Pupil Support Staff Working Group: terms of reference

Membership:

• David Roy, Scottish Government (Chair)
• Tracy Manning, Scottish Government 
• Deborah Lynch, Scottish Government
• Peter McNaughton, ADES
• Matthew Sweeney, CoSLA
• Simon Cameron, CoSLA
• Sally Cavers, Children in Scotland
• Maria Pridden, UNISON
• Dougie Atkinson, Voice
• Frances Foreman, Education Scotland
• Janette Kerr, ASLO 

Particular tasks may warrant the establishment of sub-groups co-opted others which will be agreed by the group depending on how priorities progress.

Background

The Scottish Government Education Governance: Next Steps report set out a vision for education reform which would deliver a teacher led and empowered education system. Consultation on the Education Bill included questions on the establishment of an Education Workforce Council for Scotland to register and regulate wider education practitioners. The consultation demonstrated that, whilst there was support for the principle of expanding the range of practitioners who could benefit from the support offered by a national registration scheme, there was limited support for the establishment of the proposed Education Workforce Council for Scotland. 

A review of the implementation of additional support for learning in schools was also announced in January 2019. The remit of the review included consideration to the roles and responsibilities of support staff and the areas of practice that could be further enhanced through better use of current resources to support practice, staffing or other aspects of provision.

This working group has been established to consider how best we can empower and support pupil support staff, including taking forward action in response to the recommendations of the additional support for learning review. 

For the purposes of this Working Group the term “pupil support staff” is generally applied to all staff in school settings who provide support to the learning and teaching process and the wellbeing of children and young people.

Remit

To maintain and improve the quality of pupil support in Scotland to enhance the impact it has on pupils' learning and wellbeing and on reducing teacher workload. 

Aim

To establish a coherent system to ensure pupil support staff in Scotland have access to role specific professional learning  to assist  them to reflect on  practice, gain confidence from achievements and identify areas for development.

Initial actions

Explore: 

• options for carrying out a role and remit review
• options for the development of a clear specification for how classroom teacher and pupil support assistant roles interact and complement each other
• options for national standards of practice 
• learning pathways 
• career progression routes and remuneration 

Responsibilities

In addition to attending meetings, members may be expected to obtain feedback from their organisations in order to progress the work of the Group. Members should expect that some of this work could take place outwith meetings.

Terms of reference

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