
I know that will be a source of stress and concern for many pupils and parents, but I hope that they can take comfort from the knowledge that decisions on their grades will be based on assessments made by those who best know their learning path.
Teachers are being asked to make important decisions about how their pupils may have otherwise performed in the exams they were due to sit this year.
Their insights from working with students throughout the year means they are best placed to make judgements on learners’ performance.
I know that this will not be a simple task for them but I am certain that working with the guidance that has been put together by the SQA, they will do everything they can to ensure the work that pupils have put in throughout the year will be recognised.
Another major impact of the schools remaining closed could, of course, have been on those pupils who depend on the free meal that would normally be provided in school, but that support is continuing.
Indeed, around 140,000 children and young people across Scotland are being supported with the provision of a free school meal despite the coronavirus.
Local authorities, like Perth and Kinross Council, are providing the majority of meals through vouchers, direct payments or home deliveries, with lunches also being provided through the education hubs which have been opened to provide for the children of key workers as well as some vulnerable young people, including those with additional support needs.
Advice on these and other issues is available for parents, carers and guardians online at www.parentclub.scot and, of course, information about the coronavirus is available on www.nhsinform.scot
The impact of the coronavirus and the very necessary but unusual steps that have been taken to try and limit its spread have had a massive impact on all of our lives in so many different ways and I want to remind constituents that, while my office door may have had to be closed, access to the assistance my office can provide has not.
My staff continue to work extremely hard on behalf of constituents who get in touch needing help, whether that is coronavirus-related or anything else.
Constituents can continue to contact me by letter (63 Glasgow Road, Perth PH2 0PE), by phone (01738 620540) or by email roseanna.cunningham. msp@parliament.scot
Stay home and stay safe.