Question reference: S6W-09624
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 5 July 2022
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with those children and parents who benefit most from pupil equity funding to obtain their views on the decision to have police officers based in schools through the allocation of pupil equity funding, and what evidence it received from that engagement which indicates that having police officers based in schools is an effective tool in reducing the poverty related attainment gap.
Answer
The Scottish Government empowers Head Teachers to make local decisions that are best suited to the needs of their communities. This includes engagement with their own parents and children. As outlined in the refreshed 2022 PEF National Operational Guidance, a key principle of Pupil Equity Funding outlines that headteachers should ensure that parents, carers and children and young people should be meaningfully involved throughout the processes of planning, implementing and evaluating any approaches. Schools must have plans in place at the outset to evaluate the impact of the funding. These plans should outline clear outcomes to be achieved and how progress towards these, and the impact on closing the poverty-related attainment gap, will be measured.