Additional Support for Learning review - action plan: third progress report

Children and Young People’s View

The ASL Action Plan has an overarching recommendation to co-create and collaborate with children, young people and their families, because this will support more coherent, inclusive and all-encompassing policy making. This in turn, will improve the implementation, impact and experience. To enable this, children and young people must be listened to and involved in all decision making relating to additional support for learning. We have heard that children and young people with additional support needs would like to see the breadth of their achievements fully recognised. The Scottish Government has established the Success looks Different Awards to achieve this, and the case study below demonstrates the impact of this Award in practice.

Case Study – Success Looks Different Awards

In 2023, the Inclusion Ambassadors, presented schools and nurseries with Success Looks Different Awards. The awards recognise how nurseries and schools support, celebrate, and include pupils with additional support needs. The entries received in 2023 have included a focus on the central pillars of inclusive practice including; Relationships, including pupils in celebrating success, Creativity and innovation, Student leaders, Whole school celebrations, focus on the whole learner, Community connection, Positive communication, Meaningful and inclusive awareness raising events. The information below is drawn from the applications and those awarded as part of the success looks different awards in 2023.

Relationships and recognising success

Schools and nurseries achieved good relationships and recognising success by

• creating space and time for staff to build relationships with their pupils
• learning about their needs and interests
• individualised planning which recognises the different goals, capabilities, and learning needs of each pupil and building relationships with families and the wider community.

Including pupils in celebrating success

Applicants included pupils in celebrating their success by

• offering a range of ways to celebrate success from whole-school assemblies to individualised postcards sent home
• creating opportunities for pupil’s voices to be heard through pupil-led groups
• curriculum choices and showcasing the importance of relationships in enabling staff to understand how and what their pupils would like to celebrate.

Creativity and innovation

Schools and nurseries achieved creativity and innovation through offering a range of different awards and programmes on a variety of different topics, from

• outdoor learning to digital skills
• providing pupils with curriculum choices • giving them autonomy to pursue their own interests and making use of technology
• other resources to provide engaging and creative opportunities.

Student leaders

Examples of positive practice on Student Leaders included

• including pupils in developing school values showed schools’ commitment to meaningful inclusion and whole-school pupil participation
• pupil councils, committees, and groups were utilised to bring about school-wide change and create new opportunities for success
• meaningful action based on pupil’s feedback: buying resources requested, engaging in new projects, listening and recording pupil contributions as part of planning.

Whole school celebrations

Good practice examples of whole-school celebrations included approaches such as:

• Investing in a whole-school culture of inclusion through school values, school-wide activities and initiatives, and staff training
• Celebrating awards that recognise pupils who have exemplified their school’s values, like kindness, effort, inclusion and community
• Sharing pupil success with the wider community through schoolwide newsletters, staff updates, and social media channels.

Focus on the whole learner

Applicants focussed on the whole learner by:

• Offering alternative environments within school – sensory spaces, break-out spaces, places for rest and relaxation
• Creating pupil-led focus groups and curriculum choice groups to support pupils to engage with areas of interest or find common ground with their peers
• Training for all staff on topics such as attachment, de-escalation and self-regulation, BSL (British Sign Language) and Makaton, and pupil participation.

Community connection

Schools and nurseries achieved Community Connection by:

• Communicating pupil successes through social media, newsletters, and school online platforms
• Building relationships with families and other agencies to ensure a true ‘team around the child’ approach
• Inviting the community to engage with the school, such as guest speakers, joint projects and learning opportunities with local charities.

Positive communication with parents, carers and families

Examples of Positive communication with parents, carers and families include:

• Emails, texts, and postcards sent to parents and carers to celebrate their child’s successes, no matter how big or small
• Inviting families to engage with school celebrations, such as assemblies, graduations, and open evenings to showcase children’s achievements.

Meaningful and inclusive awareness raising events

We heard how schools and nurseries achieved meaningful and inclusive awareness raising events by:

• Whole-school engagement with events such as Autism Acceptance Week and Dyslexia Awareness Week
• Pupil-led focus groups on issues such as children’s rights and neurodiversity, whose ideas and feedback are used to support activities and school-wide initiatives.