Chamber and committees

Following an agreement led by SOLACE, local partnerships are providing weekly data to the Scottish Government on what is happening locally across children’s services partnerships during the current pandemic crisis. This dataset includes information about how many children with multi-agency plans have been contacted by a professional in health, education, social work or third sector services in the last week.

In the most recent data returned, all 32 local authorities provided this information, reporting that there had been contact, in the last week, with 29,782 children which is 71% of the total number of children reported to have a multi-agency plan. It is not possible to report whether any of the children with a multi-agency plan have had no contact with services since schools closed.

Further information about the data from local partnerships and other available intelligence relating to vulnerable children and young people is detailed in the reports published on the Scottish Government website in April and May:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-vulnerable-children-young-people-data-intelligence-report/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/vulnerable-children-report-15-2020-scottish-government-solace/

Education Scotland is providing a range of additional resources to support parents and practitioners with providing learning at home and to deliver continuity for learners across Scotland. This includes: a newly created resource bank of learning activities for a variety of ages; the continued provision ofa bank of online resources featuring collated materials across curriculum areas and sectors; a range of webinars to help practitioners get the most of out of Glow, and practical advice and tips for parents through the Parents’ Club online resource and the Parentzone Scotland website.

The SQA has provided Frequently Asked Questions around the provision of estimates for candidates who are studying at home or with a private tutor on their website at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/93797.html . For learners studying from home at present, within the Parent and Carer support section of their website, the SQA has referenced resources around National Courses as well links to support from partner organisations which can be found at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/93825.9757.html .

We continue to monitor a range of evidence to help to inform our approach. This includes ongoing monitoring of the young person surveys conducted by Young Scot and the Children’s Parliament, both of which have addressed the theme of young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

In recognition of the central role of pupils’ mental health the Strategic Framework for Reopening Schools, Early Learning and Childcare Provision in Scotland states that authorities should protect “the physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people”.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/excellent-equity-during-covid-19-pandemic-strategic-framework-reopening-schools-early-learning-childcare-provision-scotland/

We have provided £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental health and wellbeing. This will be updated based on what young people tell us they need.

The government will continue to work with young people organisations to draw on evidence from their surveys of children and young people in relation both to learning-related issues and wider issues.

Local authorities are responsible for monitoring education provision, including where there are barriers to accessing that provision.

We recognise that digital exclusion is an issue for some learners in Scotland and have undertaken exploratory work with local authorities through SOLACE, ADES and Cosla to understand the scale of the issue. Subsequently, we have committed to investing £30m to help ensure that learners without access to the internet or devices are catered for ahead of the 20-21 academic year and we are working closely with local authorities to take that forward.

Education Scotland, the national improvement agency for education, is providing a range of additional resources to support parents and practitioners with providing learning at home, and to deliver continuity for learners across Scotland.

To support teachers in particular, Education Scotland has organised and run a series of webinars which have covered topics such as digital literacy skills, evidencing learning using ipads, and getting the most out of Glow.

These webinars remain available for practitioners to view and a further 9 webinars have been scheduled which will look at numeracy and mathematics through computing science; the use of g-suite collaboration tools within Glow and other topics to assist educators across Scotland.

Education Scotland also published Learning and Teaching online: Advice for practitioners on the 12 May.

Closing the poverty related attainment gap is the defining mission of this government, with equity remaining a key principle of the strategic framework on re-opening of schools and early learning and childcare centres which was published on 21 May.

That is why we are continuing with our commitment to invest £182 million from the Attainment Scotland Fund in 2020/21, including Pupil Equity Funding. For the first time, Pupil Equity Fund allocations have been confirmed for two years, with over £250 million committed to schools across 2020/21 and 2021/22. This will help to provide more certainty for head teachers and aid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. This Pupil Equity Funding will benefit 97% of schools across every local authority in Scotland.

Due to the ongoing challenges currently facing schools and local authorities I have relaxed the guidance on Attainment Scotland Funding streams to support Local Authorities in deploying this funding flexibly to best support vulnerable children from the most deprived backgrounds. There are already a number of such examples, including the provision of laptops and/tablets to support digital learning at home, purchase and delivery of books and other learning material to children at home, providing transport to enable some learners to attend LA Hubs, and supporting home-school link workers to maintain regular contact with children.

We recognise that digital exclusion is a particular issue for some of our most disadvantaged learners. To help ensure as many children and young people as possible are able to connect with their schools, continue their learning, access support and engage with their peers, we are investing an initial £9 million which will provide devices and connectivity for 25,000 learners across Scotland. This is the first phase of our £30 million commitment to support digital inclusion for children and young people, which we are working closely with local authority partners to deliver.

Due to the ongoing challenges currently facing schools and local authorities I have relaxed the guidance on Attainment Scotland Funding streams to support Local Authorities in deploying this funding flexibly to best support vulnerable children from the most deprived backgrounds. There are already a number of such examples, including the provision of laptops and tablets to support digital learning at home, purchase and delivery of books and other learning material to children at home, providing transport to enable some learners to attend LA Hubs, and supporting home-school link workers to maintain regular contact with children.

We recognise that digital exclusion is a particular issue for some of our most disadvantaged learners. To help ensure as many children and young people as possible are able to connect with their schools, continue their learning, access support and engage with their peers, we are investing an initial £9 million which will provide devices and connectivity for 25,000 learners across Scotland. This is the first phase of our £30 million commitment to support digital inclusion for children and young people, which we are working closely with local authority partners to deliver.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of home learning rests with schools and local authorities. However, we are working closely with local authority partners, teaching unions, parent representatives and other stakeholders through the Education Recovery Group to support home learning. The Group allows stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience on current home learning provision, building the widest possible agreement as we plan the way ahead.

The four capacities at the centre of Curriculum for Excellence remain, however, learning and teaching practice has had to adapt to ensure children and young people can continue to progress in their learning whilst at home. Our ‘Supporting Pupils, Parents And Teachers – Learning During Term 4’ guidance outlines the steps that are being taken to ensure that learning can continue during term 4 of the current academic year.

We have also recently published a strategic framework on the re-opening of schools and early learning and childcare settings, which is designed to achieve the safe reopening of schools and provides consistency and equity in a national approach for children and young people that is underpinned by local planning and delivery. A suite of supporting guidance is being published to cover the practical issues that local authorities and learning settings must consider when developing local arrangements. This will include advice and guidance on implementation measures, preparing the curriculum offer, wellbeing support, and delivery of early learning and childcare. It will also include specific considerations for each sector, based upon the health evidence relevant to each age group.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of learning and teaching, including the use of home learning rests with schools and local authorities.

We know from local authorities, that they are working extremely hard with schools and partner organisations to identify and reach children who may struggle to engage in home learning and to provide support which best suits their needs.