Improving educational outcomes for children and young people from travelling cultures: guidance

Annex D. Reflection

This Annex lists the reflective questions in Sections 2 and 3 of this guidance. It may be a useful in helping consider the Traveller perspective against the reflective questions set out in HGIOS4.

A further source of reflective material is Education Scotland's Recognising and Realising Children's Rights, a professional learning resource to promote self‑evaluation and improvement planning. Additional reflective material can be found in the children's rights based Common Core of values and practices that has been designed by and for children working with Scottish practitioners. It can be used for personal and/or organisational self-evaluation.

Section 2. Leadership and Management – Reflective questions

• How effective are our processes for involving local families from mobile cultures in the ongoing review of our vision, aims and values, school policies and approaches to communicating with parents?
• Do we consider the needs of children from travelling cultures in our approach to pupil participation and learner voice? Do we provide purposeful, participatory opportunities in all arenas of school life? Do we use participatory approaches to encourage relations that are equitable?
• How effective are the links with other agencies and people (e.g. social work services, local health board, Family Learning Professionals, CLD (Community Learning and Development), Traveller Education Network (TENET)) in engaging and addressing the needs of Traveller communities, including families where children are not at school?
• How well do we seek out and respond positively to potential partnerships which will lead to better outcomes for the children and young people we work with?
• How effectively are incidents relating to racial discrimination acted upon to ensure lessons are learnt and prevent future occurrences?
• Are staff up to date with processes for travelling communities and are our systems regularly reviewed?
• How effective is our communication with families around expectations?
• What range of data and information do we use to understand the social, economic and cultural context of the mobile cultures within our local community?
• How reliable is our evidence of impact on the learning of the pupils?
• How effective are our planning, recording and information transfer processes for children from mobile communities?
• How well do all staff understand their role and responsibility in supporting Travellers' wellbeing?
• To what extent do we critically engage with research, policy sources and developments in learning and teaching for mobile cultures?
• How effectively do we use our resources to meet the learning needs of children from travelling cultures and ensure equity?
• How reliable is our evidence of impact on the learning of the pupils?
• Do we need to adjust our learning to meet Travellers' needs, and if so, how?

Section 3. Learning Provision– Reflective questions

• To what extent is our school an inclusive learning environment for children and young people from travelling cultures?
• How well does our curriculum planning meet the needs of children and young people from travelling cultures?
• Are there further opportunities for flexibility in the way we provide education which will benefit Travellers?
• Are there further opportunities to use digital delivery of learning and teaching to reach Traveller pupils?
• Can technology support better communication and engagement with families?
• Does the school have effective assessment systems in place to identify the needs of the children and young people from travelling cultures?
• How effective are our approaches for Traveller children and young people to ensure that there is effective curriculum planning and opportunities for their entitlement to support?
• How do we know if support is having the desired impact of improving outcomes for children and young people from travelling cultures?
• In what ways is the family support we provide encouraging young people to learn?
• How are we ensuring that our provision is responsive to the needs of Traveller families?
• To what extent do our processes for involving children and families and other agencies ensure effective transitions for Traveller learners?
• To what extent does our curriculum provide opportunities for support and induction into the next stage of learning?