The majority of secondary school pupils across Moray, Aberdeen, Shetland, and the Western Isles are returning to full-time, in-person learning today.
Easter holidays will conclude today for six councils across Scotland, with the end of distance learning for many children.
Aberdeenshire pupils do not go back to school until Monday, April 19, along with the majority of pupils across the country.
Strict 2m social distancing rules will no longer have to be adhered to but pupils must still wear face coverings at all times.
Enhanced safety precautions
Schools will instead need to adopt enhanced safety precautions, such as improved ventilation and Covid testing to mitigate the lack of social distancing measures.
Local authorities have been given a share of £45 million to do this.
Improving the airflow around school buildings will be looked at, with twice-weekly lateral flow testing available to staff and pupils.
Primary schools had already resumed full-time teaching before the Easter holidays, but a part-time blended learning system had been in place in secondary schools.
The only pupils unable to go back to secondary school will be those in the shielding category.
They will be staying at home until April 26, with this being done on the advice from the chief medical officer.
All exams (National 5, Highers and Advanced Highers) have been cancelled due to disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.
Grades will instead be based on “teacher judgment” backed up by evidence gathered in tests.
Looking forward to welcoming pupils back
Elgin High School headteacher Hugh McCulloch told Good Morning Scotland that they were looking forward to welcoming all their pupils back.
He said: “We are very much looking forward to bringing back all of the pupils, 100%, this is about reconnection, reassuring, getting everybody back, checking out their health and wellbeing, ensuring that they are progressing with their learning and teaching from day one.
“We’ve had mitigations in place from our return in August, they will continue again, so young people will be asked to wear face coverings, we’ve got the hand sanitiser, we’ve got the one-way systems in the corridor.
“I think everyone is pretty comfortable in what their expectations are, there has been a lot of back and forth communication amongst the community, so the expectations are pretty clear and I believe young people, staff, everyone is aware of what their involvement of that will be.”
‘Let me thank everyone who is working to make this return to school possible’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon thanked everyone involved with schooling for their work to make the return to schooling possible.
She said: “Detailed guidance for schools was published a fortnight ago, and I know that staff have been working hard since then to prepare for this return.
“For now, let me thank everyone who is working to make this return to school possible.
“For many teachers and school staff, I know this has been the hardest year of your professional lives, and I am very grateful for the way in which you have adapted to such difficult circumstances and I’m also very grateful to parents and carers and to young people themselves.
“The way everybody has responded to the challenges of homeschooling and remote learning has been exceptional and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone.”