All Learners in Scotland Matter - national discussion on education: easy read

Overview of the National Discussion

The National Discussion on Education in Scotland was so children, young people, and supporters could have their voices heard about Scottish Education. It ran from September to December 2022.

The aim was to have a shared vision for Scottish education. We then want to say what we need to do to make this happen. We call this a Call to Action.

We worked with early years organisations, schools, other education organisations, community groups, voluntary organisations, youth workers, parents' groups, education professional organisations, local authorities, and policy makers. We involved everyone involved in Scottish education.

We also asked for input from parents and carers, school staff, teachers, other education and support staff.

The main question for the National Discussion was: "What kind of education will be needed by children and young people in Scotland in the future? And how do we make that a reality?"

We made sure the voices of children and young people were included. We did this through support groups or through their parents, carers, and teachers.

More people got involved in the discussion than we expected. Over 38,000 people took part. There was an online survey with key questions. This came in many formats including Easy Read.

Discussion guides were made by Education Scotland to help teachers, parents/carers and youth workers speak children and young people. We got 5,671 responses. Of these, 232 were group responses.

We took part in on-line and face to face sessions. There were 102 events held nationally and locally. We made these events as inclusive as possible.

A successful social media campaign resulted in 10 million social media users seeing the hashtag #TalkScottishEducation. There were 6,000 Twitter posts about the National Discussion.

All schools in Scotland were invited to take part in the National Discussion. This included primary and secondary age pupils. Over 26,000 pupils and students took part in these.

We worked with education staff at all stages, from early years through to university. We visited schools and met with staff and learners.

We had a great response to our invitation to 'Let's Talk Scottish Education.' We want to thank everyone who supported us and gave their views to shape the future of Scottish education.