Anti-Racism in Education Programme Board minutes: September 2024

Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were noted as above.

Guided mindfulness

The Chair outlined the rules around ensuring respectful dialogue.

Recognising the benefits of instilling mindful practice in all approaches to the AREP work, the group took 5 minutes to reflect. The Chair thanked Members for their hard work as AREP Board Members and reiterated the importance of partaking in self-care.

Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as final. The Secretariat provided an update on outstanding actions

• group Members were encouraged to send further thoughts on finance proposals and work plans, as well as where actions could be progressed with additional funding, via email to Secretariat – ongoing, Members were reminded of the current financial situation, spending controls etc, as discussed in the previous meeting. The Secretariat noted that it may be helpful for Members to continue keeping potential proposals in mind for a time when there is financial flexibility again
• the Secretariat agreed to consider how to engage young people in the work of the Programme following the withdrawal of the Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament – ongoing, the Secretariat again noted the current fiscal context and therefore it is not currently possible to remunerate young people for their engagement with the AREP Board. The Secretariat noted that the Board should continue to use the data already collated (e.g. outputs from IYS’ Youth Ambassadors and Show Racism The Red Card) to ensure input from young people
• the Secretariat agreed to investigate with Scottish Government analytical services colleagues to discuss if a Theory of Change (ToC) model for each of the workstreams would be possible – ongoing, the Secretariat reached out to subgroup leads to provide all of the material which informs their group’s work. Once the Secretariat have received this and worked through it, they will meet with the subgroup leads to consider how to provide an initial session to discuss the best way to tackle the development of the ToCs. They will then set up 2 x 90 minute sessions with the individual subgroups. This will take up until the end of 2024
• the Secretariat agreed to contact Connect to discuss undertaking parental engagement in relation to the AREP – ongoing, the Secretariat met with Connect to discuss 6 weeks ago, however due to the current fiscal context, it is not possible to provide funding
• group Members are to provide comments on IYS’ Youth Ambassadors’ recommendations by close of business on Monday 8 July – ongoing, at the previous meeting, Members asked for more time to consider the recommendations and committed to having a conclusive discussion on them in today’s meeting, under agenda item 9

Recap of previous meeting and overview of this one

The Chair reminded Members of what was discussed at the August 2024 meeting of the Board and provided a summary of that discussion. The Chair noted that Members discussed the rolling agenda items on education reform, finance and subgroup progress updates, as well as IYS’ Youth Ambassadors’ recommendations and the AREP Summit replacement event, which was to be continued in today’s meeting under agenda item 8.

The Chair noted that going forward, the rolling agenda items will be provided under one agenda item, entitled “Scottish Government updates”, which will also include an update on progress on the Anti-Racist Observatory.

Education Reform (including National Discussion and Reform of Assessment and Qualifications)

The Secretariat outlined the current position with regards to Education Reform

• the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills made a statement on the review of Qualifications and Assessment (known as the “Hayward Review”) to Scottish Parliament on 19 September (transcript  provided in the agenda of this meeting). Key points were
  • internal and continuous assessment will contribute a greater percentage of the final grade in the senior phase
  • examinations will remain part of the overall national approach and will not be removed from the majority of national 5 courses
  • some rationalisation of the senior phase to create clearer pathways that are less confusing for young people
  • development of a national digital profile which will benefit young people by helping them to consolidate their learning
  • support in principle for the development of a leaving certificate, however it is believed that more work is needed to determine the exact content of this and how it would work
  • the commitment to the delivery of class contact time being reduced by 90 minutes per week, remains

• work continues to set up a Centre for Teaching Excellence, particularly in relation to its development and scope. The expectation is that the Centre will be hosted by a university, learning from the successful model of the Centre for Excellence of Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS). The aim is to appoint a host to the Centre by the end of 2024 and the deadline to apply for funding is Monday 7 October

Finance

The Secretariat reminded Members of the significant update provided at the previous meeting regarding Scottish Government’s spending controls that have been brought in for the current quarter. It was noted that Finance will remain as a rolling agenda item so that Members can discuss ideas and proposals to potentially take forward when spending controls are relaxed.

The Secretariat then provided an update regarding the Anti-Racist Observatory, and reminded Members that Ima Jackson and Talat Yaqoob, who are leading on the development of the Observatory, attended a previous Board meeting. The Secretariat noted that the procurement process to identify a host closed recently and evaluation of bids is now underway. It is expected that the successful organisation will host for 2 years and the Observatory will then become independent. There is currently a design advisory group which is supporting design and implementation, which will then be transferred fully to the Observatory. Its goals are to be finalised, but there will be a focus on co-production, skills building, accountability, policy, data and research, cultural engagement and advocacy. Once implemented, the Observatory will create and maintain strategic partnerships across sectors, including the third sector, to ensure lived experience and co-production remain key components.

Members noted this was a helpful update and said that progress sounds promising and ambitious especially with regards to connections with the community. Members reflected that it is important to ensure that expectations are realistic, particularly for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community members who have high expectations for the Observatory. The Secretariat noted that they can provide this feedback to Scottish Government colleagues leading on the Observatory, and that they have reached out to ask if a colleague can join the AREP Board to provide a helpful conduit between policy areas.

Action: Secretariat to feedback Members thoughts to Scottish Government colleagues working on the Anti-Racism Observatory.

Action: Secretariat to confirm if/which Scottish Government colleague(s) working on the Anti-Racism Observatory will join the AREP Board.

Progress updates from each of the chairs of the AREP subgroups

The Chair referred Members to paper 1, the programme grid which contains all of the subgroup’s actions in one place. She noted that Members gave positive feedback for this approach at the previous meeting and that further feedback for improvement is welcome. The subgroup Chairs/Leads then provided the following verbal updates.

DiTPEW subgroup updates

The subgroup met the previous day to discuss how to best support the work that has been produced in the past few months (i.e. Annual Data Report, Action Guide, Sponsoring Approaches), particularly with regards to supporting employers to take actions forward. The subgroup plan to have a ‘DiTPEW day’ in January, soon after winter break, to bring together key partners to consider its recent outputs and to provide a ‘sounding board’ for Local Authorities to seek advice.

In the meeting, Gordon Struth, Scottish Government Anti-Racism in Employment team leader, provided an update on the work being taken with regards to guidance for positive action. The subgroup also welcomed two new members, Emma Manson, ADES member from Shetland Council and Waheeda Huq, a Head Teacher within South Lanarkshire.

ELPL subgroup updates

The subgroup met just before the previous AREP meeting and will meet again shortly. Since the previous meeting, action has been taken to ensure the subgroup’s aims are current and that the work grid is updated with SMART targets and capacity in mind. The subgroup has also welcomed two new members, Vicki Carpenter from the CLD Standards Council, and Alison Mitchell from the University of Glasgow.

The subgroup noted that the Building Racial Literacy (BRL) programme evaluation report has been published and recently BRL Mentors Project training has started. It has been described so far as being positive and inspiring. Members discussed how the training included the way in which mentors could connect and work strategically with local authorities and others with influence, while ensuring they feel supported and expectations are managed.

Curriculum Reform subgroup updates

The subgroup has not met since the last meeting but will be meeting the following day. Since the previous meeting, anti-racist resources (including the Action Guide and curricular resources being developed in partnership with Scotdec and WOSDEC) were shared at a local authority network meeting on 18 September. Education Scotland are hosting a Black History Month webinar on 7 October, and will promote and share new curricular resources during this.

The subgroup also noted that University of Edinburgh are conducting research into anti-racist drama resources for primary 5-7 pupils, and that the working group for SQA qualifications is meeting in October to progress language changes.

RRI subgroup updates

The subgroup have not met since the last Board meeting, as their latest meeting had to be cancelled. The Secretariat agreed to reach out to Scottish Government colleagues who are the subgroup Leads to understand why the meeting was cancelled and how the subgroup could be better supported to ensure actions are taken forward and this can be avoided in future.

The subgroup noted that they will share and provide feedback on the draft professional learning resource being developed by the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group to support educators to report and prevent hate crime. 
Action: Secretariat will reach out to RRI workstream leads to discuss the latest RRI updates and progress.

Generally, Members discussed the need for the Board to be more involved with other working groups occurring across Scottish Government to ensure they are able to provide input. Members also discussed that it would be helpful to have subgroup membership lists in the new work plans, which Secretariat agreed to add back in.

Action: Secretariat to add subgroup membership lists into new work plans in a minimally invasive format.

Anti-racism in education summit

The Chair noted that Members have had several useful discussions on what the summit replacement event may look like, and there has been broad agreement in terms of how to go forward on a number of points

• preference for an online event as opposed to an in person event, for a number of reasons (e.g. spending controls limit choice of venue to Scottish Government building or somewhere else that can be used without charge and in person events limit number of attendees and require additional travel time)
• preference for a full day event, possibly with a workshop focus in the morning, followed by Ministerial engagement in the afternoon

The Secretariat shared a draft programme for the day, with a list of morning workshops focusing on outputs (i.e. Commitment, Action Guide, Sponsoring Approaches, BRL, Anti-Racist Employment Strategy, SCDE Anti-Racist framework) and Ministerial engagement and/or a panel discussion in the afternoon. Members were asked for their input, including with regards to workshop topics and if Ministerial engagement and/or a panel discussion would meet the aims of the event.

Members discussed the proposed event plans in detail. Overall, Members agreed that the event should be online and modularised, so that participants can attend the components most relevant to them without needing to attend the entire event, and so that the impact of any last minutes changes can be mitigated. 

Members noted that if the DiTPEW day event is too similar to the AREP event, this may result in dilution/duplication which can reduce impact. However, DiTPEW subgroup Members noted that the event would be more granular and tailored to stakeholders who would be using the documents (e.g. Action Guide) day to day, while the AREP event would be more of a strategic one, covering ambitions across all 4 subgroups.   

Members proposed having workshops at the AREP event based on subgroup rather than topic/output. Members also discussed the benefits and risks associated with Ministerial engagement, and that a virtual event may help reduce the latter. Additionally, Members discussed the option of having a Minister pre-record a message for the event.

The Chair and Members agreed that a decision needed to be made as soon as possible with regards to the event’s direction. The Secretariat agreed to summarise the different options that had been discussed and email these to Members in order for them to provide feedback.

Action: Secretariat will send out a summary of AREP post-summit event options, which Members will provide feedback on.

IYS youth ambassadors' recommendations

The Chair noted that Members have been considering the recommendations from the IYS Ambassadors since June and that she was keen for a position to be reached so that subgroups can take action to embed them in their workplans or suggest where they may sit more appropriately.

DiTPEW and Curriculum Reform subgroups agreed that overarching recommendations could be allocated to one sub group who would act as the clear lead, with input from the others. For example

• the ELPL workstream recommendations on Early Years would benefit from input from Curriculum Reform
• the RRI recommendation on trained professionals for counselling would benefit from input from ELPL
• the RRI recommendation on celebrating diversity would benefit from input from the Curriculum subgroup (as they are actioning  a similar point made by the Youth Ambassadors about Diversity Days)
• the RRI recommendation on curriculum resources would also benefit from input from the Curriculum workplan

Curriculum Reform subgroup Members discussed progress made on the recommendation to increase the diversity of exam invigilators. Members explained that the aim is for invigilators to reside within a 5-10 mile radius of the school to  increase the likelihood of them being representative of the local community. However, a statement has been provided to exam centres, using IYS’  wording, to encourage them to be more diverse in their recruitment. It was noted that generally recruitment is done by schools. 

The RRI subgroup Members noted that they wanted to meet again to go back over the recommendations.

The Secretariat reminded Board Members that it would be beneficial to get to a position of agreement across subgroups so that recommendations can be embedded into workplans as soon as feasible.  

Any other business

The Secretariat will circulate the minutes of today’s meeting by 4 October. The next formal meeting of the Board will take place on 30 October, 3.30pm.

Attendees and apologies

Present

• Khadija Mohammed, Chair
• Nuzhat Uthmani, Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce (DiTPEW) subgroup
• Monica Medina, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
• Carrie Lindsay, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES)
• Nikhat Yusaf, Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network
• Pauline Stephen, General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)
• Mélina Valdelièvre, Curriculum Reform subgroup
• Chereen Rain, Education Leadership and Professional Learning (ELPL) subgroup
• Carol Young, Coalition for Race Equality and Rights (CRER)
• Garvin Sealy, Intercultural Youth Scotland (IYS)
• Safia Ali, Racism and Racist Incidents (RRI) subgroup
• Hakim Din, DiTPEW subgroup
• Judith Ballantine, Learning Directorate, Scottish Government
• Emma Bunting, Learning Directorate, Scottish Government (Secretariat)
• Catherine Law, Learning Directorate, Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Apologies

• Louise Barrett, Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE)
• Laura Ross, Curriculum Reform subgroup
• Orlando Heimer-mason, Deputy Director, Workforce Infrastructure and Digital, Scottish Government