Seòmar agus comataidhean

Decline in applications for teaching bursaries can be for many reasons, including a fall in the overall number of applications for the PGDE courses in bursary eligible subjects.

We are engaging with a range of stakeholders including local authority employers, university providers and the teaching unions to work collectively to raise the profile of teaching as a highly rewarding career.

As you will be aware, the scheme was extended in 2023 to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

In school inspections, HM Inspectors evaluate and report on the quality of education being provided. HM Inspectors use quality indicators from 'How good is our school? (4th edition).' This framework focuses on evaluating the quality of education provision for learners which is a key responsibility of HM Inspectors. There are currently no plans for HM Chief Inspector to issue additional guidance in relation to staff health and wellbeing.

The health and wellbeing of staff is primarily the responsibility of the employer. For most schools in Scotland this means local authorities are responsible for ensuring arrangements are in place to support staff health and wellbeing.

In carrying out inspections, HM Inspectors are mindful that inspection can be an unfamiliar experience for school staff. HM Inspectors work together with the school to minimise disruption and unnecessary bureaucracy. HM Inspectors provide a headteacher's briefing note to schools being inspected to ensure they know what to expect, and what papers or examples of work the inspection team will want to see. They aim to carry out inspections in a way that seeks to minimise burden on staff and keep paperwork required to a minimum. Inspectors are happy to observe what teachers would be doing on an ordinary day without any special changes for an inspection.

HM Inspectors take care to ensure that they operate in line with best practice principles, known as the PRAISE framework. This framework outlines expectations regarding conduct and behaviour of HM Inspectors when engaging with staff in a school or setting.

The Scottish Government is unaware of any such claims.

I have greatly valued discussions with the OECD to date and my next meeting with the OECD is scheduled for Wednesday 21 February.

I welcome the report from Education Scotland, which was produced in response to my request for a national evidence base to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance.

Following its publication, I tasked the Interim Chief Executive of Education Scotland to work directly with Directors of Education to take forward improvement on attendance as a matter of priority. The Interim Chief Executive has since written to all Directors of Education setting out current and future support that Education Scotland can provide to schools and local authorities to improve attendance.

We continue to review the findings of Education Scotland’s report, together with the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, as part of the development of our relationships and behaviour action plan.

Membership of the Head Teacher Task Force represents a range of perspectives from primary, secondary and special schools, with an interest in school improvement and wellbeing. Head Teachers from the following schools were invited to the Task Force meeting held in June 2023:

Brechin High School

Douglas Academy

Glenrothes High School

Hazelwood ASL School

Heathfield Primary School

John Paul Academy

Mearns Castle High School

Ness Castle Primary School

Oban High School

Preston Lodge High School

Royal High School

Saracen Primary School

Smithycroft Secondary School

St Kentigern’s Academy

Stonelaw High School

Members were identified through a variety of means including Local Authority nominations and engagement in other Scottish Government work.

The initiation of a systematic curriculum improvement cycle was announced on 12 December 2023, however the background to the cycle stems from the OECD 2021 report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future” and its specific recommendation for Scotland to "develop a systematic approach to curriculum review” which was accepted by Scottish Government.

Since then, the Curriculum and Assessment Board, which includes a range of stakeholders including Education Scotland, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, the Educational Institute of Scotland, leading academics, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority, has already considered and offered views on a range of papers in relation to taking forward a systematic curriculum review cycle in Scotland. Papers were informed by a rapid evidence review supported by the OECD, which looked at international best practice.

In updating the curriculum framework, we will harness the expertise and insights of our teachers, practitioners and subject specialists amongst others. In determining how best to do that, in early 2023 Education Scotland began a number of different curriculum review pilots to test out different approaches, reporting into the Curriculum and Assessment Board.

A wide range of stakeholders will be involved in taking forward each substantive curriculum improvement cycle, in particular teachers, practitioners and subject leads across Scotland, the Curriculum and Assessment Board and the organisations represented on it.

As announced in a statement to Parliament on 12 December 2023, Maths will be the first curricular area to be revised as part of the new systematic curriculum improvement cycle.

The update to the Maths curriculum will begin in 2024 and will be tested with Scotland’s teachers later in the year. The next curricular area to be looked at in depth after Maths will be Literacy and English.

Planning for the sequencing and implementation of the overall improvement cycle is underway. Decisions on which curricular areas should be prioritised following Maths/Numeracy and Literacy/English and timescales for those further packages of work, will be informed by evidence and will be subject to discussions with key stakeholders and delivery partners.

The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS), which met to discuss the draft action plan on 12 December 2023 and 31 January 2024. It is expected that the action plan will be published in spring 2024.

We are working with local authorities on the infrastructure required to deliver our commitment to the expansion of free school meals.

The 2024-25 budget has made provision for £43m of capital funding for school infrastructure, in addition to the £10m of capital funding provided in 2023-24.

This will support the expansion to P6 & P7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, as part of our wider commitment to expansion.