Attainment Scotland Fund evaluation - families and communities: thematic evaluation report 2024

Evidence on families and communities theme 2022/23

SAC Leads Survey 2022/23 – Analysis of Thematic Questions

The SAC Local Authority Leads Survey 2022/23^[4] was extended to include a focus on the three thematic aspects of evaluation focus for 2022/23, (readiness to learn, families and communities, children and young peoples engagement in decision making) as outlined in the ASF Evaluation Strategy 2022-26 and ASF Evaluation Year 1 Analytical Plan 2022/23. This provides important evidence of current activity in relation to support for and engagement with families and communities, which is clearly an area of continued focus for local authorities.

It is important to highlight that survey responses show strong interconnections between the thematic areas, with initiatives focused on supporting and engaging with families often involving activities that support improving attendance and engagement (readiness to learn) and involving families and communities in decision making and participation. It was apparent from survey responses that comments highlight both a focus on specific aspects but also the inter-linked nature of the three thematic areas under consideration.

The survey findings show that nearly all local authorities which responded considered that families and communities was a strategic priority for their local authority in relation to their approach to the Scottish Attainment Challenge. Additionally, local authority respondents considered that ASF was supporting the development of approaches to families and communities in their local authority.

Survey respondents highlight a range of ways ASF is being used to support the development of approaches to families and communities. This included:

• Home Link Team 'working across all education group localities to support our families and communities through iLunch^[5], parental empowerment and engagement programmes’.
• One Local Authority noted that they have invested in Family Engagement Workers, and this is also supported by an Empowering Clusters model (groupings of schools to work together and support families) and new Community Hubs.
• Local Authority noted that they have developed an Early Engagement team which provides targeted support for those children and families in greatest need of support.
• Local authority highlighted a range of roles such as Engagement Officer and pupil support officers providing support across establishments.
• Funding to employ additional school and family development workers across local authority primary schools.
• CLD Family Learning Officers working across the local authority with a range of support and initiatives.
• Partnership working with CLD to ensure interventions focused on 'engaging families in learning interventions' (led to positive impact children and families). This has included activities both in and out of school hours for targeted families.
• Engaging with and supporting families: 'family link staff are integral to many schools using PEF funding’.
• The impact of community work with Parent Empowerment groups established in localities across the local authority noted as key in terms of engagement and attendance:

‘…. our community work has been impactful, with the setting up and subsequent self-led continuation of several Parental Empowerment groups across localities in the local authority. Engagement of our families and communities is ensuring those at risk of missing out through lack of attendance and engagement have raised expectations at home and thus improved outcomes are experienced’. (LA Response)

One local authority highlighted that their focus on the thematic areas emerges not only through ASF but also through the core work of the local authority, however they did acknowledge the impact of additional funding through the ASF as supporting such a focus:

‘The additional finance received and deployed through ASF streams supports significant levels of development in teams such as Home Link Workers and our Inclusion interventions, where we work with children and young people with complex needs to reengage with learning. This work is ongoing and ASF will once again be deployed in 2023/4 to continue to improve our approaches in these areas.’ A local authority described its focus on partnership, leadership and use of data and evidence, specifically focusing on the Barnardo's Family Support Worker service as an example of how ASF is supporting two of the three thematic areas (families and communities and pupil/parent voice):

‘Supporting families and communities is a theme that is evident through the partnership with Barnardo's where bespoke interventions support children and families to have improved engagement and readiness to learn. The matrix used by Barnardo's ensures interventions are tracked and monitored for impact. Pupil and family voice is essential in the success of this approach. Within the local Authority there are various mechanisms for ensuring pupil and families voices are heard which impact planning and decision making. Further improvements around the effectiveness of pupil and family voice in the planning and evaluation of the funded interventions will be explored in the coming session.’

Several other local authorities noted that they could not sustain the focus on this area without the investment of ASF. One respondent provided a substantive comment related to the appointment of Education Attainment Workers (EAWs) via PEF and support worker post via CECYP providing insights in terms of how they viewed ASF was supporting these areas of focus in their local authority. They noted that ASF ‘allowed for significant support to be provided to help children be more ready to learn’.