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As part of routine government business, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills met with officials between 1 April and 22 May 2024. The Scottish Government response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment was discussed and refinements were made to the draft response.

The timetabling of Computing Science in the senior phase is the responsibility of individual schools who have discretion to deliver a curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils and the wider community.

Since September 2022, Education Scotland has overseen a national timetabling group bringing school leaders and local authority representatives together to focus on innovative approaches to timetabling across all curricular areas.

The Scottish Government also continues to fund and engage with the organisation, Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS), to support Computing Science as a subject area. One of the key aims of STACS is to promote Computing Science as a desirable career option to young people and their parents/carers.

Scottish Government and Education Scotland have begun user engagement around the development of a National Digital Academy. A survey capturing the views of 2,229 learners has been undertaken, and a series of interviews and focus groups have been held with learners, parents and virtual learning environment providers. Education Scotland will continue this engagement with teaching organisations and other national bodies over the next few months, with overall findings from engagement being shared in due course.

The relationships and behaviour action plan had been agreed by the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS) at its meeting on 15 May 2024, subject to some identified drafting changes. The guidance was in the process of being finalised when the need to consider whether or not it could be published during the pre-election period arose. The guidance would otherwise have been published prior to the end of school year.

The provision of education is the responsibility of Local Authorities and so the detailed approach to lesson planning is a matter for individual schools – however it has always been the case that Scotland’s teachers are entrusted to plan their lessons as they see fit. There are a variety of different approaches which may be deployed in the development of lesson plans and it would not be the role of central Government to dictate how that might look in individual classrooms.

In relation to avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy, the Statement from HM Inspector of Education from 2016 remains in place. That Statement sets out what teachers and practitioners are expected to do to effectively plan learning, teaching and assessment for all pupils, and also suggests what should be avoided. The guidance is available at the following hyperlink: https://education.gov.scot/media/m1nlboum/cfe-statement.pdf

To further support effective lesson planning, Education Scotland continues to provide advice and support to educators on lesson planning with the provision of resources on the Education Scotland website and using their subject-specific networks, professional learning events and professional support visits.

Teachers in Scotland are required to spend 35 hours on professional learning per year and to engage in a Professional Update process every five years as a requirement for registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

As set out in the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers Handbook, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure a wide range of professional learning development opportunities and the teacher’s responsibility to undertake a programme of agreed professional learning. This should be capable of being discharged within contractual working time.

In terms of the provision of professional learning for teachers at a national level, Scotland’s national education agency will have an important role in supporting a thriving professional learning sector through a national framework for professional learning and will build on the existing and well-regarded national leadership professional learning programmes.

Establishing the new Centre for Teaching Excellence will also ensure every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching. Effective professional learning, development and dedicated time for collaboration is critical to improving performance in the classroom.

The Scottish Government values teachers and is committed to understanding their needs and providing them with the right support.

While teacher wellbeing is ultimately a matter for the employer, since 2020 we have invested more than £2 million specifically in supporting wellbeing in the education workforce. In 2023-24 we provided £0.2 million to Know You More, to offer free wellbeing coaching to teaching staff and educational professionals across Scotland.

We also worked in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Education Scotland to fund an Education Workforce Support Project, to gain a comprehensive understanding of how we support the wellbeing of our education workforce. We are currently considering the outcomes of this work and next steps to improve the existing wellbeing support that is provided by local authorities and teaching unions.

While employment practice is a matter for local authorities as employers, the Scottish Government values teachers and recognises the concerns around teacher workload that are identified in this research.

We are committed to working with COSLA and the teacher unions, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers on matters such as teacher workload.

While employment practice is a matter for local authorities as employers, the Scottish Government values teachers and recognises the concerns around teacher workload that are identified in this research.

We are committed to working with COSLA and the teacher unions, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers on matters such as teacher workload.

Whilst there are no current plans to update the Teachers’ Agreement 2001, any future changes to teachers’ terms and conditions would be matters for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, which was established as part of the Teachers’ Agreement.