Autumn update
Contents
Read about the latest developments in the area of personal support, including:
- The Scottish Government Policy Group
- Personal Support National Network
- Personal Support National Network Steering Group
- Framework for Support pilot
- Scottish Learning Festival (2009) presentation
Scottish Government Policy Group
The work of the policy group will support the delivery of the overarching strategic priorities of Early Intervention, Early years, Health Inequalities and Anti-poverty strategies as the core agreed priorities included in every single outcome agreement. It will also help deliver key national outcomes for children and young people including the four capacities.
It draws together the full range of approaches and frameworks across 25 policy areas. There is a recognition of change in policy direction in personal support from ten standards for personal support provided in 'Happy, Safe and Achieving their Potential' to a broader definition required to meet the commitment in 'Building the Curriculum 3'.
Updates on this work will appear here over the coming months. Please also see the PowerPoint slides of the presentation given by Ruth Thomson, Scottish Government, at the seminar 'Curriculum for Excellence – Essential features of Effective Support for all Children and Young People' at the Scottish Learning Festival, 24 September 2009.
PowerPoint file: 'Curriculum for Excellence – Essential features of Effective Support for all Children and Young People' (598 KB)
Personal Support National Network
As a result of discussions at the Curriculum for Excellence Personal Support National Network event in June and the subsequent meeting of the National Network Steering Group, the following role and remit for the National Network has been agreed.
Every child and young person is entitled to personal support wherever learning is taking place, to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence provides.
The Personal Support National Network:
contributes to the development of national guidelines and priorities
provides support for the implementation of relevant legislation, guidelines and priorities to embed all aspects of the personal support entitlement in the curriculum as outlined in 'Building the Curriculum 3'
builds upon existing good practice within pre-school establishments, schools, local authorities and colleges, and when working with partners
contributes to sharing, disseminating, promoting and modelling good practice in personal support
- promotes partnership working and encourages 'joined up' approaches to 'get it right for every child'.
Personal Support National Network Steering Group
Following the Curriculum for Excellence Personal Support event in June 2009, a Personal Support National Network Steering Group has been convened. Its remit includes planning for future network events and a role as an external stakeholder to the Scottish Government Policy Group, 'Providing support for all Scotland’s children and young people'.
Membership:
- Jane Clifford (National Development Officer, Personal Support, LTS)
- Linda Kirkwood (Professional Adviser, Scottish Government)
- Alistair Cairns (Education Manager, LTS)
- Colin Morrison (Pupil Inclusion Network Scotland)
- Angela Baird (Qualifications Manager, Scottish Qualifications Authority)
- Roddy Henry (Head of Centre for Learning Effectiveness, SFEU)
- Jim Gibson (Quality Improvement Officer, Moray Council)
- Moira Leslie (Headteacher, Raigmore Primary School, Highland Council)
- Frank Berry (Professional Officer, North Lanarkshire Council)
- John Dalziel (Senior Executive, Skills Development Scotland)
- Tim Wallace (Professional Adviser, Scottish Government)
- June Orr (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Education)
- Loretta Scott (Adviser Pastoral Care, Glasgow City Council)
- Ruth Thomson (Scottish Government)
The first meeting of the steering group took place in Glasgow on 8 September 2009.
The group considered key themes which are emerging from the work of the Scottish Government policy group and current practice across the country. These are:
the further development of support around the needs of the child – the ‘child at the centre’
recognition that there is a need to provide a clear and coherent framework which brings together the various strands of support
the need to develop a shared understanding of an outcomes-based framework with the ultimate objective of successful development of the four capacities in young people, including the attributes and capabilities which contribute to the capacities
the need to identify and describe roles and responsibilities in providing support across the spectrum from universal to targeted support
the need to build on practitioners’ awareness and acceptance of their roles and responsibilities in supporting young people
the need to further develop the role of the key adult who knows the child well
recognition of the need to set out how the various policy areas around support of young people sit together, for example ASL Act, GIRFEC, Early Years framework, Happy Safe and Achieving their Potential, 16+ Learning Choices
the need to develop a shared understanding and common language around support within and across sectors and with partners
the need to develop stronger and more robust partnerships with clear roles and responsibilities within and across sectors, key agencies and other partners
recognition of the key importance of transitions.
In addition, strengths and development needs relating to support and linking to all nine areas of Curriculum for Excellence were discussed.
The feedback from these exercises is being used to inform the input to the next National Network event, which will take place on 3 December 2009.
Framework for support pilot
One of the key emerging themes in the area of support is the need to develop clear and coherent frameworks. Learning and Teaching Scotland is therefore leading a pilot project with North Lanarkshire Council involving two clusters. The purpose is to develop support for schools, pre-school centres, colleges and key partners in designing their own framework for support for children and young people. The main focus is on the process of building the frameworks rather than providing templates for support per se.
Aims of the pilot are:
to build on the experience and expertise of participants to contribute to thinking on effective support for all of our children and young people
to explore further the possibilities for innovation in designing an effective framework for support
to lay the ground for further development work on support
to support local authorities to develop a range of approaches which will support educational establishments and their partners in providing holistic and child-centred support through Curriculum for Excellence.
It is hoped to feed back progress to the National Network in December and to invite wider participation from January 2010.
Scottish Learning Festival (2009) presentation
Presentation: 'Curriculum for Excellence: Essential Features of Effective Support for all Children and Young People'
The seminar discussed and exemplified:
how practitioners recognise and develop their role in supporting children and young people in their learning; the role of form tutors at Falkirk High School
the benefits and successes of a partnership approach to effectively support all learners
how supporting children and young people to actively participate in planning their learning provides opportunities to develop their confidence and achieve success at Glencoats Primary School.