The Government has today published data from the school census; statistical information on the achievement of curriculum for excellence levels by children and young people at school, local authority and national level; and the 2016 national improvement framework evidence report.
I will take the school census first. The statistics for 2016 tell us that there were 253 more full-time equivalent teachers than there were last year, of which 160 were directly funded by the Scottish Government’s attainment Scotland fund; that class sizes in primary 1 to P3 are the same as last year and are broadly static across primary school; that the pupil teacher ratio remains unchanged for the third successive year at 13.7, in line with the Scottish Government’s agreement with local authorities; that most children are achieving the expected curriculum for excellence level for their stage, based on teacher professional judgment, with all young people expected to have achieved at least third level by the end of secondary 3; and that a record 666 school buildings are in the top condition category of “good”, with 84 per cent being in good or satisfactory condition.
I very much welcome the rise in teacher numbers compared with last year, the fact that class sizes are broadly stable and the fact that the pupil teacher ratio has been maintained. That is all good news, particularly when Parliament considers the teacher recruitment challenges that are being faced in some areas of the country.
The statistical information on the achievement of curriculum for excellence levels by children and young people at school, local authority and national level has been published today for the first time. That data has been produced in direct response to last year’s recommendation by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that we develop
“a more robust evidence base available right across the system, especially about learning outcomes and progress.”
The information illuminates where excellence already exists and where there is more to do to target resources where they are needed most and to ensure that children get the right support at the right time.
As this is the first time that we have gathered such data, it is being published under the official label of “Experimental Statistics”. As with many new data collections, it will need further development before its accuracy and quality can be guaranteed. It is clear, for example, that some issues remain with the consistency of teachers’ professional judgments across different local authority areas. Most notably, it is clear from the S3 data that there are differing approaches to the assessment of third and fourth levels. Education Scotland and local authorities have a vital role to play in providing the support that is needed to deliver greater consistency in that area. A national programme of moderation activity is under way to build a shared understanding on those questions.
Even if we take those inconsistencies into account, the data shows that significant improvements are required in some local authority areas and that significant challenges exist in delivering the progress in literacy and numeracy that we seek. I encourage parents to consider the school-level information that is now available and to discuss it with their child’s school.
The data provides a basis on which to build our knowledge about how children are progressing at school, but the variation in some of the data highlights the value that standardised assessment will bring in providing teachers with nationally consistent data to help to inform their professional judgment.
Today’s data reinforces the messages that we took from the programme for international student assessment results and is consistent with what we know from the Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy. Most children and young people progress well through the school system but, for some, overall performance drops and the poverty-related attainment gap widens.
There is much to be proud of in Scottish education. We need to remain focused on and committed to curriculum for excellence and we need to continue to implement the reforms that we are putting in place. That is the course that we established after the publication of the SSLN data and it is the course that we intend to continue to take.
It follows that the “2017 National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan for Scottish Education”, which is the third document that I am publishing today, reinforces that approach. The vision, key priorities and drivers for improvement that we identified in January this year have stakeholder support, and they remain as true and as important now as they were then.
The improvement plan sets out what we need to do at all levels in the system to deliver better outcomes for our children and young people. It brings together in one place all the improvement activity, from the delivery plan that I published last summer to the curriculum for excellence implementation plan that was published in the autumn. It takes into account the information that is published today in the evidence report and sets out our plans for improvement. It will serve as the single definitive plan for securing educational improvement, as it provides absolute clarity of purpose for all who are involved in education.
To drive improvement for children and young people, we need a shared understanding across all parts of the education system of our key strengths, the key challenges that we face and the actions that we are taking to deliver improvement. I encourage everyone who is involved in school education to make the priorities of the national improvement framework a reality in their school.
Teachers have a key role to play in closing the attainment gap and are central to achieving our vision of excellence and equity in Scottish education. I am committed to ensuring that we have the right number of teachers with the right skills in the right places to educate our young people. We know that the quality of teaching is a key factor in improving children’s learning and the outcomes that they achieve. I want teachers to have the time to teach, plan their working lives and reflect on their professional learning needs. I want teachers to be able to enjoy their jobs and I want teaching to be seen as an attractive and rewarding career choice.
I have already moved decisively to free teachers to teach by removing unnecessary bureaucracy and workload. We have set out clearly and concisely what teachers should and should not focus on. However, I will continue to take all possible measures to lessen workloads, tackle bureaucracy and enable more time for learning and teaching, for the benefit of all.
As part of that work, Education Scotland will release next week its new websites, which will radically streamline the level of guidance, resources and materials available to teachers and other practitioners to support improvement. That equates to a 90 per cent reduction in volume, and all materials have been reviewed and updated to meet current needs, which will enable teachers to have ready access to the support, information and guidance that they need.
I recognise that some councils still face challenges in teacher recruitment, as do universities in recruiting teaching students. I am focused on addressing any barriers to the recruitment of teachers and will work with our partners to address issues of staffing supply and capacity at a national level, while maintaining Scottish teaching as a graduate profession. On 30 November, I announced a package of innovative new routes into teaching, which will be ready for an intake of students in 2017. It includes accelerated routes, more distance learning opportunities and an increase in joint degrees that combine primary teaching with specialisms such as chemistry.
We will build on last year’s successful recruitment campaign to encourage more people into teaching, with a particular focus on hard-to-fill subjects and areas that have difficulty in recruiting. We are also continuing to support teachers’ professional learning through further investment of £1 million in 2016-17 in masters level learning. I assure Parliament that, in considering any new routes into teaching, I will work with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to ensure that quality is assured and that the next generation of teachers is qualified, skilled, motivated and ready to teach.
I have visited many schools and spoken to hundreds of teachers and children since I took up my post, and I know that in Scottish education today we have hundreds of thousands of good pupils being taught by tens of thousands of good teachers in thousands of good schools. I want to build on that, and I invite everyone in the chamber to join us in that effort. For all of us, there is a moral imperative to deliver excellence and equity, and we have the clear policy framework in place to deliver that approach.
The principles of curriculum for excellence are the right ones. Throughout CFE’s development, there has been unanimous agreement in the Parliament and across the education sector that it is the right approach. In its review of curriculum for excellence in 2015, the OECD recognised the strong, powerful and enduring characteristics of our curriculum; commended the bold reform that we are driving forward; and urged us to continue on our reform journey. Our international council of education advisers has further endorsed our approach to education and has provided advice about where we need to improve. We are on course to deliver those improvements through our current actions.
The collaboration in our education system is one of its great strengths and it is essential that we work together to deliver the improvements that are required to make Scotland’s education world class. There is much to be proud of in Scottish education but, with pace and urgency, more must be done with every single one of our teachers around the country, with our professional associations, with our parent organisations, with Government agencies and with our local authority partners to ensure that we close the attainment gap in education that has for so long blighted our country.