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

6.1 Relationships between Schools and Parents

Recommendation

Schools and local authorities must work in partnership with parents and carers to develop, and deliver ways of working together that support and promote positive relationships, communication and co-operation.

Response

Accept.

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

Aligned to work being taken forward on empowerment, parental engagement and involvement, and the NIF, and recognising that parents and carers are key partners in their children's learning, schools and local authorities will seek opportunities to enhance partnership working with parents and carers, through consolidating positive relationships, communication and collaboration. In doing this, schools and local authorities should consider ways to identify and address any barriers which may arise.

Through current Quality Improvement frameworks including HGIOS4, ADES will promote good examples of joint working with parents, local authorities and schools.

Aligned to the work to develop a measurement framework (1.2), ADES will consider opportunities to gather robust evidence of the effective relationships between parents and professionals and will work with ASLIG to consider how this can be presented within the framework.

In support of work to enhance partnership working locally, the Scottish Government will seek to publish a revised, cross-portfolio summary of the national offer on family support, including how to ask for help, and the principles of good support. We will work with partners to ensure that this is kept under review and captures the wide-ranging support that is available to families of children with additional support needs.

Further, the Scottish Government will consider the scope of the national advice and information service for additional support for learning (Enquire), to ensure that it is effectively resourced to meet the needs of the families that it supports, and can effectively collaborate across services to ensure reach.

Getting it right for every child remains the overarching approach to supporting children and young people. The Scottish Government are developing new policy and practice guidance with stakeholders including children, young people and parents. This will cover the key components of GIRFEC including a named person or single point of contact who can consider holistically the wellbeing of children and young people; and, the co-ordination of support for identified needs through a single child's plan by a lead professional to meet identified needs.

New practice guidance will highlight the roles of local authorities and schools and their work in partnership with other services to deliver integrated and joined up support for children and young people.

This will also underpin the Scottish Government's work on wider family support which links to the commitment made by the Scottish Government and Local Government to take forward the conclusions of the independent Care Review, published earlier this year. The Promise made clear that all families and carers caring for disabled children, looked after children and those with additional support needs should be supported and that schools have a role to play in offering non-stigmatised, community-based support. Schools should also be ambitious for care experienced children and ensure they have all they need to thrive, recognising that they may experience difficulties associated with their life story.

The Scottish Government will seek to work with Local Government to consider with partners including parents and carers, additional avenues for engagement with parents and carers to empower and support families to access the right support at the right time and promote positive communication between families and schools and local authorities.

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.

Publication planned early 2022 for GIRFEC Policy statement and practice guidance on named person, lead professional, using the National Practice Model and information sharing, and an information sharing charter. Guidance on the child's plan element of GIRFEC planned for 2022.

Status Oct 2021

On-going / on track

Progress made:

The Scottish Government and Local Government remain fully committed to working in partnership with parents and carers, recognising their vital role as partners in their children's learning. We recognise that key to this is that parents and carers are informed and can access information on their rights and the support available to them and their families. To support and promote the national offer on family support, the Scottish Government has worked with Parent Club to publish a Family Support Directory which provides signposting for parents and carers to organisations, benefits and information across a range of topics including on additional support for learning. . The Scottish Government has also worked in collaboration with Parent Club to enhance the information and signposting that is available on their web pages on additional support for learning in schools and early learning and childcare seeking to ensure that parents and carers can access the right support when they need it.

To further support parents and carers, the Scottish Government increased funding to Enquire – the national advice and information service on additional support for learning – during this financial year. This seeks to ensure that this vital service is effectively resourced to meet the needs of the families that it supports, and can effectively collaborate across services to ensure reach and visibility.

To support families' access to early information on additional support for learning, the Scottish Government has worked with the Scottish Book Trust and Enquire to include information and signposting on additional support for learning within the Read, Write Count packs which are provided to every child in primary 2-3 in Scotland.

To ensure that early information continues to be made available to parents and carers, the Scottish Government continues to explore with partners, opportunities to provide information and guidance on additional support for learning through universal resources such as Book Bug and information provided to new parents seeking to ensure that parents and carers are given information and support at the earliest point possible to support early identification of need. .

Getting it right for every child remains the overarching approach to supporting children and young people in Scotland. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with partners, including parents and carers, to refresh GIRFEC policy and practice guidance to highlight the roles of local authorities and schools and their work in partnership with other services to deliver integrated and joined up support for children and young people. Work on the GIRFEC refresh was paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but resumed in March 2021. A Consultation is planned for autumn 2021 on the refreshed GIRFEC Policy statement. Practice guidance on named person; lead professional; using the National Practice Model; and information sharing will also be consulted on in addition to an information sharing charter. Further, guidance on the child's plan element of GIRFEC will be developed with stakeholders and published during 2022.

ADES remain committed to supporting the development of National Measurement Framework (set out at 1.2) through work to consider opportunities to gather robust evidence of the effective relationships between parents and professionals. This work has been paused due to Covid-19. However, it is due to restart in November 2021. ADES will work with the National Measurement Framework sub group as part on their ongoing development of the national measurement framework to agree how this information can be best presented within the framework.

The Scottish Government and Local Government continue to take forward work on wider family support and deliver commitment made by the Scottish Government and Local Government to take forward the conclusions of the independent Care Review. Work continues across Government and Local Authorities to #KeepThePromise to care experienced young people. This will include the investment of £500 million in a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund over the course of this Parliament and introduction of the new Care Experience Grant.

The Scottish Government and Local Government recognise that there is more to do to empower and support families to access the right support at the right time and promote positive communication between families and schools and local authorities. The Scottish Government and Local Government will continue to work with partners, including parents and carers to identify additional avenues for engagement to develop and deliver ways of working together that support and promote positive relationships, communication and co-operation.

6.1.1

Recommendation

This must include clear pathways on transitions for children and young people with additional support needs, in the context of learning for life, allowing parents and carers, children and young people and professionals to be informed and supported at key transition points.

Response

Accept.

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

New policy and practice guidance on GIRFEC will include consideration of individual needs at key transition points.

The "Principles of Good Transitions 3" provide a framework to inform, structure and encourage the continual improvement of support for young people with additional needs between the ages of 14 and 25 who are making the transition to young adult life. The Scottish Government are working closely with ARC Scotland (the Association for Real Change) on the development and trial of Principles into Practice.

Further, as part of the refresh of the Code of Practice, the Scottish Government will seek to enhance and align the guidance within the Code on transitions. This will be done in full collaboration with stakeholders, including parents and carers.

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:

As part of the Programme for Government 2021 commitment, the Scottish Government will begin work on Scotland's first National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy in this Parliamentary Term to ensure there is a joined up approach to supporting our disabled young people. Our priority is to start early discussions with disabled children and young people in the coming months to ensure their voices are clearly heard across developing policies that impact their daily lives.

In 2020/21, the Scottish Government committed funding to ARC Scotland to deliver the two year Principles into Practice Trial Programme which launched in December 2020 with 10 participating local authority areas. The aim of the trial is to support the improvement of transitions support available to young people and their parents and carers in the participating trial areas test and bring the draft of Principles into Practice and associated resources to completion to support its implementation more widely across Scotland.

The working group to refresh the Supporting Learners' Code of Practice has been re-established. It will explore ways to strengthen the guidance in the Code on transitions.

6.1.2

Recommendation

Parents and carers must be involved as equal partners in the development of key guidance bringing their knowledge and lived experience.

Response

Accept

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

In line with the actions set out at 3.2.1, the Scottish Government and Local Government will continue to ensure that parents and carers are fully involved and listened to in the development and consideration of policy and key guidance.

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:

As a key guiding principle, the Scottish Government always seek to create opportunities to ensure that children and young people and parents and carers are fully involved and listened to in additional support for learning policy development. Aligned to actions at 3.2.1, the Scottish Government always seek to create opportunities to ensure that parents and carers are fully involved and listened to in additional support for learning policy development. The Scottish Government recognises that parents and carers are key partners in policy development. Parents and carers are represented in all of our stakeholder groups, including at ASLIG, the short-life working group on Co-ordinated Support Plans and the re-established Code of Practice working group. .

The Scottish Government is actively considering with partners, additional avenues for increased parental engagement to support delivery of the ASL action plan.

6.1.3

Recommendation

Further investment is needed to strengthen support services for families, allowing these services and the support that they provide to be embedded.

Response

Accept

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

The Scottish Government will consider other areas in which it can enhance the support that it provides to services which support families.

This will be considered by ASLIG in order to consider gaps, and to support development of appropriate services.

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 Scottish Government increased funding to Enquire – the national advice and information service on additional support for learning – during this financial year, seeking to ensure that this vital service is effectively resourced to meet the needs of the families that it supports, and can effectively collaborate across services to ensure reach and visibility

As set out in the Scottish Government's Programme for Government, work will continue across Government to #KeepThePromise. This will include the investment of £500 million in a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund over the course of this Parliament, The Scottish Government will also introduce a new Care Experience Grant, a £200 annual payment over 10 years for care experienced young people.

ASLIG will continue to consider this area and provide advice to Scottish Ministers on additional ways to support the development of appropriate services.

6.1.4

Recommendation

The benefits of the use of mediation must be widely promoted at a national, regional and local level and consideration should be given to how mediation can be developed through professional learning to support the workforce.

Response

Accept

Actions to be taken forward - Oct 2020

The Scottish Government will undertake to highlight and promote the benefits of a mediation approach, including in the development of national guidance, such as the Code of Practice.

We will explore initiatives for collaborative training through professional learning and recognition.

ADES will support this approach and promote its use as a means and evidence of improvement.

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 / delayed due to Covid-19

Progress made:

There is a range of information available on the use of mediation to resolve concerns between parents and carers and schools and local authorities. This includes guidance within the Statutory Supporting Learners' Code of Practice and detailed guidance and resources from the Enquire service. The working group to refresh the Supporting Learners' Code of Practice has been re-established. As part of its work, it will consider opportunities to highlight and promote the use of a mediation approach. As this work develops, the group will explore opportunities for collaborative training on mediation approaches. The group will also work collaboratively with partners, including Enquire to ensure that information and support on mediation and its benefits is available for parents and carers.

ADES remains supportive of this approach and will promote its use as means and evidence of improvement. Work to take this forward has paused due to Covid-19. It is due to restart in November 2021.