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The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), published in December 2022, noted within Recommendation 40, that in order to help to encourage greater use of public transport and support wider town regeneration proposals, consideration should also be given to upgrading or relocating Stranraer railway station. STPR2 is a long-term vision of this government’s ambition for transport investment and highlights projects that we must invest in over the next two decades. Given that this is a 20-year programme, some elements will not commence immediately and are subject to suitable resources and funding being in place.

We are aware of local community plans for Stranraer (pier) which could involve proposing changes to the railway station. Transport Scotland and Network Rail continue to engage with the community and wider rail industry partners as these plans develop. Any future changes to the railway station will require a robust business case, available funding and would require to follow a set of standard railway industry processes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24947 on 19 February 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government publishes destination statistics for school leavers three months after the end of the school year and nine months after the end of the school year . Destination statistics are not collected or published by the Scottish Government for school leavers six months after the end of the school year and there are no current plans to do this.

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 Scottish Government is currently undertaking a pilot to introduce a net zero assessment, with the intention of a full roll out later this year. In developing the methodology for the pilot, we have looked at variety of existing approaches from other countries; including New Zealand, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Sweden.

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.

We have announced £900,000 for local councils to aid training of support staff who are responding to the new challenges in our schools, post-Covid. This announcement was made in direct response to the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, which indicated that it is school support staff who have the most challenging experiences in dealing with negative behaviours, and that support staff themselves would welcome more training to support them in their roles.

Allocation and use of the funding was agreed at the meeting of COSLA leaders on 26 January 2024. Each local authority will receive a minimum of £10,000 of funding, with the remaining funding distributed on the basis of pupil numbers. A letter was issued to local authorities on 7 February 2024 advising them of their funding allocation. Local authorities will decide how best to use their allocated funding to help the support staff in their area.

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.

As announced in the statement to the Scottish Parliament on 12 December 2023, the Council of Deans agreed to reconvene their Initial Teacher Education (ITE) National Maths Group.

The first meeting of the reconvened group took place on 29 January 2024 and we understand that the Council of Deans will be communicating with members in due course about the timings and focus for future meetings.

The ITE Maths group will meet up to four times per year. An Education Scotland representative will be invited to each meeting. Contact details for the Council of Deans are available at: https://www.scde.ac.uk/contact-us/ .

The curriculum improvement cycle for Literacy and English will commence later in 2024 and will be informed by a range of evidence, including The Education Scotland pilot curriculum review, which will commence in March 2024, the thematic inspection of Literacy and English, also announced on 12 December.