Seòmar agus comataidhean

I was clear in my statement to Parliament on 29 November that I encourage, in the strongest possible terms, more accurate recording of all incidents of inappropriate, abusive or violent behaviour in our schools. Recording and monitoring plays an essential role in helping schools identify recurring patterns of behaviour and ensuring early intervention and appropriate support.

Our national guidance on monitoring and recording incidents of bullying in schools makes clear that all schools and local authorities are expected to record all incidents of abusive or violent behaviour. The Scottish Government is currently considering this guidance as part of the review into the national anti-bullying guidance, ‘Respect for All’. In particular, updates to this guidance will be informed by the forthcoming second phase of Education Scotland’s thematic inspection looking at good practice in responding to bullying. Updated Respect for All Guidance will be published in 2024.

I set out in my statement my expectations for how this funding should be used, which reflected key themes from the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research. We are currently in discussions with COSLA regarding the distribution of this funding and we will write out to local authorities in due course.

It is essential that we hear directly from children and young people as part of this work. The recent series of summits held with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss concerns around relationships and behaviour included representatives from a range of children and young people organisations.

We are currently in discussions with many of these organisations on how we can best engage children and young people directly in a safe and meaningful way going forward.

We are currently in discussions with COSLA regarding the distribution of this funding. We will write out to local authorities in due course to set out our expectations regarding the use of the funding.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact which the Covid-19 pandemic has had on children and young people in Scotland, particularly the closing of schools and learning lost as a result. This is in common with children and young people across the world and the pandemic continues to impact on educational outcomes for children and young people, here and elsewhere.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland published the Equity Audit in January 2021 which involved an evidence review of local, national and international literature, along with a representative sample of 54 schools in Scotland. This helped our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery, including the refresh of the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme.

Plans to help Scotland’s education system recover from the COVID-19 pandemic were published by the Scottish Government in October 2021. The Education Recovery Strategy set out the significant additional investment of almost £500 million being provided, as part of education recovery . This additional investment supported the recruitment of additional teachers and support staff across Local Authorities to provide enhanced support for children and young people and £25m was provided to local authorities for the purchase of 72,000 digital devices and 14,000 internet connections - helping support children, young people and staff across the country.

The pandemic and current cost of living crisis has undoubtedly deepened inequity; but this further necessitates our relentless focus on closing the poverty related attainment gap. That’s why we continue to empower schools and local authorities to improve the attainment and wellbeing of children and young people through our £1billion investment in the Scottish Attainment Challenge. This is alongside a range of other investments to mitigate the impact of poverty on our young people’s education, such as the school clothing grant, and the most comprehensive free school meal offer in the UK, saving families taking those meals around £400 per child, each year. We are also working with Local Authorities to extend our current offer of free school meals to those in P6 and P7 who are in receipt of Scottish Child Payment, which will benefit around 26,000 children.

The 2021 Programme for Government included a commitment to review Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education in 2022. To deliver on this, the Scottish Government worked in collaboration with a wide range of partners including the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the professional body for Speech and Language Therapists in the UK. The Review has now been completed and recommendations were published reporting a number of short, medium and long terms actions needed to address workforce and education challenges, including the development of ‘earn and learn’ routes to become an AHP in Scotland.

An advisory group has been established to oversee the effective implementation of the recommendations and the first meeting was held on 9 October 2023. The group will be chaired by Carolyn McDonald, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer who will report progress towards the implementation of the recommendations to the Chief Nursing Officer and Scottish Ministers as required.

The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities and schools – Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Promoting and Managing School Attendance – as well as guidance for parents, which reinforces the message that they should support children to attend schools. The guidance sets out how to promote engagement and motivation, including among those who may be at risk of poor attendance.

The Scottish Government conducts a biennial collection of attendance data from local authorities for the purposes of producing accredited official statistics. Management information on attendance is collected from local authorities more frequently, currently fortnightly, and reported on the school attendance dashboard.

From 2023-24 to 2025-26 all 32 Local Authorities have set stretch aims for improving attendance and/or engagement. These aims are built into local authority improvement plans and their progress will be monitored locally using local processes. As with all efforts to support improved outcomes and tackle the poverty related attainment gaps, local authorities will be supported and challenged by Education Scotland Attainment Advisors as they implement their local plans.

Earlier this year I asked Education Scotland to undertake work to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance. Education Scotland published this report on 28 November.

We are currently reviewing the findings of this report, together with the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, and will consider the recommendations for any future work on addressing attendance in schools.

The Scottish Government received a response from UK Government on 27 November to the previous correspondence sent by myself.

Despite our earlier requests seeking clarification on support available for remediation, the letter made no reference to additional funding.

I have made it absolutely clear that our schools should be safe and consistent learning environments for all, and that violent and abusive behaviours towards pupils or staff is unacceptable.

I have recently concluded a series of relationships and behaviour summit events, which engaged widely. Participants in these events included teachers, support staff, teaching unions, local authorities, parents, children’s organisations, academics, community justice and violence reduction organisations, and a spectrum of third sector organisations. Details of the summits, including organisations represented, can be found here Health and wellbeing in schools - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Our research into Behaviour in Scottish Schools report published on the 28 November 2023. The findings from this research, and the outcomes from the discussions at the summit events, will be used to inform the development of a national action plan. This national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, which I chair jointly with COSLA’s Children and Young Person spokesperson, and membership includes representatives from unions, education, and parents and carers. We will publish the plan as soon as possible in the new year.

We look forward to continuing our engagement as we develop out action plan to help make a difference on this issue.

The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities and schools, Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Promoting and Managing School Attendance , as well as guidance for parents which reinforces the message that they should support children to attend school.

The guidance sets out how to promote engagement and motivation, including among those who may be at risk of poor attendance.

It also sets out action schools should take in response to a child’s or young person’s absence from school.

Earlier this year I asked Education Scotland to undertake work to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance. Education Scotland published this report on 28 November.

We are currently reviewing the findings of this report and will consider the recommendations for any future work on addressing attendance in schools.

We are also considering the findings from our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, also published in November, which provides evidence-based information on the extent to which pupils are disengaging from learning. We are currently considering the findings of BISSR and plan to publish an action plan early in the new year.