There have been fresh calls to improve help for vulnerable pupils after a BBC Scotland investigation indicated that some 250,000 children have no access to school-based counselling. On-site services were available in just 10 per cent of all primary and secondary schools. In February, Tes Scotland reported that nearly half of teachers who took part in a poll had poor mental health, prompting calls from an NHS mental health helpline for access to a counsellor in every school.

Schools, nurseries, colleges and universities are being called upon to help Scotland become the first “Daily Mile nation”. Around 800 Scottish primaries already take part in the Daily Mile initiative, which encourages people to walk, jog or run a mile every day. The Scottish government is now extending it beyond the schools. The idea, which has taken off in thousands of schools around the world, started in 2012 at St Ninian’s Primary School in Stirling.

The Active Schools programme, which promotes physical activity from an early age, has seen participation levels increase by 52 per cent over five years. Figures from SportScotland, which runs the scheme, also show that the number of people taking sessions has risen by 47 per cent in that time, with 87 per cent of them volunteers.

Edinburgh-based ed-tech company Sumdog, which creates computer games to improve children’s maths and English, plans to add to its workforce by 50 per cent over the next year, taking its total staff up to around 50. The expansion comes after the business secured £1.4 million from Nesta Impact Investments and the Scottish Investment Bank.