Education Vision and Strategy - Our Children, Their Future - Thriving Together
Argyll and Bute Council · 6 March 2025
Back to Community Services Committee — 6 March 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 6 MARCH 2025 EDUCATION VISION AND STRATEGY - OUR CHILDREN, THEIR FUTURE – THRIVING TOGETHER 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The purpose of the paper is for consideration and approval by Elected Members of the refreshed Education vision and strategy document Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together. A programme of engagement with staff, pupils, parents/carers and wider partners has informed the development of the refreshed strategy. This document has been prepared by the Education Service to present the refreshed Education vision and strategy document Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 6 MARCH 2025 EDUCATION VISION AND STRATEGY – OUR CHILDREN, THEIR FUTURE – THRIVING TOGETHER 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 The purpose of the paper is for consideration and approval by Elected Members of the refreshed Education vision and strategy document Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together. A programme of engagement with staff, pupils, parents/carers and wider partners has informed the refreshed strategy. This document has been prepared by the Education Service to present the refreshed Education vision and strategy document Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together as per the decision of the Community Services Committee on 6th June 2024 which detailed: Following the development work a final draft version of the Education Vision and Strategy document, informed by the consultation process, will be presented to the Community Services Committee in March 2025 for consideration and approval. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that the Community Services Committee: • Considers and approves the refreshed Education Service vision and strategy: Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together as informed by consultation and engagement with staff, parents/carers, pupils and wider partners.
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4.0 DETAIL 4.1 The Education Service strives to ensure the best possible outcomes for all of our children and young people across Argyll and Bute and the Education vision and strategy document provides a framework for this. The current Education vision and strategy, Our Children, Their Future, was developed in 2016 and remains a robust and meaningful document, but with the impacts of a global pandemic and a changing national landscape in regard to Education, a planned and informed refresh has been progressing with these considerations. 4.2 During the period of 1st December 2023 to 23rd February 2024, the Education Service held a consultation with a wide range of partners on the Education vision and strategy. The definition of ‘partners’ includes pupils, parents/carers, staff members and wider partners (Psychological Services, Live Argyll, Health and Social Care Partnership, Early Years, Fire Service Scotland, Police Scotland, Elected Members and local partners identified by individual schools). The aim of the consultation exercise was to gather views from partners on their thoughts on the current Education vision and strategy, Our Children, Their Future as well as to define what was important to them for education in Argyll and Bute. The data from the consultation was shared with partners through a simple, interactive, accessible report which can be viewed using the following links: English Version Gaelic Version 4.3 Following the collation and sharing of consultation findings, the Central Education Team examined the data from and responses to the consultation, and work was undertaken to plan for how this information would be used to inform the refreshed vision and strategy document. 4.4 A development group of members from the Central Education Team was formed and met over a number of weeks to bring together draft content based on the feedback gathered through the consultation. 4.5 Strong themes emerging from the consultation were; our children and young people should be central to the refreshed vision and the strategy, the document should support future aspirations of our children and young people and the document should be easily understood for parents/carers, pupils, staff and wider partners. 4.6 During the continued drafting and development of the refreshed vision and strategy document the Education Service sought to engage with pupils, staff, parents/carers and wider partners to inform the format and content of the refreshed vision and strategy.
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4.6 Primary pupils, secondary pupils, parents/carers, staff and wider partners were offered engagement sessions to feed back their views, thoughts and opinions on what was important to them for the format of the refreshed vision and strategy document. Secondary pupils, parents/carers and staff were offered two online sessions, primary pupils were offered two in person sessions and wider partners were offered one online session. 4.7 Engagement groups were also sought for input on drafted strategy content. This was facilitated through a selection of schools, representing the variety of our school contexts (English Medium, Gaelic Medium, small, large, primary, secondary, urban and rural settings). Participating schools organised engagement sessions for pupils, parents/carers and staff with resources for engagements provided. 4.8 Headteachers provided feedback on the content and format of the refreshed vision and strategy document through engagement sessions as part of their online area Headteacher meetings. 4.9 The information gathered through the engagement sessions on the content and format of the document, and how this feedback informed the refreshed vision and strategy document can be viewed using this link: Partner voices in the creation of Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together 4.10 The refreshed vision and strategy document Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together has five key central priorities: - Best Start for Learners - Ambitious Learners - Nurtured Learners - Connected Learners - Lifelong Learners 4.11 Each key priority area has a description and a concise number of statements (6-8) that illustrate what this priority area would look like for learners from the perspective of a child/young person. 4.12 Integrated throughout the document are the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Scotland’s Curriculum (Curriculum for Excellence). 4.13 The document has been constructed with a mix of visual representations and written content. Our Argyll and Bute children and young people are clearly at the centre of the refreshed document, with the pupil focused statements and all images are children and young people from Argyll and Bute establishments. Both English and Gaelic versions are available and can be viewed using the links below or at Appendix 1 (English) and Appendix 2 (Gaelic). English Version
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Gaelic Version 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together represents a refreshed Education vision and strategy document, which clearly places our children and young people at the centre. The refreshed vision and strategy has incorporated the views of staff, pupils, parents/carers and wider partners, while simultaneously responding to the changing national and local policy contexts. Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together will be integral to help shape the delivery of the best possible outcomes for the children and young people of Argyll and Bute both now and in the future. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy - The refreshed vision and strategy makes an effective contribution to the Council’s key principle of Children and Young People - to give young people the best start in life, and ensuring we have the right skills for a prosperous future. 6.2 Financial - none 6.3 Legal - none 6.4 HR - none 6.5 Fairer Scotland Duty: 6.5.1 Equalities - protected characteristics - none 6.5.2 Socio-economic Duty - none 6.5.3 Islands - none 6.6 Climate Change - none 6.7 Risk - none 6.8 Customer Service - none 6.9 The Rights of the Child (UNCRC)- Children and young people are central to the refreshed strategy: Article 12 (I have the right to be listened to and taken seriously), pupils views have been clearly sought and represented in the consultation findings. Article 29 – I have the right to an education which develops my personality, talents and abilities Douglas Hendry - Executive Director with responsibility for Education Councillor Audrey Forrest – Policy Lead for Education
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24th February 2025 For further information contact: Wendy Brownlie Head of Education – Performance and Improvement Wendy.Brownlie@argyll-bute.gov.uk Jennifer Crocket Chief Education Officer Head of Education – Wellbeing, Inclusion and Achievement Jennifer.Crocket@argyll-bute.gov.uk Simone McAdam Education Manager Simone.McAdam@argyll-bute.gov.uk Rachel Binnie Education Manager Rachel.Binnie@argyll-bute.gov.uk APPENDICES Appendix 1 – Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together (English) Appendix 2 – Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together (Gaelic)
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Appendix 1 - Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together (English)
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Appendix 2 – Our Children, Their Future – Thriving Together (Gaelic)
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