Item 12 - Strategy for Excellence and Equity
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 June 2026
Back to Educational Services Committee — 24 June 2026 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Chief Officer – Gillian Hamilton Educational Services Committee: 24 June 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Strategy for Excellence and Equity 1. Purpose 1.1 To provide an update on the service improvement programme aimed at delivering improved outcomes in excellence and equity supported by Strategic Equity Funding. 1.2 This report is for noting. 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Committee is asked to note: (a) the range of improvement and development work delivered in the service to support delivery of quality education; and (b) the range of interventions implemented across primary and secondary schools to improve equity outcomes. 3. Background 3.1 The Strategy for Excellence and Equity, supported by Scottish Government Strategic Equity Funding since 2015, aims to drive continuous improvement across schools and early learning centres. It seeks to support children, young people and families to thrive through improved attainment and the narrowing of the poverty-related attainment gap. 3.2 West Dunbartonshire has received Scottish Government funding since 2015 This is a combination of Strategy Equity Funding allocated to the local authority and Pupil Equity Funding allocated directly to schools. 3.2.1 This funding has contributed to improved outcomes in wellbeing, engagement, attendance and attainment. These improvements have been achieved through high-quality improvement activity and a range of targeted interventions to support children and young people impacted by poverty. 3.2.2 The Committee has received regular reports on progress and practice in relation to the use of Strategic Equity Funding and information on the service exit strategy in advance of the funding ending in 2027. ITEM 12
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3.3 The Service reports to Committee on performance in respect of attainment and equity outcomes in August and March each year. Further detail on the range and impact of these outcomes is provided within the Service Delivery Plan 2026/27. Key achievements for the current session are summarised below: • West Dunbartonshire has outperformed the national average within the Broad General Education (BGE) for three consecutive years in relation to attainment for children living in the most deprived areas; • Strong performance has been sustained against national measures, with West Dunbartonshire ranked 11th of 32 local authorities for literacy attainment in primary for the most deprived learners, and 7th for numeracy; • Primary 7 attainment in reading, writing and numeracy has improved; • S3 attainment in numeracy, and in fourth level attainment across reading, writing and numeracy, has improved; • Positive inspection outcomes have been achieved from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education at Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School, Clydemuir Primary School and Carleith Primary School, with evaluations ranging from good to excellent. Inspection activity this session has identified practice worth sharing to support system-wide improvement, including effective use of digital approaches to support learner reflection, strong learner participation in school improvement, and innovative approaches to curriculum design which respond to the needs, interests and contexts of learners • National recognition has been received for the quality of the Service Improvement Framework, identified by HM Inspectors as an example of best practice. 3.4 The strong performance of the service is supporting readiness for future change, with new national programmes already underway. The progress made by the service since 2015 has been enabled, in part, through additional Scottish Government funding. 3.4.1 At the March Committee meeting, members were advised of the indicative timeline for national education reform from 2025 to 2032, outlining phased changes across curriculum, assessment, qualifications, and system governance. Subsequent communication from Education Scotland confirms that draft curriculum design guidance and supporting materials will be published in June 2026, followed by draft models for all eight curriculum areas. Work to align curriculum and qualifications, alongside the development of a new assessment framework, will take place between sessions 2026 and 2028, ahead of full implementation from August 2028. 3.4.2 Through SNCT, COSLA, Scottish Government and Trade Unions have reached an agreement about the fully funded introduction of Reduced Class Contact Time (RCCT), reducing the amount of contact class teachers have with classes from 22½ hours to 21 hours. Teaching time for children and young people remains unchanged at 27½ hours. We will work to plan for the
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introduction of RCCT for Early Years, Primary and ASN in time for August 2027, and for Secondary for August 2029. Further updates on progress to implementation will be brought to committee. 4. Main Issues 4.1 The strong progress across the service is underpinned by effective collaboration between the central education team, schools and early learning and childcare centres. While improvements in outcomes and measures of excellence and equity are evident, the poverty-related attainment gap persists 4.2 The Strategic Equity Fund As reported to Committee since 2022, Strategic Equity Funding (SEF) has been subject to a tapered annual reduction, resulting in decreased income for Educational Services. 2026/27 is the final year of the fund with future funding arrangements as yet unconfirmed. The phased withdrawal of SEF has necessitated an ongoing annual reduction in staffing levels and interventions designed to support excellence and equity. This continued decline in funding is likely to impact future progress. Funding has reduced over time, decreasing from £2,043,815 in 2020/21 to £851,000 in this final year. 4.2.1 Funding has been used to appoint officers and release experienced school leaders to work as part of the central team. This has ensured that key improvement activity is appropriately resourced and has strengthened overall capacity to deliver sustained improvement across establishments. 4.2.2 A programme of termly monitoring visits has been delivered by education officers and two primary headteachers seconded to work centrally to support the ongoing delivery of improvement activity. This work aims to deliver the service aspiration of excellent learning in every classroom and playroom through support and challenge visits to all schools. 4.2.3 In session 2026/27 funding will release a secondary senior leader to lead a targeted improvement programme focused on senior phase attainment and school improvement. Over the past two sessions, the service has delivered a strengthened secondary attainment review process and evidence from this process has confirmed that, while our senior phase attainment is positive, targeted intervention and support should improve performance, increasing the life chances of our young people An Attainment Advisor from Education Scotland is supporting a review of the secondary curriculum offer and attainment targets across all secondary schools. This has enhanced the system’s understanding of attainment patterns and informed targeted improvement actions.
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4.2.4 A new programme to improve writing attainment has increased the number of children achieving levels for their age and stage. The programme involves over 50% of primary schools applying a targeted, intensive approach to writing. Feedback has been very positive, with evidence from children indicating increased confidence in writing. Two experienced headteachers have been released on a part-time basis to lead this work across all primary schools. 4.2.5 An improvement group comprising senior leaders and class teachers from all sectors is developing a maths and numeracy improvement programme for next session. This builds on the programme of improved practice in learning, teaching, and assessment led by a primary headteacher over the past two sessions. It also reflects the authority’s success in improving attainment at the upper stages of primary and in S3. 4.2.6 The health development officer has strengthened the use of health / wellbeing data to plan interventions in the areas of: physical health, oral health, child obesity, sexual health, substance use, and mental health. Working groups are reviewing the current offer across all schools and early learning centres with officer support provided to deliver key workstreams. 4.2.7 Improvement Framework Evaluation 2025/2026: head teachers have evaluated the service framework identifying strengths, impact and areas for improvement. Feedback highlights strong collaborative practice between officers and schools, informed practice in self-evaluation, and improved data- informed improvement practices. 4.2.8 Progress in attainment and equity at Primary 1, Primary 4, Primary 7, and Secondary 3 has been monitored across all settings. Officers have undertaken ‘Areas of Focused Attention’ visits to evaluate the quality of assessment practice and the accuracy of teachers’ professional judgements of children’s achievement of attainment levels. This activity has been carried out in advance of the submission of data to the Scottish Government in June. A report on literacy and numeracy attainment for 2025–2026 will be presented to Committee in August. 4.3. Pupil Equity Fund In response to requests for further information on specific interventions supported through Pupil Equity Funding (PEF), a detailed report outlining high impact projects is provided at Appendix 1. Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) is allocated to schools based on free school meals entitlement. In academic session 2025/26, West Dunbartonshire Schools received £3.3million. Table 1 presents information on how PEF funding is being used in 2025/26.
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Table 1: Pupil Equity Fund 2025 PEF 2025/26 £ Teachers 1, 299, 537 Support Staff 568, 809 Transport 20, 355 Resources 348, 250 Payment to partners/ external providers 359, 244 TOTAL: 2, 596, 195 Schools are currently developing PEF plans for session 2026/27, to deliver targeted equity interventions while taking account of the ongoing uncertainty regarding PEF funding beyond 2027. 4.4. National Developments: The Curriculum Improvement Cycle Education leaders have engaged in professional learning in response to the national education reform programme to be implemented by 2028. Strong planning is evident across all schools, with a clear focus on staff engagement in training and development. The scale of forthcoming curriculum and qualifications reform in the Senior Phase will require sustained investment of time and financial resources to ensure staff are fully prepared for implementation. 5. People Implications 5.1 As previously reported to Committee the tapered reduction of Strategic Equity Funding (SEF) through to 2026/27 will result in a decrease from 41.5 funded posts to 12.0 posts. This includes roles such as central officers, attainment teachers, senior phase officers and community learning workers, while for the 2025/26 session the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) also supported additional teachers, learning assistants, pupil and family support workers, early years staff and senior school leaders. The service is proactively managing the annual reduction in staffing and is implementing a robust plan to phase out SEF/ PEF-funded posts by 2027. 5.2 This report highlights the range and scope of national developments for curriculum, assessment and qualifications. This programme will increase the need for sufficient provision of staff to facilitate staff development and adaptations in line with any new national expectations. 5.3 In June 2025, the Committee was informed of findings from the national thematic inspection of local authorities (March 2025), which underscored the pivotal role of staffing in local authorities ensuring that schools can meet the evolving needs of children and young people. The inspection highlighted that reductions in teacher and support staff numbers risk compromising the delivery of inclusive, high-quality education—particularly as demand increases
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for Additional Support Needs provision and as the Council continues to navigate higher-than-average poverty levels. Inspectors affirmed the value of retaining skilled personnel and maintaining strong, in-person engagement with schools. Continued investment in officers and peer colleagues to facilitate improvement visits and direct support remains essential to sustaining progress and ensuring equity. 5.4 The introduction of Reduced Class Contact Time will have an impact on the number of teachers we require. Early indications of modelling suggest that we will require approximately an additional 70 teachers, spread across sectors. Further detail will be brought to future committees. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 The Education Committee will be aware that funding from the Scottish Government underpins the Strategy for Excellence and Equity. Following the announcement of a tapered reduction in Strategic Equity Funding in 2022, West Dunbartonshire has experienced a decrease in annual income. This reduction has directly impacted the service’s capacity to deliver key strategic priorities aligned with excellence and equity. 6.2 While the Scottish Government has committed to continuing Strategic Equity Funding into the first year of the next parliamentary term, the specific allocation for West Dunbartonshire has not yet been confirmed. This uncertainty impacts future planning and the service’s capacity to prepare for forthcoming changes in curriculum, assessment and qualifications. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 Current budget constraints and the reduced funding model could impact negatively on sustained improvement in future academic sessions. However, we will continue to monitor this closely to inform future planning. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment 8.1 A full Equality Impact Assessment was submitted to Committee in March 2022 and identified that the decrease in funding will reduce capacity. Scope exists to mitigate impact with the development of the Strategy for Excellence and Equity 2023-2027. 9. Consultation 9.1 Legal Services and the Section 95 Officer have been consulted in relation to the content of this report.
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10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 This report reflects the Council’s overarching priority to support our communities to thrive. Gillian Hamilton Chief Education Officer 26 May 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Julie McGrogan, Senior Education Officer, Department of Education, Learning and Attainment, Council Offices, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QL Email: julie.mcgrogan@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendix: 1. Pupil Equity Fund – Interventions for Equity Background Papers: Equality Impact Assessment – March 2022 Wards Affected: All wards
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