Chamber and committees

Work to refresh guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools is underway. There have been high level discussions with local authority and school representatives as part of that process. The Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, which includes a wide range of representative interests, including local authorities and others, will oversee the development of the refreshed guidance, which will be published in the Spring.

Education Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government and as such there is regular engagement between Scottish Government and Education Scotland officials on a range of education matters. Senior Scottish Government officials will next meet the Interim Chief Executive of Education Scotland to discuss education on 28 February 2024.

I am advised that Education Scotland established a National Timetable Group in October 2022. This brought together experienced timetablers from across Scotland. I am advised that the group has met on a number of occasions and has considered the practicalities of providing additional time for collegiate working to support moderation. Education Scotland is gathering analysis with a view to sharing case studies of approaches from schools and local authorities.

Education Scotland has carried out a survey of teachers via curriculum area networks on support for consistency in teacher professional judgement . This survey received responses from over 500 teachers.

Education Scotland has initiated a programme of exploratory work with teachers from across all Dundee City Council secondary schools to explore approaches to improving the consistency of teacher professional judgment.

Education Scotland do not undertake individual characteristic impact analysis on our resources.

The new draft Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework will be reviewed in April through to June 2024 and user feedback will be included in a formal Equality Impact Assessment.

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.

We have begun engagement with trade unions and other stakeholders in preparation for the wider co-design process which will start this month. We anticipate the design process will take approximately six months to ensure this is a collaborative endeavour. This will feed into the identification of a suitable host institution, followed by a launch once appointed. Specific timelines will follow once the specification of the Centre has been developed through the co-design process.

Children and young people with additional support needs continue to achieve and we continue to prioritise reducing the attainment gap in Scotland. The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data shows that the attainment gap between mainstream school pupils with additional support needs and those pupils with no additional support needs, across all primary stages and for S3 Third Level or better, has reduced since 2021-2022.

Since 2019-20, we have continued to invest £15m per year to support local authorities and schools to respond to the individual needs of their children and young people. In 2022, 307 additional pupil support assistants were recruited as a direct result of this investment, supporting our ongoing commitment to reduce the attainment gap. We also provide over £11m of funding to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and their families.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the experiences and outcomes for young people with additional support needs, which we have outlined in our Programme for Government 2023-24. Ministers will work with teachers to provide additional professional learning opportunities while seeking to build on the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

As announced in the statement to the Scottish Parliament on 12 December 2023 His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education will arrange for HM Inspectors to carry out a national thematic inspection of mathematics in 2024, which will report in autumn 2024.

A national thematic inspection of literacy and English will begin in 2024. The timescale for reporting currently being finalised by HM Inspectors.

The final thematic reports will be developed by HM Inspectors and will be published on the Education Scotland website and shared with schools and local authorities. The reports will summarise the findings of HM Inspectors and highlight what is working well, and what needs to improve.

The Scottish Government is providing a variety of ways for teachers and practitioners to feed into the design process, including working with the following stakeholder groups:

• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)

• Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE)

• General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)

• Association of Directors of Education (ADES)

• Professional Associations and Trade Unions; including EIS, SSTA, NASUWT, SLS and AHDS.

• Scottish Government Strategic Board for Teacher Education

• Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS)

• National education bodies

• Early Learning and Childcare representatives

• Community Learning and Development representatives

No individual has been or will be, invited to lead the maths curriculum review by Scottish Government. The appointment of a national maths specialist will be open and transparent, following established Scottish Government recruitment procedures.