Chamber and committees

We have considered the role of Education Scotland as part of the Education Governance Review which seeks to ensure that the Scottish Government and the national education bodies provide the right support to an empowered and flexible education system.

Scotland is one of 36 member countries of the Standing International Conference of Education Inspectorates (SICI) who are actively researching the impact of inspection on improvement and the ways in which inspection can inform policy. The Scottish approach to improvement in education is an internationally recognised model of good practice in school self-evaluation, inspection and improvement. It would therefore undermine this approach if we were to split the inspection and improvement functions of Education Scotland.

There was clear support among respondents to the Governance Review consultation for the positive role which Education Scotland plays in ensuring that standards are understood and maintained at a national level. Its dual role in supporting development of the curriculum and providing independent evaluation of its implementation ensures a continuous cycle of improvement across the system. Concerns which were raised in consultation responses about the need to place greater emphasis on support and to avoid duplication in the inspection roles of Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate have been addressed by our proposals set out in the Education Governance: Next Steps paper.

Our decision to retain the inspection and improvement functions within Education Scotland takes into consideration plans to further empower headteachers and to establish Regional Improvement Collaboratives which will distribute support for improvement throughout the education system. Education Scotland will have a clearer national role providing valuable insight into the implementation of education policy through its school inspection programme and other quality assurance activity at school and local authority level. It will, along with other national education bodies, work towards creating an education system which will trust and invest in teachers and practitioners as empowered, skilled, confident, collaborative and networked professionals.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S5W-10674 on 24 August and S5W-09484 on 16 June 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-10674 on 24 August 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Initial discussions with stakeholders have already begun. The Scottish Government will continue to consult with a wide range of interests over the coming months, through a variety of channels and networks that will include the International Council of Education Advisers, the Teacher Panel and the soon to be established Scottish Education Council. This will secure agreement on an approach that will help to drive improvement and measure progress in reducing the poverty related attainment gap. This work will be concluded in December 2017.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-10674 on 24 August 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As I said in the debate on 21 June, the Scottish Information Commissioner who is completely independent of government is already scrutinising our FOI performance. We are co-operating fully with that scrutiny and have a programme of action under way to improve our performance. At this stage we do not think any alternative independent inquiry would be more effective than the Commissioner’s current intervention, given the Commissioner’s independence, expert knowledge and experience.

In my answer to S5W-10393 I noted that the timeline for the policy review would be extended and that a report on the emerging findings of the review is due for publication in Autumn 2017. We will set out in that report our plans for ensuring the continued delivery of essential lifeline ferry services to the Northern Isles.

Throughout education, the Government and its partner bodies are working to equip all young people with the digital skills they need to thrive in modern society and the workplace, from basic digital literacy through to more specialised computing science disciplines, including the computational thinking and technical skills required in software development and coding.

The Government’s Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy, along with our draft STEM Strategy, seek to embed the use of technology in learning and teaching right across the curriculum, providing a foundation for digital skills development. The Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy contains more than 40 actions that are designed to improve children’s access to digital learning opportunities, empower innovation and investment in digital technology across the school estate, develop teachers’ skills and confidence, and make sure that the use of digital technology is integrated right across the curriculum.

We have refreshed the school curriculum for the teaching of computing science and digital literacy to ensure it reflects the needs of modern life and the labour market. The updated computing science curriculum focuses on 3 main concepts: understanding the world through computational thinking, understanding and analysing computing technology and designing, building and testing computing solutions which include developing coding skills. We have worked with Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Microsoft to introduce Digital School Awards to recognise the innovative and creative practice to developing digital skills in schools that is developing across all local authority areas. We have also worked with British Telecom and the British Computing Society to introduce the Barefoot Computing project which provides free teaching resources and volunteer-led training workshops to help primary teachers gain confidence when teaching computing science.

Since June 2016 Digital Xtra has made £400,000 available to help young people across Scotland develop their digital skills through extra-curricular opportunities such as coding clubs and competitions. The Digital Xtra Fund is one example of the Government’s commitment to closing the digital skills gap.

In addition, our Digital Strategy for Scotland, Realising Scotland's full potential in a digital world, highlights the importance of digital education in the curriculum and sets out a range of actions including expanding the number of school coding clubs.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with religious groups to discuss the provision of education, however, no discussions have taken place recently regarding the setting up of faith schools.

In accordance with Section 17 of the 1980 Act, local authorities may establish a denominational school for any denomination or faith if they are satisfied that such a school is required, either in response to representations made to them by any church or denominational body acting on behalf of parents, or on their own initiative.

The Scottish Government welcomes the positive contribution that denominational education can make to Scottish education in ensuring successful learners, effective contributors, responsible citizens and confident individuals.

We are currently working with local authorities to produce estimates of the potential capital costs associated with delivering the expansion to 1140 hours by 2020.

To aid this process a funding letter was issued to local authorities on 19 May 2017 indicating that ELC expansion plans, which are due for submission to the Scottish Government by 29 September 2017, should be prepared on the assumption that £400 million of capital funding will be available at national level across the next three financial years (2018-19 to 2020-21 inclusive). This indicative figure will help to initiate the necessary iterative process needed to generate a robust estimate of overall capital costs.

I have lodged copies of the 19 May funding letter to local authorities, and also the preceding letter of 19 March 2017 on funding allocations, with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 58900).