Question reference: S6W-09742
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 13 July 2022
-
Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 27 July 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to the development of a module to support the understanding of the specific additional support for learning needs of children and young people from armed forces and veterans' families as part of compulsory undergraduate, post-graduate and continued professional development teacher training.
Answer
As the independent review of Additional Support for Learning (ASL) made clear, all teachers have a central role in assessing and supporting all children with additional support needs, including those from armed forces and veterans’ families.
Although the Scottish Government cannot mandate content for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses, as part of our jointly agreed ASL Action Plan, we have taken a number of actions to support the training and professional development of teachers:
- In 2021, the GTCS refreshed both the professional standards and the standards for ITE providers to make explicit reference to Additional Support Needs throughout.
- In June this year, the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group published an updated edition of the National Framework for Inclusion . This reflective tool supports both student and qualified teachers to continue developing their inclusive practice.
- Education Scotland, working collaboratively with the ADES National Transitions Officer and Forces Children Scotland, developed a professional learning resource – Supporting Armed Forces Families . This resource provides information about deployment, mobility, transitions and the impacts these can have on children from Armed Forces families.
As part of our ongoing work to implement the ASL Action Plan, we will continue to support the training and professional development of teachers in developing inclusive practice which supports all learners.
Further, the statutory Code of Practice on Additional Support for Learning which provides guidance to education authorities on their duties under the Act, makes clear that children of parents in the Armed Forces may have additional support needs.