Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently considering the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research and outputs from the relationships and behaviour summits which, will inform the actions that are included in the national action plan. This will include consideration of what further support local authorities may require. The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools and we expect it to be published early in the new year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23491 on 19 December 2023. 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 collects and publishes a range of data on school leaver achievement.

Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations’ reports annually on the percentage of school leavers in positive destinations and other destinations three months after the end of the school year. The report also provides information on school leaver total attainment in terms of numbers of National Qualifications gained at SCQF Level 3 or above and the highest levels achieved in literacy and numeracy.

The latest report, published this year, showed that the total percentage of 2021-22 school leavers in a positive initial destination, such as work, training or further study, was 95.7% - the highest figure on record.

The 2023 Annual Participation Measure, published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), shows that 94.3% of 16-19 year olds were participating in employment, education or training over the past year. This is also the highest rate recorded since this measure was introduced in 2016.

The estates of independent schools are for those building owners to manage, however, the Registrar for Independent Schools wrote to all independent schools on 15 September 2023 to receive assurances that managers were aware if and where RAAC was present in their schools and, where present, to confirm that the appropriate mitigations were in place. The Scottish Government continues to monitor the numbers of independent schools who have completed surveys of their estates via engagement with the Registrar.

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.

The provision of this funding will be allocated from the Education and Skills portfolio.

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 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.

We are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan which we expect to be published early in the new year.

We will update parliament on the action plan in due course.

We published guidance in 2017, ‘ Developing a positive whole school ethos and culture: relationships, learning and behaviour’ to support local authorities, education settings, practitioners and partners to further improve the ethos and culture, and relationships and behaviour, in Scottish schools. This is in addition to national guidance on the prevention and management of exclusion from school that was published in 2017, ‘ Included, Engaged and Involved – Part 2 – preventing and managing school exclusions’.

Education Scotland also provide guidance on developing a local relationship and behaviour policies https://education.gov.scot/media/ycofs2fq/national-relationships-policy-guidance-for-schools.pdf

Following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023, we are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan and as part of this development we will consider whether any additional guidance is required.