Leading academics are calling for the results of next year’s new literacy and numeracy tests to be made available. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), the national academy of science and the arts, has said that raw data from new Scottish standardised school assessments at P1, P4, P7 and S3 should be used to hold teachers to account over their professional judgements. The EIS union argued that the purpose of the tests was not to hold teachers to account.

Children going hungry in the school holiday is a “significant human rights issue for Scotland”, the Scottish commissioner for children and young people has warned. Bruce Adamson called on the government to gather accurate data on the problem. Last month Tes Scotland revealed that Professor Greta Defeyter, an expert on holiday hunger from Northumbria University, believed that the attainment gap “could actually be driven by the summer period”, with pupils losing as much as “five weeks’ worth” of learning.

A Scottish council has warned that it may have to call in nursery teachers to take primary classes if the nationwide recruitment crisis does not improve. In a briefing note, Clackmannanshire Council set out a number of bleak scenarios that the local authority was facing as it prepared for staff shortages when children return in August.

One in 10 parents spends £25 or more on an end-of-year present for their child’s teacher, according to a poll. The Mumsnet website found that chocolates were the most popular present to give to a school worker, followed by contributing to a class collection, vouchers, alcohol and a gift made by a child.