alexandra mackenzie reports. 16—year—old 0livia thought she was on track to study medicine. got five as in her higher prelims, but those were not the results awarded by the sqa. instead she received two as and three bs. i wasn't really nervous at all because i kind of knew what i was expected to get, and then i got my results and i was completely devastated. i was heartbroken. literally i was, like, i thought my dreams were crushed. as the first minister visited a west lothian school, the education

alexandra mackenzie, bbc news.am at holyrood secondary school on the south side of glasgow, scotland's largest school. a small group of students have joined us to discuss their results, we are all physically distant. let's come on to dionne and her dad, john. i got more than i expected, i wasn't sure what to expected, i wasn't sure what to expect but i got everything i wanted, meaning i will be going to university. first choice, yeah, i will be giving primary education at glasgow university. did that depend on particular results?|j glasgow university. did that depend on particular results? i needed to get b for maths, that is what i got. you were quite emotional earlier a nswer you were quite emotional earlier answer with your dad, john. such a nerve—racking few months, such a ta ke nerve—racking few months, such a take today. it is an outstanding e ntryway take today. it is an outstanding entryway pick period of uncertainty, absolutely delighted for dionne and everyone else — — absolutely delighted for dionne and

let's cross to our scotland reporter alexandra mackenzie who is in glasgow.ment what we have been told -- what we have been told by nhs grampian is 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus all linked. they have been linked back to the hawthorn bar in aberdeen city centre. this has been linked to the 26th ofjuly. customers that were there last sunday. just last weekend. we have been told by nhs grampian that they are all displaying mild symptoms of coronavirus. the health board has said that the test and protect scheme is under way, they are investigating this cluster and there is further tracing going on, people who were at the bar who may have then met up with other people later this week. so the health board say they have not ruled out that there could be further cases connected with this. the bar has gone under a deep clean and has been allowed to remain open. they have said that all precautions will be used to make sure that people are kept safe and they are asking that all customers do remain vigilant. because what the health board has said is that obviously wh

minister nicola sturgeon apologised, admitting they didn't get it right. 0ur correspondent alexandra mackenzieeek for children in scotla nd a very big week for children in scotland as they start to return to school. they go back to school in the borders and in shetland tomorrow, then there will be a staggered return across the rest of the country in the following few days. i have spoken to some pupils at inverclyde academy in greenock, and they have had mixed feelings about going back. hi, i'm layla, and i'm 11 and i'm going into si. layla was upset she didn't get to finish primary school with her friends. but she's now excited her first day at high school and getting back to her studies. well, i'm actually quite good at like english and things so i don't feel i've missed too much on that. because i'm quite confident in that but definitely, maths, i need to revise some things. definitely. at inverclyde academy, preparations are well under way. there is going to be a bit of a cleaning station here? yes. every classroom will be equipped with a sanitiser and a cleaning station for the children to

our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie, joins us from glasgow. these extra cases because there is a lwa ys these extra cases because there is always a lack between some infections and then when they turn into measurable symptoms. is there a sense yet from the nhs in grampian about how effective they think reinstalling the lockdown has been? aberdeen did go back into lockdown earlier this week and that was because of this spike in cases that we saw and we were told it was a cluster of cases connected to several bars within the city. the number has gone up to just over 100, it was 101 cases yesterday, and today as you said we have got those 16 new confirmed cases in the last 24 16 new confirmed cases in the last 2a hours and 39 of those are in nhs grampian. —— 60. we have not been told how many of these cases are connected to this cluster, we will have to wait until later today or tomorrow before we find out how many are connected. in terms of the lockdown working as well, as you say, there will be a lag until we know, but people within aberdeen ha

inverness as part of efforts to tackle the spread of coronavirus. 0ur scotland correspondent alexandra mackenziearrived at james gillespie's high school in edinburgh this morning. the memo was sent on friday saying that from today, all adults and pupils must wear face coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes. coverings indoors whilst moving around between classesli coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes. i think it isa around between classes. i think it is a great idea. for the children coming back into school, it has been as shocked with being such a large group of people again, after being in isolation for all this time. it will help them feel a bit safer. in isolation for all this time. it will help them feel a bit safetm reduces the risk of the spread of the coronavirus. there has also been a move towards wearing face masks in two secondary schools in the highlands. they must wear a face covering when moving around the school, using the canteen and all other social areas. with no hard evidence from the government, what we have found or what we feel we are facing

alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, greenock.tney is a paediatrician and infectious disease specialist ? she is director of the australian national centre for immunisation research and surveillance which has produced a study examining the transmission of coronavirus in schools and childcare centres in new south wales. thank you for talking to us. now what did your study discover? hello, thank you for having me. we did a study in the fist first part of the school year in australia, which was january through to april. across the whole of the state of new south wales, there is around 1.8 million attending around 7,500 schools and child care. it was through the time that our first child care. it was through the time that ourfirst epidemic child care. it was through the time that our first epidemic wave. we only saw 25 settings, 15 schools and ten child cares, where someone attended, a staff member or a child, who was infectious with covid—19. what we did was track the secondary transmission, so the number of secondary transmission, s

alexandra mackenzie reports.an, like many others, it is an uncertain and anxious time — it is results day but students receiving their grade did not set for exams. last year, it was down to what i did on the exams but to have a rough gauge on our eye have done in the subject, it is more wiring. sent march classrooms have been empty and playground fell silent. this announcement in the scottish parliament... it is a measure of the gravity we now face that i must today announce exams will not go ahead this year. today's graceful national five, ahead this year. today's graceful nationalfive, higher ahead this year. today's graceful national five, higher and advanced higher convocations are based on estimates by teacher, taking into account alumina results and coursework. the estimated grades we re coursework. the estimated grades were then moderated by the scottish qualifications authority. they had to ensure a fair process as well as maintaining the credibility of the system as young people look towards further stud

alexandra mackenzie has been to a school in kelso in the borders.today. some schools having staggered. i‘m joined by iain achson from the national pa rent by iain achson from the national parent forum. it has been a government priority to fete the schools back, how concerned are you, what do you think about this? not concerned at all. we have been fortu nate concerned at all. we have been fortunate here, the parent body had the chance to talk to the council and great dialogue with them. we had and great dialogue with them. we had a zoom call and the questions were a nswered a zoom call and the questions were answered and i‘m confident all measures that can be taken have been taken. 600 kids now in that building, what kind of preparations have taken place to make it safe? huge teams from the council have been involved and facilities and cleaning the cater, a huge amount of ca re cleaning the cater, a huge amount of care and preparation. speaking to the head teacher and parents i think are confident that what can be done has been done. if i can turn t

alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, greenock. i think andrew speaks for all of us!union. good morning to both of you. thanks so much forjoining us. ian, are you ready for term? i think we are as ready for term? i think we are as ready as we can be under the circumstances. ready as we can be under the ci rcu msta nces. clearly ready as we can be under the circumstances. clearly in common with all schools and i include the previous because we heard there who summed up the issues very well. over the summer and since lockdown we have spent a great deal of time putting together our plans. to a certain extent those were plans in the context of a part—time return. things changed on the 30th ofjuly with the announcement that all pupils would be returning. in line with that a change of course, we have changed our plans to make sure that when pupils return, and a phased return, which is what we will do here, that we are as ready as we can be under the circumstances. but we are quite clear there will be a number of circumstances that we haven't envisaged and which we will resp

we'll pick up on all of those stories in a moment, but first alexandra mackenzie is at a school in kelsors. what's happening there this morning? here in kelso, at kelso high school, 600 pupils have come back to school here, they are just starting their first lesson in almost five months. the whole school has come back today, some schools will be staggered but here in kelso, first year to six it has come back today. i'm joined by ian from the national pa rent i'm joined by ian from the national parent form in the borders. it has been a scottish government priority to get the schools back. how concerned are you? not content at all, we have been very fortunate to have great dialogue with the councils, all of the questions that pa rents councils, all of the questions that parents had, we had a zoom call and those questions have been answered. i'm very confident that all measures that can be taken have been. 600 kids now in the building. what kind of preparations have taken place to make it safe for them? huge teams from the council have been involved in facilities, cleaning and catering, hug

alexandra mackenzie reports. 16—year—old 0livia thought she was on track to study medicine.ive as in her higher prelims, but those were not the results awarded by the sqa. instead she received two as and three bs. i wasn't really nervous at all because i kind of knew what i was expected to get, and then i got my results and i was completely devastated. i was heartbroken. literally i was, like, i thought my dreams were crushed. as the first minister visited a west lothian school, the education secretaryjohn swinney had signalled a u—turn and said he would address the scottish parliament later today. shortly after her visit came an apology. despite our best intentions i do acknowledge that we did not get this right and i'm sorry for that. it's back to school today in the borders and in shetland. tomorrow, a staggered return begins in the rest of the country. here in kelso there is concern for the safety of students, and also for the impact this year's results process may have. it is a case of each kid is individual and based on the results in last year's results, it just doesn

alexandra mackenzie reports. a royal visit at the side of when is the's horrific train crash.er stuchbury was a passenger on the train, he died along with the conduct and driver. investigations are under way into the cause of the accident, which happened just west of stonehaven train station. it's thought that a landslip which followed torrential rain could be to blame. six others on the train were taken to aberdeen royal infirmary, but were not thought to be seriously injured. it's understood there was difficulty in raising the alarm after the accident due to the isolated location. there is also an off duty railway person on the train, who after it derailed what around a mile to the next signal box and advise them that an incident had occurred, which allowed network rail at its national control centre to close the line. tributes have been laid for those who lost their lives. three families asking why this tragedy happened. speaking at the investigation site, chief inspector kevin walker from scotland police praised the officers who were first on the scene and the support of t

alexandra mackenzie reports. morning, everyone. are you all right? do you know where you are going?high school. most pupils were happy to return for the first time in nearly five months. schools here in the borders and shetland reopened today. there will be a staggered return in the rest of the country from tomorrow. much has been done to ensure the well being and safety of the 600 pupils here. it is nice to be back. i haven't seen a lot of people in a long time. it is pretty good. there is a one way system and arrows showing you where to go. it makes you feel more safe than if everyone was running about. at the start of the quarantine, it sounded appealing, just do what you want all day for five months. but you get bored after a while. it is good to be back. a bit nervous and excited, but that has gone as we have met the young people as they're arrived. they're very confident and looking very smart and getting that interaction with them today, they want to be back and want to be in learning. they're all in their classrooms and getting settled, but now going through to the procedure

have done so well as part of the results announcements that have been made today. 0ur reporter alexandra mackenzien you are getting results and you haven't actually sat the exams, i would imagine it is even worse and an incredibly anxious time. i havejust spoken even worse and an incredibly anxious time. i have just spoken to one even worse and an incredibly anxious time. i havejust spoken to one mum, her daughter did very well indeed, she got four as. she also said her daughter didn't feel that same sense of achievement. she had of us are putting a lot of work but she hadn't sat the exam and many people hadn't beenin sat the exam and many people hadn't been in school since march so were feeling quite distant from that, so very mixed emotions today. we have heard from people who have done very well, other people who planned to go through the appeals process. the marking was very different this year, it was based initially on the teacher estimates from prelims and worked in the class and it was a scottish qualifications authority that then moderated that. what they have said is the pass marks are u

alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, glasgow.ve director of connect, scotland s national parents organisation in about half an hour. thousands of children have returned to classrooms in northern ireland for the first time since lockdown. the term has begun for years seven, 12 and 14. all pupils are due back by next week, and the education minister says he's confident safety measures are in place. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports. for the first time since march, classrooms in northern ireland are filling up again. at the start of this unique year... the term feels even newer than usual. i'm so excited, i was ready to come back from the ist of april so i'm excited that we can have as normal time as possible. it will be a stranger but hopefully as in the teachers can work together. hopefully it will be a good year. there are familiar sights for pupils arriving here today but they will notice some big differences like notices reminding people to socially distance as much as possible and all over the school, dozens as poss

our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie reports.ils arrived at james gillespie‘s high school in edinburgh this morning. a memo was sent on friday saying that from today, all adults and pupils must wear face coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes. i think it is a great idea. for the children coming back into school, it has been quite a shock being such a large group of people again, after being in isolation for all this time. i think it'll help them feel a bit safer. it kind of like reduces the risk of the spread of the coronavirus. it feels like a safer environment now. there has also been a move towards wearing face masks in two secondary schools in the highlands. they must wear a face covering when moving around the school, using the canteen or other social areas. with no hard evidence from the government, what we have found or what we feel we are facing is simply a political decision and not a scientific one. scotland's largest teaching union said it would press the scottish government further on face covering pro

our reporter alexandra mackenzie is in glasgow.getting a tsunami of appeals after this7m has certainly been an exam results they like no other. definitely more nail—biting than normal. i havejust spoken to one mum whose daughter was lucky enough to get four days, so she definitely won't have to appeal. —— fora. she she definitely won't have to appeal. —— for a. she was happy with the results but hadn't sat the exams and would have preferred to. there the sense of achievement. results the we re sense of achievement. results the were estimated by the teachers and then they were moderated by the sqa. the sqa were happy with three quarters of the estimates, but it was that one quarter they did change. 93% of those people where marked lower than they were by the teachers. that could possibly lead to more appeals, were not sure yet. the appeals process has been open. the appeals process has been open. the difference with the appeals process this year, schools normally have to pay for that, so i may discourage schools normally, but this y