Scottish Attainment Challenge - 2018-2022: equality impact assessment

Actions

A number of actions are being taken to ensure that the Scottish Attainment Challenge does not directly or indirectly, unlawfully discriminate.

For example:

- The National Operational Guidance and the grant terms and conditions for the use of Pupil Equity Funding, makes clear that resources should promote equity by taking into account protected characteristics when planning support and interventions. Additionally, the use of Pupil Equity Funding should be planned for and monitored via existing planning and reporting processes. The guidance around this process makes clear links to How Good is Our School (Edition 4), which contains an equality indicator.

- The National Improvement Plan sets out a basket of 11 key measures, supported by 15 sub-measures that will be used to monitor progress towards the goal of closing the poverty related attainment gap. We will continue to use the data that is published each year in the National Improvement Framework Evidence Report to show the poverty-related attainment gap at different stages of school and across literacy, numeracy and health & wellbeing.

- Work is on-going to ensure that the examples, tools and resources on the National Improvement Hub include examples of effective interventions that apply to all children and young people, including those in protected characteristics. It includes the Interventions for Equity framework to support the implementation of the Attainment Challenge by local authorities and schools will continue to be updated and developed.

- We know that Gypsy Travellers tend not to self-identify. Traveller Guidance has been produced by the Scottish Government and was published in December 2018. The guidance advocates that action is required at local authority/ school/ classroom/individual children and young people levels. This will undoubtedly include resources funded by the ASF. Inclusive approaches which support individual children and young people and support families to engage are the starting point.

- A Gypsy/Traveller Ministerial Working Group (GTMWG) has been established to improve the lives of Gypsy/Traveller communities in Scotland. This Group consider the guidance – as part of a wider discussion about improving education for Gypsy/Travellers at their ongoing meetings.

- We will continue to monitor the impact of the Attainment Challenge on children and young people in school education with protected characteristics through national data sources where they exist (i.e. age, gender, disability and race). Where it is not possible to monitor the impact through national data, we will work with local government and other stakeholders to identify any local activity that we may be able to draw evidence from.