Additional support for learning: action plan (updated October 2021)

4.2 Role of Grant Aided Special Schools

Recommendation

The Grant Aided Special Schools and three national centres must use the opportunities that arise from the commissioning strand of the Doran Review[3] to consider how their specialist expertise (including in prevention and de-escalation) can be developed to be complementary to statutory mainstream and specialist provision in order to support improvement in the experiences and outcome of children and young people with additional support needs.

Response

Accept

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

Through continued work towards implementation of the Doran Review recommendations, the Grant-Aided Special Schools and National Centres, as well as the Scottish Government will work with Local Government and other key partners to consider opportunities to share the expertise of staff supporting children and young people with complex additional support needs in specialist settings throughout the wider education system.

The Doran Strategic Commissioning Group which makes recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary on options for strategic commissioning, will consider this recommendation at a future meeting of the group.

ADES will consider this recommendation further in relation to local commissioning which has progressed since the Doran Review

Delivery Timescale

As set out at 9.1, as part of its on-going commitment to monitoring progress of the ASL Action Plan, ASLIG will review the reporting cycles and provide an update in Spring 2022.

Status Oct 2021

On-going / on track

Progress made:

The Doran Review's national strategic commissioning group is developing a pilot to enhance existing post graduate teacher leadership programmes with complex additional support needs content and special school hosted placements. It is anticipated that the pilot will run in the 2022-23 academic year.

The group will also undertake research in 2021-22 to provide evidence of the ways in which support for pupils with complex additional support needs is provided to reach their full potential across Scotland to inform the National Commissioning Group and inform work by Scottish Government, Education Scotland, ASPEP, CoSLA and the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES), Social Work Scotland and Child Health Commissioners, to support workforce planning.