There was certainly no shortage of surprises in Scottish education in 2021 - from the extended period of home learning after Christmas to the government’s commitment to reform the national qualifications and key education bodies.

So, what might teachers and schools in Scotland expect from 2022? Will it be similarly eventful, as we enter what looks like another period of increasingly severe Covid restrictions? Whatever happens in what is a new era for Tes Scotland - as we go entirely digital from January - we will, as ever, be reporting in depth on all the twists and turns.

At the time of writing, despite pressure from unions to do so, the Scottish government had repeatedly stressed in the run-up to Christmas that closing schools early was not on the cards. While there is talk of more restrictions, there is no clarity on what they might be or how schools will be affected. But, of course, we have learned over the past two years that just about anything is possible.

In 2022 teachers may, therefore, find themselves resurrecting their often hard-won digital skills and, once again, being put in charge of determining their senior students’ grades - instead of these grades largely depending on how the students perform in national exams.

If that happens, we might expect much of the change that the Scottish government has set in motion in the second half of this year - from the replacement of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to how we might make assessment fit for the 21st century - to be put on hold, as the system grapples with the more immediate priorities of keeping children learning and ensuring that school leavers get what they need to move on with the next phase of their lives.

However, if the pandemic is kept at bay sufficiently, and school buildings are able to reopen in January, one of the first steps towards reform will come with the recommendations of Ken Muir’s review, which was charged with exploring what should replace the SQA and how Education Scotland should be reformed. Professor Muir, a former General Teaching Council for Scotland chief executive, is expected to report early in 2022.

The responses to his consultation have shown that even the bodies that will be subject to reform ostensibly support it. The SQA, for instance, said that it was important to take forward a recommendation from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to bring curriculum, assessment and qualifications together under one organisation, stating that there was a “logic” to it.

Meanwhile, we can expect another consultation to get underway in 2022 - this time on the subject of national qualifications.

However, in May students will, of course - if Covid doesn’t lead to yet more huge disruption - begin sitting the national exams as we knew them pre-pandemic.

There have been modifications to courses, which, the SQA argues, have reduced the demands on senior students this year, but it seems inevitable that the pass rate will take a hit in 2022 and the attainment gap will widen.

This means that students who, when schools and teachers were responsible for grading, might have got into university or on to their chosen college course could miss out. The decision to go back to business as usual will, therefore, have big implications for some young people.

In this scenario, of course, it is then likely that exams as we know them will continue next year and, indeed, the year after that. It is important that the qualifications reform is not rushed, but faith in the government and its agencies to deliver has been knocked by their failure to introduce qualifications that were fit for purpose in the very recent past.

The SQA would argue that the qualifications that were introduced from 2013-14 were fit for purpose and that there was less of a focus on end-of-year exams - until, in 2016, John Swinney, who was education secretary at the time, decided to remove the teacher-assessed unit assessments. As a result, courses that previously had no exams suddenly did have exams, and others found themselves with longer exams than previously.

But when Swinney took his decision, the SQA was virtually silent about any of the potential downsides - in public, at least - which is why, whatever comes out of the reforms, Scotland needs education agencies that have their own voices and are not scared to use them.

For teachers on the front line, however, much of this will feel like background noise, as the immediate challenge in 2022 will be recovery. This is usually thought of in terms of academic attainment and making sure that pupils who have fallen behind catch up - but it’s about so much more.

More experienced teachers will tell you that extracurricular activities did not bounce back after the teachers’ strikes in the 1980s, so we have to ensure that Covid doesn’t permanently put paid to all the things that have been put on hold because of the virus: school trips, overseas exchanges, residentials, after-school activities, in-person parental engagement, school shows, music lessons and visiting specialists.

Habit is powerful and with so many of these activities, the habit will have to be re-established and schools and teachers may well wonder how they ever found the time - or had the inclination - to make these things happen.

In writing the features and articles that have been carried in the pages of Tes magazine, we’ve often found ourselves asking adults from all different walks of life to reflect on their school days - and usually it is not what went on in formal lessons that they talk about. They often remember the more informal education experiences and credit them with boosting their confidence, broadening their horizons, uncovering their passions or helping them to find their tribe.

Now we have a Covid generation in desperate need of inspiration in 2022, so let’s try when we can to get back to business not just with exams - but with the whole rich panoply of things that a school offers.

Emma Seith is a reporter at Tes Scotland