Scottish Equity Framework (SEF) Progress and Next Steps ECSPB
Renfrewshire Council · 13 March 2025
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 13 March 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page 1 of 8 To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 13 March 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Scottish Equity Framework (SEF) Progress and Next Steps ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. This paper provides an update on current Scottish Equity Framework workstreams, associated projects and impact. The paper will also outline future plans for 25/26. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1. Members of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board are asked to note the progress made and the future plans for 25/26 in particular new additions such as funding for the West Partnership activities and a police youth development officer pilot which is to proposed to be joint funded by selected schools. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 There are four attainment challenge workstreams; Data Analysis, Learning and Teaching, Families and Communities and Leadership. Each workstream have a number of projects to deliver on the SEF mission which is to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. 3.2 Since 2022/23, funding has been tapered in Renfrewshire and the breakdown of funding is detailed below. 2025/2026 is the final SEF funding year. 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025 2025/2026 £3,749,496 £2,940,992 £2,132,488 £1,323,984
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Page 2 of 8 3.3 SEF is having a positive impact on attainment. The 2023-24 return demonstrates that there has been an increase in attainment across almost all curricular areas and stages. Attainment is now in line with or ahead of pre- pandemic levels. Renfrewshire is ahead of national figures across all stages and curricular areas in 2023-24. This has been a consistent trend in almost all stages and curricular areas, however the decreases in Renfrewshire’s data post pandemic were greater than national resulting in very close alignment with national figures in 2021-22. The 2023-24 data illustrates that Renfrewshire has made greater progress over the previous 3 years and is now comfortably ahead of national figures. 3.4 With regards to the poverty related attainment gap, there is still improvements to be made. Attainment gaps remain larger than pre-pandemic levels. Pupils living in SIMD 20% most deprived areas were most significantly impacted by the pandemic and the 2020-21 figures demonstrated large decreases in attainment. Attainment has improved across both groups and gaps are reduced since 2020-21. However, attainment of pupils living in 20% most deprived areas remains below pre-pandemic levels and as a result attainment gaps are wider than in 2018-19. 3.5 Senior phase performance is consistent with national trends, reflecting changing assessment methods over time. Leaver destinations sustained at a level above Virtual Comparator (VC) and Literacy and Numeracy is consistently above our VC. S4 5+ improved in 2023/24 and was above VC and higher than 2019. The patterns of attainment in Renfrewshire show that across all stages the middle 60% attainment cohort is consistently above national and virtual comparators. There have been improvements in 5+ Level 6 in S5 in 2022/23 and Renfrewshire is still above the VC in 2023/24. 3.6 In the next section, highlights from each workstream will be outlined. Workstream briefings can be provided to provide more detail and case studies demonstrating further impact will be available towards the end of session which will be included in the Standards and Quality Report. 4. Data Analysis 4.1 The data strategy in Renfrewshire was recently recognised as effective practice in the thematic inspection by Education Scotland in October. Data literacy support within the 2024-25 session has been focused on increasing data accessibility in secondary schools. The team are supporting schools to create online dashboards for their tracking data. The purpose of this is to reduce workload, provide a clearer overview of attainment levels for staff and to improve identification of attainment gaps. This system is now operational in 2 schools with a further 3 onboarding in the current session. A data network group of schools has been re-established to support this process and provide opportunities for sharing best practice. 4.2 The team is also working to improve data quality for additional support need information across all schools. Currently pupil needs are entered onto SEEMiS inconsistently and we are not able to use the data for analysis or planning. Updated guidance has been shared with schools and a review of data is underway, due to be completed in February 2025. Once complete, we will be able to understand better the relationship between additional support needs and deprivation as well as the impact of additional support needs on
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Page 3 of 8 attainment, attendance and wellbeing. Additionally, resources will be able to be distributed more equitably across schools. The team continues to provide bespoke data literacy to support to all schools and ensuring that analysis is readily available through the Data Dashboard site. 5. Learning and Teaching 5.1 This session, there has been a focus on delivering the target schools programme. 10 schools are receiving support in literacy and numeracy to close the poverty related attainment gap and improve school targets. Feedback from schools has been positive. Baseline data has been collated for all children and bespoke support is being tailored to each school. A full evaluation report will be completed at the end of the session which will demonstrate any improvements to attainment as well as to our stretch aims. 5.2 Numeracy training sessions are well underway for this session. There has been a combination of voluntary authority training (15 sessions at Jan 25), bespoke Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) sessions requested by schools (20 sessions at Jan 25), a West Partnership conference, and a Renfrewshire secondary festival. Additionally, 2 sessions have been delivered to primary NQTs, and another 2 training sessions have been held for Numeracy Champions. All evaluations have been highly positive, with almost all participants reporting increased knowledge, skills, and confidence. The "Grow Your Own" Modelling and Coaching (MCO) programme is progressing well and teachers have reported gains in knowledge, confidence and leadership skills and some improvement in pupil attainment. The collaboration with Glasgow University on the MathsBURST Spatial Skills project is currently being implemented with primary 4 and primary 5 teachers and pupils. A total of 31 teachers across 14 schools are involved in the 6-month project. 5.3 Universal and bespoke support for literacy continues to be provided to schools and early years centres via tailored inputs and our annual CLPL calendar. Tailored support includes guidance with improvement planning, meetings with Senior Leadership Teams (SLT), individual support to class teachers/departments and provision of professional learning on a wide range of areas including Talk for Writing, raising attainment in reading/writing, reading comprehension, phonics, developing early reading skills, assessment of writing and spelling. Leadership training continues to be provided in relation to Talk for Writing to ensure effective implementation and to support longer-term sustainability of the approach. Our early years programme of Talk for Writing has grown in session 24/25 to include almost all early years classes, all early years centres and a significant number of early years partner establishments. Data shows consistent improvements in writing attainment again in session 23/24 at all primary stages. 5.4 The reach of the digital work is very positive with other 1000 unique visitors to the DigiLearnRen blog. 4 schools have been supported with planning your school’s digital strategy this session and 100% either agreed or strongly agreed that their confidence, knowledge and skills had increased and 100% were planning to implement what they had learned and share with colleagues. Sharing practice visits have taken place between 5 Primary Schools and 2 Secondary Schools in first 2 terms. All primaries and almost all secondaries are using Groupcall and approximately 13,000 parents are registered on Parent Portal. A further 8 Get Safe Online Safety Ambassadors have been trained this session, bringing the total to 26 schools.
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Page 4 of 8 5.5 Play pedagogy has been delivered in Renfrewshire for a number of years and the focus is on embedding practice. This session 22 primaries and early years teaching team participated in sessions exploring the environment, organisation of play, observation and evaluation. 5.6 The first Renfrewshire Employability Week was held delivering over 200 engagements for young people across Renfrewshire with support from the Local Employability Partnership. The Get Started event, hosted in partnership with SDS and Invest in Renfrewshire, provided targeted support for school leavers. The Local Employability Partnership’s School Transition Group has been re-established to promote effective cross-sector collaboration and ensure seamless transitions for young people. The DXC Digital Futures programme engaged 14 participants from Castlehead High School and Renfrew High School, offering valuable digital skills training. The Career Ready coaching programme has now been upscaled to include 25 young people from across 4 secondary schools for session 2024/25. 22% of the cohort are care experienced young people. 50% of the mentees will be paired with a Career Ready coach from Renfrewshire Council supporting workforce planning across the local authority. 5.7 Very good progress is being made towards the target to achieve 100% positive post school destinations by 2028. The Pathfinders employability programme was established in August 2024 to meet the needs of school leavers who had not yet managed to sustain a positive destination. 18 young people joined the programme, to date 16 are positively engaged with employment, training or further education. There is scope to increase numbers and frequency of the programme. All schools now have regular future pathways meetings, PT Pathways is invited to participate in these and feedback from schools is positive. 6 school leavers were successfully recruited into SoftFM positions within the authority, and the programme's success is expected to lead to its continuation in the future. 42 young people have benefitted from enhanced support between school and college with feedback from young people, schools and carers being unanimously positive. 5.8 Good progress is also being made towards widening access and participation to further and higher education. Since the PT Pathways post was established, drop out rates of the school’s vocational programme has decreased by 40%. By Christmas 2023, 70 students had dropped out, compared to 42 by the same time in 2024. 9 out of 11 Renfrewshire secondaries are now confirmed as participating the in Top Up programme in association with Glasgow University. 17 primary schools have actively participated in the WCS school science programme. Collaborative working with WCS has successfully resulted in the first International Business Event being held for 110 S3 pupils from 11 secondary schools. 5.9 The Developing the Young Workforce Engagement Officer is working with 30 young people on My Future Pathways curriculum offer. This includes pupils from senior phase Flexible Learning Resource. The Engagement Officer is also collaborating with primary schools to engage vulnerable learners as part of an early intervention programme. Community Benefits programmes have provided senior-phase pupils from all 13 secondary schools with valuable industry exposure, including site visits, work placements, and industry awareness activities. On average, 12 opportunities are offered to each school monthly. The work placement model is currently being refreshed to ensure all learners, particularly the most vulnerable, have access to relevant work-based
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Page 5 of 8 learning opportunities. Between August and December 2024, 324 work placements were completed by young people across Renfrewshire schools. Currently 8 secondary schools are actively participating in Young Enterprise Scotland with the support of the DYW Engagement Officer. 6. Health and Wellbeing (HWB) / Families and Communities 6.1 Over the course of this session, there has been a continued focus on supporting the needs of staff through training and curricular development. Training continues to be aligned with the themes coming through our schools counselling service and the directive from Scottish Government in relation to the PSE Review (2019) and whole school approaches to self-harm and suicide prevention. 6.2 Our CEOP (Child Exploitation Online Prevention) Ambassador Training team now delivers a half day training each term. This is in response to continuing concerns around the safety of our children and young people and what we know in relation concerns from our partners in Police Scotland. MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention) has been expanded and is now being delivered across all Renfrewshire secondary schools. In September, we worked with Education Scotland to deliver MVP pilot training for Early Years and Primary staff which will support the developing work around gender-based violence within the authority. Four “Approaches to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy” courses since August 2024 and a short introductory course has been developed which is being delivered as an in-service day input or twilight. Three emotions assemblies have been written for primary aged pupils which have been delivered across a number of establishments. 6.3 To support staff and parents/carers around internet safety, self-harm, suicide prevention, anxiety and using CBT approaches, a suite of “How to Have a Conversation About…” digital resources has been developed. These are available to staff post-training or via the termly newsletters and Glow Blog. 6.4 There is a continued focus on areas of the HWB curriculum which would support the improvement of our PSE programmes. This session, an external evaluation took place of Renfrewshire’s Alcohol and Substance Awareness Education Programme. This involved focus groups of primary pupils and staff and secondary pupils and staff. We continue to seek feedback on ways to improve our programmes and are currently linking in with Skills Development Scotland with a focus on careers education delivery within PSE. 6.5 Inclusion Support Assistants which were previously funded by SEF are continuing to work in some secondary schools and staff are supporting young people with attendance at and participation in school. Impact is monitored by schools. 6.6 Following research conducted by the Child Poverty Action Group, we know that food poverty has an impact on wellbeing and learning. Following feedback from children and young people, cost of the school day (COSD) funding has been allocated to ensure meals are provided to fuel for children’s learning but also reduce stigma in the lunch hall, improve home-school relations (because worries about dinner money debt evaporate) and encourage good eating habits among children. The Fairer Renfrewshire COSD funding is directly allocated to schools to alleviate financial barriers to education.
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Page 6 of 8 6.7 A small budget is allocated to supporting verbal or written translation to ensure the children and young people feel included and are able to participate in all aspects of education. Since April 2024, we have supported 10 requests however a number have had to be rejected due to particular languages not being available. 7. Leadership 7.1 Young Leaders of Learning has been recognised in Renfrewshire as an area of good practice in relation to quality improvement. The purpose of the programme is to ensure children and young people are actively involved in on- going self-evaluation activities leading to improvement. 34 primary schools and 8 secondaries are taking part throughout 2024/25 Initial evaluation completed by schools. 7.2 Currently 11 primary Headteachers and 1 early years Head are benefitting from supervision in a safe space which has the sole purpose to support Headteachers to pause and reflect on what is having the biggest impact on their working lives. Participant mid-point evaluation feedback has been extremely positive with wellbeing and confidence being areas of significant impact for Headteachers. The programme is having an impact on practice with Heads feeding back that protected time is supporting reflection and coaching techniques help with identifying solutions to tricky issues. 7.3 2 Renfrewshire Ambassadors (one primary, 1 secondary) are working closely with early career colleagues offering support and challenge through coaching, tailored professional learning, with a clear focus on the Professional Standards, and a range of networking opportunities. 7.4 This is the third year of our involvement in the year-long programme Improving our Classrooms (IOC) which is focused on improving classroom practice and raising attainment. Last session’s (2023-24) evaluation data showed that 95% of participants raised attainment with their learners as a result of participation in the programme. 8. Next steps - this section will detail future plans for SEF in 25/26. The funding for the final year is £1.3m. The majority of funding will be allocated to staffing. 8.1 Based on self-evaluation and review of data and intellegence, new additions to the plan include a contribution towards the continuation of West Partnership support and collaborative working opportunities and a police youth development officer pilot is also proposed for the new session, this would be part funded by SAC. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – No financial implications 2. HR & Organisational Development – No HR implications 3. Community/Council Planning – engaging with, and learning from external inspection, ensures that our Renfrewshire is thriving. High standards of education provision ensure that children and young people are given the best
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Page 7 of 8 start in life so that they promote and contribute to a more prosperous, fairer society. It also ensures our Renfrewshire is well – by providing an environment which encourages care, welfare and development, establishments play a crucial role in developing children and young people so that they become responsible citizens. The inspection process also supports delivery of the Council Plan crosscutting theme of improving outcomes for children and families as well as other Council Plan key strategic outcomes. Economy Equipping all children and young people to achieve success in life Fair Creating inclusive and supportive learning environments for children and young people. Embedding children’s rights in our decision-making processes 4. Legal - The full model inspection includes a focus on QI 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion. In evaluating this QI, one of the themes that HM Inspectors evaluate is the school’s Fulfilment of Statutory Duties related to attendance, exclusions, ASL Act and Associated Code of Practice, Bullying, Equality Act, Health and Nutrition, and Gaelic education. 5. Property/Assets – No risks to property/assets. 6. Information Technology – No information and technology risks. 7. Equality & Human Rights – The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – No negative impacts on health and safety. 9. Procurement – No procurement risks 10. Risk – No risks identified. 11. Privacy Impact – No impact on privacy. 12. Cosla Policy Position – N/A 13. Climate Risk – No risk. 14. Children’s Rights – Article 28 (right to education) Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help
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Page 8 of 8 poorer countries achieve this. Article 29 (goals of education) Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment. Children’s Services Author: Emma Henry, Head of Education emma.henry@renfrewshire.gov.uk