Coronavirus: Schools in Scotland won't open until August

Schools in Scotland will not reopen until the new school year begins on 11 August.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said children will return to a different type of schooling.

"To allow appropriate physical distancing, children will return to a blended model of part-time in school and part-time at home learning," she explained.

Teachers in Scotland will go back to work in June, but that is so they can prepare for this new type of mixed learning.

Ms Sturgeon also announced that children moving from primary school to secondary school will be given extra support and thanked parents, carers and teachers for their work during lockdown.

From next week the first minister also announced that the lockdown in Scotland will start to be relaxed slightly.

Outdoor work, such as farming, will be allowed again from 28 May, while garden centres and recycling plants can also reopen. Some sport played outside, like golf, fishing and tennis will also be allowed.

Take-away and drive-through restaurants in Scotland can also reopen, as long as they stick to the rules - meaning social distancing between staff and customers.

Scotland's easing of lockdown also means people can meet someone from another household as long as long as they stay socially distant. Travelling - preferably walking or cycling - for exercise is now allowed, although people have been asked to stay in their local area to do this.

The Scottish Government wants life to return to normal in four phases, or stages.

The easing of restrictions announced on Thursday bring Scotland closer to the measures in England, where restrictions were lifted last week.

However, as with Boris Johnson's plans for England, Nicola Sturgeon warned easing will only happen as planned if the Scottish Government is confident that enough progress has been made to keep the number of cases of coronavirus down.

Schools in England will reopen from 1 June but in Scotland Children won't be back in lessons until 11 August

Around the UK

The rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different to those in England.

England relaxed some of its lockdown rules on 13 May, which included letting some adults return to work. The country also set out its own plan for easing the lockdown in stages, which includes sending children back to school from 1 June.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own separate powers for tackling coronavirus - but the law says all UK countries have to review their lockdown rules every three weeks.

Northern Ireland has already issued its own plans for coming out of lockdown and has eased some measures - for example, up to to six people from different households can now meet outdoors, and more outdoor activities are allowed. But it didn't give any dates for when the next steps will be taken.

Wales has also been preparing to gradually move out of lockdown. It hasn't given any dates on when this might happen but has relaxed some restrictions by letting people go out for more exercise, for example.