Scottish Attainment Challenge 2022 to 2023 - 2025 to 2026: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

7. What evidence have you used to inform your assessment?

We have drawn on a number of reports and surveys to inform the SAC 2022/23 – 2025/26, including a range of reports that have been published looking at the impact and progress to date of SAC and the progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

• The Scottish Government and Education Scotland 5 year report on progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap.
• The Equity Audit.
• The Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation - Headteacher Survey: 2020 report.
• The Attainment Scotland Fund evaluation: fourth interim report - year 5.
• The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2020-21.
• The Audit Scotland report: Improving outcomes for young people through school education.
• Education Scotland summary report on How well are the Scottish Attainment Challenge authorities improving learning, raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap? June 2019.
• Addressing the poverty-related attainment gap 2018-20 | School inspection findings | HM Chief Inspector Report.
• The Robertson Trust report - The Poverty-related Attainment Gap: Evidence Review.
• The International Council of Education Advisers 2020 report.

Key findings from these sources include:

• Whilst progress has been made in closing the poverty-related attainment gap, this has been variable across the country and across age-groups – highlighted in the 5 year report and the Audit Scotland report. We need to understand and address that. (5 year report on progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap and Audit Scotland report: Improving outcomes for young people through school education)
• Audit Scotland highlighted a need to have clearer outcomes and greater prominence on broader outcome measures in public reporting and messaging – further promoting the importance of the different pathways, qualifications and awards available to young people. (Audit Scotland report: Improving outcomes for young people through school education)
• Ensure future methods for targeting support to address inequities reflect broader demographic issues, which are not fully reflected in SIMD; and account for the impact of COVID-19 on communities. (Robertson Trust report - The Poverty-related Attainment Gap: Evidence Review)
• Build on the positive examples of successful innovation and learning in responses to COVID-19. (Equity Audit)
• Co-ordinate policy and action across government and sectors to improve long term outcomes for children and young people and delivery of the education recovery response to the impacts of COVID-19. (Audit Scotland report: Improving outcomes for young people through school education)
• There is a lack of synthesised evidence on what interventions or approaches are being used with groups of young people and which are most impactful – particularly in relation to PEF. (Robertson Trust report - The Poverty-related Attainment Gap: Evidence Review)
• There are improved ways of working to deliver equity: enhanced learning and teaching and using data for improvement; focus on health and wellbeing; collaborative working; and working with families and communities. We should build on these. (5 year report on progress towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap)
• A key risk as a result of COVID-19 is that the poverty-related attainment gap grows as direct face-to-face school based learning and teaching has reduced and the ASF will be a key factor in mitigating this risk. (Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation - Headteacher Survey: 2020 report)
• Health and wellbeing support; digital infrastructure and connectivity; support to parents and families; teaching provision and quality of learning; and support for teachers and the wider workforce were the key themes to emerge from the Equity Audit. (Equity Audit)

In March 2021, Audit Scotland published Improving outcomes for young people through school education, which covered progress on the SAC. At the same time, the Scottish Government also published a progress report, Closing the poverty-related attainment gap: a report on progress 2016-2021.

The two reports reached similar conclusions: some progress has been made towards reducing the poverty-related attainment gap in a context in which attainment generally has improved. However, the gap is not yet closing fast enough and there is too much variation in progress within schools and between council areas. COVID-19 has exacerbated this challenge, as it has others that relate to the differential impact of poverty on people's wellbeing.

The SAC is evaluated by Education Analytical Services, with an evaluation report published annually.

Equity Audit

We published the Equity Audit in January 2021 to deepen our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery and support how we implement the SAC in 2021/22 and beyond.

The Equity Audit focuses particularly on the impact of the school building closures from 20 March 2020 to the early stages of re-opening of schools on 11 August 2020. The audit provides some examples of what sample schools have done to mitigate the impact, with a focus on health and wellbeing and intensifying support.

A number of key themes emerged from the evidence review and from the school-based interviews conducted as part of the Equity Audit. These themes; or key factors behind educational experiences and attainment during this period, have been broadly categorised as follows:

I. Health and wellbeing support

Most Scottish stakeholders, along with the published evidence, identified that both the mental and physical health and wellbeing of pupils may have been negatively impacted during school building closure. Pupils reported missing the social aspect of school and the daily interactions with friends and teachers.

II. Digital infrastructure and connectivity

Evidence pointed to the importance of access to technology (devices and connectivity) for pupils. Where there were gaps in such access – with socio-economically disadvantaged pupils potentially being most negatively affected - this had a direct impact on the home learning experience and the engagement of children and young people.

III. Support to parents and families

Remote learning was effective in some cases; this was dependent on specific conditions such as parental support and access to digital devices and connectivity. Effective communication between schools and families was key to the ongoing support for pupils. Collaboration with partners proved essential in enabling schools to better identify vulnerable families and put in place tailored support.

IV. Teaching provision and the quality of learning

International evidence generally shows that school building closures are likely to have had a negative effect on pupil progress and attainment, with pupils who are affected by socio-economic disadvantage being amongst those who may have been most affected. Moving to models of online learning required schools to adapt teaching and learning practices. Children in the early years of primary or those starting secondary were most likely to see a negative impact on their progress.

V. Support for teachers and the wider workforce

Additional support for staff, parents and pupils increased confidence and knowledge regarding the use of digital technology; this remains a priority. In addition, for staff, digital pedagogy remains an additional focus for continued professional learning.

Further, the Equity Audit found that education remains, by far, the most effective means we have to improve the life chances of all of our young people; and the disproportionate impact that closing our schools had on the most disadvantaged in our society has demonstrated even more clearly the vital role that they play in supporting the health and welling of children and young people.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

It has long been recognised that stressful events occurring in childhood can impact profoundly on children and young people's development and outcomes including the capacity to learn, achieve academically and participate fully in school life. ACEs and trauma can create high levels of stress which can derail healthy brain development and result in difficult, challenging or withdrawn behaviour in a school environment.

Children and young people who have had such experiences can perform poorly in educational terms compared to their peers. For example, young people who have experienced four or more ACEs are twice as likely as their peers to leave school without educational qualifications (Hardcastle et al., 2018)^[2] with knock on, detrimental consequences across the life course.

Social inequalities such as poverty can influence levels of childhood adversity and trauma along with people's ability to overcome such experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated such inequalities and in some cases, led to an increase in ACEs and trauma (including abuse, bereavement and domestic abuse). For some children and young people this will impact directly on their ability to learn and thrive at school, in some cases for the first time, and they will need additional help and support to overcome these experiences.