SCOTLAND’S schoolchildren will be back in the classroom for full-time lessons next month, Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.

But the First Minister has warned that the need for blended learning arrangements in the future cannot be ruled out if “there is a significant increase in the incidence and prevalence of Covid”.

Guidance issued to councils said children should “return to school as quickly and as safely as possible”.

While some local authorities will opt for a gradual return, Sturgeon made clear all pupils should be back by Tuesday, August 18, at the latest.

The SNP leader tolds MSPs: “It is a moral and educational imperative that we get children back to school as soon as is safely possible.

“In fact, a key reason for our cautious approach to lockdown over the last two months, and over the next few weeks, is a determination to drive the virus down and keep prevalence low, so that schools can re-open safely in August.

“I am, therefore, very pleased to confirm today that schools will return from August 11.”

The First Minister added: “Given how long children have been out of school, some local authorities may opt for a phased return over the first few days. But we expect all pupils to be at school full-time from August 18 at the latest.

“I realise that earlier confirmation of this would have provided more certainty for schools and parents to get ready for the new term, but we had to be sure – very sure – that the latest evidence supported this decision.”

The Scottish Government had originally proposed that schools would return part-time in August with a system of “blended learning”, which would have seen children doing some learning from home.

That changed in June after pressure from parents and opposition parties.

Sturgeon said that “absolutely no-one can rule out the possible need for blended learning arrangements in future – either nationally or locally – if there is a significant increase in Covid.

She added: “But the current low prevalence of the virus – together with the safety measures we are putting in place – give us as good a basis as we could have hoped for to get children back to school.”

Sturgeon also flagged up new guidance which “makes clear that, in general, physical distancing between pupils will not be required while on the school estate, although distance should be maintained between pupils in secondary schools where possible – provided this does not compromise the return to full-time schooling”.

She added: “Distancing should also be maintained between staff members, and between staff and pupils.

“The guidance also sets out the risk-mitigation measures that must be introduced in all educational settings. These include ventilation, good hygiene practices, and improved cleaning regimes.”

However, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, said that would not be enough.

He said teachers should have the same access to Covid-19 testing as professional footballers.

Harvie said that surveillance testing was one of several measures that would be “absolutely vital” for the country to “rapidly identify and contain any new [Covid] outbreaks”.

He said: “It would be unacceptable if anyone said teachers should feel less secure going to work than footballers, so why does the First Minister believe it’s not necessary to offer routine regular testing to teachers and other school staff?”

Sturgeon reiterated that the Test and Protect system would be in place and that the Government had examined Covid outbreaks related to schools in other countries, such as Israel, and had decided that “the key thing we have to do to protect schools is to keep community transmission as low as possible”.

She added that “surveillance in schools also gives us added assurance”.