Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress implementing the recommendations of the review of personal and social education.
The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering and implementing the recommendations of the review, as personal and social education (PSE) offers us an opportunity to ensure children and young people are prepared for the issues and challenges life may bring. It is essential we equip our children and young people with the skills and understanding to enable them to deal with the fast changing culture and society we live in and good quality PSE will help achieve that.
Since the publication of the Review in January 2019, we have made progress in delivering the recommendations, with three recommendations around the setting up and action plan of the Delivery and Implementation Group and guidance and support to schools on the spectrum of mental health and wellbeing services available to meet the needs of staff and children and young people completed. We have also taken forward work in the following areas including advice and guidance on approaches to monitoring pupil progression in PSE; reviewing the relationships, sexual health and parenthood teaching guidance; peer reviewing effective curricular materials to support learning on protected characteristics and for learners requiring additional support needs; developing learning resources to support PSE that are accessible to all teachers and school staff in Scotland; and, taking steps to ensure the role of PSE/guidance teacher is recognised and promoted in the implementation of new careers pathways for teachers. These remains key strands of work require to be developed in partnership with stakeholders who were not in a position to prioritise this work. As a result of this, full implementation of the recommendations has been delayed until the end of March 2022.
Further detail on progress in implementing the recommendations of the PSE Review was set out in a letter dated 23 December 2020 to the Scottish Parliament's Education and Skills Committee, a copy of which can be found at: