Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The blended learning approach to be adopted when schools reopen in August will not work for children with additional support needs, parents have said.

Jacqueline Foy, who's 11-year-old son Patrick has non-verbal autism, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland routine and structure was key to his education.

Blended learning involves children being in school part-time and working from home the rest of the time - often, but not always, doing their work online.

Jacqueline said: "I won't be able to send him part of the time. It'll be too confusing for him."

Image source, Getty Images

She added: "For him to go back two days a week and then have five days in the house is just not going to work.

"It's going to have to be a gradual transition. I'm just going to have to do it very, very slowly."

She suggested Patrick may need to be reintroduced to school in the same way as a child first starting nursery - leaving him first for an hour and gradually increasing this.

The Scottish government is set to publish guidance the special education needs in the coming weeks.

Mornings with Kaye Adams
BBC Radio Scotland

"This idea of the fallen generation is not new," argues Geetha Marcus, lecturer in education at Glasgow University on the topic of disadvantaged children being left behind.

Ms Marcus, who trains student teachers, argues that the current crisis has "highlighted the issue even more".

She takes issue with Lord McConnell's criticism on a lack of leadership and lack of planning, pointing out that there are currently 10 national work streams looking at every aspect of the return to school.

"We are all putting our heads together," she says. "It is not an easy fix.

"The picture is mixed. Some schools are doing better than others. But I have every faith in the commitment of education staff.

"If you keep shooting us down it's very demoralising for staff."

Image source, PA Media

Concerns about the risks of deploying a go-it-alone coronavirus contact-tracing app are causing further delays to its rollout in England.

A second version of the smartphone software was due to have begun testing on the Isle of Wight on Tuesday, but the UK government decided to postpone the trial.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock had originally said the NHS Covid-19 app was to be launched across England by 1 June.

The Scottish government has opted for a system of alerting people by a telephone call initially, rather than using a smartphone "proximity" app.

But it has not ruled out making use of such proximity technology in future.

Read the full story here.

Mornings with Kaye Adams
BBC Radio Scotland

"I just despair," says Lord McConnell on the subject of the most vulnerable children in society missing out on a large chunk of their education.

"There needs to be more urgency," he tells BBC Radio Scotland, arguing that some kids should be back in school-based locations already.

"What's being talked about for a return in August is partial - moving back, the odd day for some," the former first minister says. "We've had 12 weeks to think about putting a proper plan in place and we have two more months to go - the gap between those missing out altogether and those who have had some home-based learning will grow.

"We built a new hospital in the middle of Glasgow in a matter of weeks, we recruited hundreds of people across the health service and provided subsidies for jobs. If we can do it in health and the economy, we can do it for education as well."

"I've had teachers on the phone in tears about this."

You can read more about this issue here.

Image source, Scottish SPCA

The Scottish SPCA is appealing to for urgent donations of new blankets and towels for animals at its Aberdeenshire rescue and rehoming centre.

The charity has been unable to accept used or hand-knitted items due to contamination risks linked to coronavirus.

Centre manager Louise Griese said: "We’re struggling to keep up with demand at the moment."

As the centre is closed to the public, people interested in helping are instead being encouraged to donate brand new items by direct delivery from retailers.

Lord McConnell calls for urgency saying education must be given the same priority as health and the economy after Covid, as schools face a major crisis.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Scotland's children's commissioner has warned of the “lifelong consequences” of lockdown on Scotland’s young people.

Bruce Adamson said the length of the disruption to schooling and wider impact of the public health emergency will have a “profound impact” on children.

Speaking on Good Morning Scotland, Mr Adamson said: “Even the most resilient children are going to struggle with this so we need to be paying attention right now, but also putting in longer term support.”

Mr Adamson said he was most concerned about disadvantaged children or those with extra support needs as he was seeing evidence they were already disproportionately affected by the crisis.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland will stick with the two metre social distancing rule for now, says Fergus Ewing.

The Tourist secretary's word come after the Scottish Tourism Alliance and other business leaders pushed for the rule to be reduced to 1m.

But Mr Ewing told Radio Scotland it was a "complex picture".

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing says he hopes the reopening of the sector will give some “hope and light at the end of a pretty long tunnel” for businesses.

Pubs, hotels and restaurants have been told to prepare to reopen on 15 July, by Mr Ewing.

Mr Ewing told Radio Scotland that he hoped the announcement would give the industry enough time to prepare and people the chance to consider booking a "staycation" holiday this year.

He added: "The aim is to give tourism a boost for the rest of the summer provided of course the science is with us."

Harry Potter author reveals domestic abuse past and plans to restart Scotland's tourist sector make the front pages

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Positive tests for Covid-19 among elite footballers are inevitable say the Scottish Football Association.

Scottish Premiership clubs' first-team squads are allowed to resume non-contact training in small groups from today.

The SFA's chief medical consultant, Dr John MacLean, said a strict regime of testing and other health measures will be in place.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, bbc

Education must be given the same priority as health and the economy after Covid, a former first minister has said.

Jack McConnell, now Lord McConnell, said support for schools and pupils has not been quick enough.

The Scottish government said it was already encouraging schools to target support where it was most needed and had pledged to supply 25,000 laptops with internet connection to the most vulnerable.

Image source, Getty Images

The R-number helps governments track the spread of coronavirus and informs decisions on when to come out of lockdown.

If the 'R' or reproductive number is above one, an outbreak can grow exponentially.

The number in Scotland was still below the critical value of one last week

It currently stands somewhere between 0.7- 0.9.

Today's update is not yet expected to take into account the easing of lockdown restrictions almost two weeks ago.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Tourism on the Isle of Arran will not be viable unless more people are allowed on the ferries, business leaders have claimed.

When Covid-19 restrictions are eased social distancing will limit capacity to about 20% on certain CalMac services.

Linda Johnston, the co-founder of the island's biggest accommodation provider, Auchrannie Resort, told Radio Scotland that with "only 20% ferry capacity we can’t really restart tourism in Arran".

She added: "We are already preparing although with the doubt of the ferry capacity that is a big worry for us - we need a minimum of 50%."

The Arran Recovery Group has said only tourists staying multiple nights should be allowed on the ferry.

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

Image source, The Real Mary King's Close

The boss of one of Edinburgh's biggest tourist attractions has praised the planned reopening of Scotland's tourism sector on 15 July as a lifeline.

Juliana Delaney, chief executive of The Real Mary King's Close, said every week of lockdown meant more jobs were lost.

Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing said the date was conditional on moving to the third phase of easing restrictions.

Tourism leaders and business owners across the capital welcomed the news, announced at Holyrood on Wednesday.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Even though most of its staff are furloughed, the company - which has 11 hotels in Scotland - says its current situation is unsustainable.

The news comes despite yesterday’s announcement from Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing that the sector should prepare to reopen from the 15th of July.

But Macdonald's deputy chairman Gordon Fraser says normal operations are not foreseeable until lockdown and social distancing restrictions are eased significantly.

Education must be given the same priority as health and the economy after Covid, a former first minister has said.

Jack McConnell, now Lord McConnell, said schools are facing a major crisis.

The Labour politician and former teacher contrasted the speed of expansion in hospital provision with the pace of change in schools.

The Scottish government said it was already encouraging schools to target support where it was most needed.

Read more here.

• Tourism minister Fergus Ewing tells Holyrood that the tourism and leisure sector should prepare to open from 15 July.

• The latest National Records of Scotland statistics show that 4,000 deaths in Scotland have been linked with Covid-19.

• The number of patients in hospital has again fallen below 1,000, with 18 in intensive care.
• Between 28 May and 7 June, 741 contacts were traced in relation to 681 positive cases of Covid-19.
• These are the first figures released in relation to the new Test and Protect System.