Item 16 Appendix 1
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 June 2026
Back to Educational Services Committee — 24 June 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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2026/27 EDUCATION Appendix 1: Education Delivery Plan 2026/27
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1 Contents` 1. Introduction ................................................................ 2 2. Performance Review .................................................. 2 3. Strategic Assessment ................................................ 6 4. Resources ................................................................ 12
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2 1. Introduction Education comprises a wide range of services covering: 29 Early Learning & Childcare Centres, 32 Primary Schools, 5 Secondary Schools and 8 Specialist Settings. In addition, the Council also works in partnership with 12 private providers to support additional early years provision. The service also includes responsibility for Early Years, Excellence and Equity, Policy, Performance and Resource, Services for Children and Young People and Educational Psychology. It is one of seven strategic areas responsible for delivering the Council’s Strategic Plan. Key actions to help achieve that are set out in this Delivery Plan, together with actions to address any performance issues and service priorities identified in the planning process. The progress of this Plan will be monitored and managed by the Education Leadership Team and reported to Educational Services Committee twice yearly, at the mid-point and end of the academic year. 2. Performance Review The Education Leadership Team completed a detailed review of 2025/26 performance, focusing on the following: • 2025/26 Delivery Plan mid-year progress • National Improvement Framework and Benchmarking report • Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) comparative data • Citizens’ Panel feedback • Complaints • Education Improvement Framework Reports • Service Evaluation Reports (How Good is Our Local Authority) • Continuous Improvement • West Partnership Critical Indicators. This review highlighted our key achievements in 2025/26 as well as the challenges to be addressed in 2026/27. These are summarised below.
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3 Key Achievements in 2025/26 Listed below are some of the major achievements under each of the service outcomes and priorities in 2025/26. Raising Attainment and Achievement and Narrowing the Attainment Gap • Outperformed the national average in the Broad General Education for three consecutive years for attainment for children living in our most deprived areas, ranking11th out of 32 local authorities for literacy attainment in primary for our most deprived learners, and 7th for numeracy. • Sustained improvement in Early Learning and Childcare attainment in numeracy for five consecutive years, and literacy for four consecutive years. • Delivered positive His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) school inspections: Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School, Clydemuir Primary School, Choices School, Carleith Primary School • Recognised at a national level for the high quality of our Service Improvement Framework, identified by HMIE Inspectors as a model of best practice. • Delivered positive Care Inspectorate Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) inspections: Dalmuir ELC, Renton ELC, Lennox (Faifley) ELC, Villa Kindergarten, Gartocharn, Carousel (Dumbarton), Great Start and Ferryfield and from HMIE the following settings received positive inspections: Children’s Hour, Brookland and Carleith ELC. Since 2022/23, the proportion of funded early years provision which is graded good or better is higher in West Dunbartonshire compared to the national figure and to agreed comparator. Wellbeing, Equity and Inclusion in All Settings • Increased number of schools achieving Rights Respecting Schools Awards rising from 1 to 23 in one year; and established Young Leaders of Learning in almost all schools. • Adult satisfaction with local schools remains consistently higher in West Dunbartonshire than both the national average and comparator authorities. • Improved overall school attendance to 91%, in line with national levels, and reduced rates of persistent non-attendance through a high- profile strategic focus and a robust programme of targeted interventions and monitoring. Achieved significant progress in attendance rates for care experienced children, with 45% increasing their attendance by an average of 10%. • Extended our Enhanced Support Model into 4 mainstream primary schools providing education to 23 children. • All schools embedding Year 3 of the Child Inclusive Research into Curriculum Learning Education (CIRCLE).
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4 • 22 schools achieved the ‘We Promise Award’, with a further 12 engaged in the programme aligned to the national Promise commitment for care experienced children and young people. • 230 teaching and support staff completed training on understanding autism, recognising and reducing anxiety, and building emotional resilience, enhancing capacity to meet a wider range of learner needs. • Established Inclusion Support Model across Early Years, positively impacting children’s experiences and strengthening staff knowledge and confidence in inclusive practice. • Increased Seasons for Growth Companions with 29 trained this session, including six practitioners from a third-sector partner - supported 125 children and young people affected by bereavement and loss. • All local authority and partnership nurseries have completed training in ‘Up, Up and Away’ and are now embedding and extending practice to further support children’s language and communication development Creativity and Employability • Opened Faifley Community Campus (October 2025), bringing together two primary schools, an early years centre and a specialist support base within a single, integrated community campus; and opened Riverside Additional Support Needs Secondary School (August 2025), providing a fully accessible, rights-based learning environment for young people with complex needs. • Since 2022, 26 Modern Apprentices have been supported within our Early Years provision. To date, 21 have achieved their SVQ Level 3 and secured employment with the Council. Alongside this, we have delivered a fully funded career changers programme through Skills Development Scotland and remain committed to promoting this route to qualifications and employment. • Our Senior Concert band were awarded a Gold Award at the Scottish Concert Band Festival in March 2026, for the 5th consecutive year. • Increased attendance at careers events with over 1000 pupils and their families attending careers events in all secondary schools supported by 80 partners including local businesses, national employers, colleges, universities and training providers. • Delivered a comprehensive programme of almost 500 professional learning sessions and networks, combined with strong engagement in research-informed enquiry, including 100 secondary staff completing Osiris Collective Leadership programmes, over 250 primary teachers participating in Visible Learning, and six teachers achieving Master’s-level accreditation, improving practice across nearly all schools.
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5 Key Challenges in 2025/26 • Implementing national reform during financial uncertainty The scale of national Education Reform, combined with ongoing financial uncertainty, presents significant challenges. Reduced resources impact both short- and long-term planning and constrain the service’s ability to prepare effectively for forthcoming changes in curriculum, assessment and qualifications. This has led to increased expectations from our workforce to streamline priorities and reduce the number of concurrent workstreams. Accommodating this is complex, given the breadth of national policy directives, external inspection requirements and the diverse needs of individual schools and early learning centres. • Resilience The service has implemented a range of change programmes in response to budget savings and the wider modernisation agenda, resulting in a reduction in frontline staffing. The reduced capacity is placing additional pressure on the workforce and contributing to longer response times. • Responding to increase in Additional Support Needs (ASN) The educational context in Scotland is continually evolving; however, at the heart of this change remains the central importance of the relationship between teachers, the wider education workforce and the children and young people they support. Education services are facing increasing challenges, including a significant rise in the number of children with additional support needs (ASN). In West Dunbartonshire, the proportion of learners with ASN has grown steadily from 36.9% in 2013 to 46.4% in 2025. While investment in expanding the ASN estate has provided essential additional capacity, demand continues to rise. Increased costs from partner providers for specialist support further underline the need for local solutions to ensure that the needs of all learners are met. In addition, new national policy directives will require a review of current policy and practice, further increasing the scale of change initiatives and stakeholder expectation. • Addressing persistent equity challenges Maintaining high levels of attainment for our children and young people most affected by poverty is challenging, with evidence that our performance is slightly below the national performance in key areas of attainment and achievement. In addition, current budget constraints, a reduced funding model and uncertainty regarding future Strategic Equity Funding from the Scottish Government could impact negatively on sustained improvement in future academic sessions.
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6 • Sustaining high-quality digital infrastructure Maintaining and renewing sufficient, high-quality technology for learning and teaching (e.g. pupil devices and interactive teaching boards) remains an ongoing financial and operational challenge. Maximising the potential of artificial intelligence to reduce teacher and administrative workload, while enhancing learning and teaching, is a key priority. • Growing Demand / Increased Expectations In line with national evidence there is increasing demand on local authorities and education services to respond rapidly to service-user expectations and concerns, provide clear and effective communication, and deliver bespoke, individualised provision within short timescales. This is placing additional pressure on services to meet rising parental expectations, heightened communication needs and frequent requests for support, with a growing proportion of resources diverted towards reactive activity. This reactive workload is stretching the capacity of the service while it continues to maintain its commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes monitored and reported through national agencies and benchmarked national frameworks. 3. Strategic Assessment The Education leadership team completed a strategic assessment to determine the major influences on service delivery and priorities in 2026/27 and beyond. The key factors are summarised below. Key Factors Financial Challenges The entire public sector is continuing to face significant financial challenges due to a range of factors including inflationary cost increases, pay awards not being fully funded by the Scottish Government and insufficient overall funding to support the delivery of front line and back-office services. The Council is currently faced with an estimated cumulative funding gap in 2027/28 of £10.905m rising to £44.028m by 2030/31. We will continue to monitor the overall financial position of the Council and updates on estimated future budget gaps will be reported to Elected Members throughout 2026/27.
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7 These challenges require further action to balance our budget and protect services for residents. This will mean available funding will be reduced over time and we will need to reconfigure how we work, what we do, where we work, and potentially reduce the number of people employed. In this context, we will aim to continue to provide a sustainable, quality service to children and young people, their families, internal clients and the public. In Education, identifying opportunities for budget reductions is always a significant area of challenge, as we are tasked with maintaining teacher numbers, which accounts for approximately 57% of our annual spend. The Council’s per pupil education costs exceed both comparator authorities and the national average, in part because a number of schools operate with small rolls in buildings designed for larger pupil numbers. 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 provide the range of supports and interventions targeted at raising attainment, achievement and narrowing the poverty related attainment gap, as well as prepare for forthcoming changes in curriculum, assessment and qualifications. Budget Sensitivity Analysis In reviewing the service budget projections, consideration has been given to the sensitivity of these budgets, in particular for higher risk/ higher value budgets which may have a significant impact on budgetary control and future budget projections. The analysis has considered sensitivity around demand, costs and charges, and income levels. Two particular areas were identified as set out in the table below: Budget Sensitivity Area Rationale Teacher cover costs Considerable pressure on headquarters supply cover budgets from maternity leave and longer-term absences. Pressure on maintaining Scottish Government target for teacher numbers, continued uncertainty on funding allocations and milestones for implementation of Reduced Class Contact Time, in primary by August 2027 and in secondary by August 2029. Additional Support Needs placements Given the high annual cost for such placements (an average in excess of £300k per annum for residential and £43k per annum for day placements) a small increase in the number of external placements can lead to a considerable overspend. Increasing number of references to ASN tribunal with possible outcomes in favour of unplanned placements can lead to increased costs of staffing and / or school placements
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8 Place the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education Analysis of available evidence, policy drivers and service intelligence highlights inter-related strategic needs that must be addressed to improve outcomes for children and families. To deliver on our commitment as educators to promote positive values that enable our children and young people to thrive as 21st-century global citizens, the education system must remain proactive in ensuring we are actively anti-racist and value diversity. We need to be responsive to the change in pupil population, for example in the increasing number of new Scots living in West Dunbartonshire. In 2026/27 we will: • Ensure workforce planning takes account of projected and actual changes in the population • Progress the authority’s strategic approach to Additional Support Needs, building on existing priorities and commitments • Champion and embed children’s rights across services, in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child • Strengthen inclusive practice within Early Learning and Childcare settings, with a clear focus on language and communication development; and align multi-agency approaches to early language development • Embed a whole-system approach to relationships and behaviour, reflecting national Respect Me guidance • Deliver improved child development outcomes through the implementation of the Thrive at Five programme, championing the role of parents and strengthening joined-up services to enhance early support. Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people Addressing persistent equity challenges remains with the majority of children in West Dunbartonshire residing in our most deprived areas. The challenge of addressing the impact of poverty on attainment and achievement outcomes is well documented locally and nationally with a steadfast commitment by the service to ensure provision of quality experiences to deliver improved outcomes for all children and young people. Whilst progress has been made towards our stretch aims for equity, a plateauing of performance and declining rates are beginning to emerge. In 2026/27 we will: • Engage in robust support and challenge approaches at school / ELC level focussing on attainment, achievement and attendance • Introduce a revised Early Years Assessment and Progression Framework which will ensure staff have a wider knowledge of children’s attainment in all curricular areas and skills • Deliver strengthened secondary and primary attainment strategies to sustain and improve performance • Drive outcome-focused improvement through the implementation of the service performance and improvement programme, led by high-performing school leaders and strengthened through Leadership Pathways, Coaching / Modelling, Enabling Leaders, Improving Our Schools/Departments/Classrooms, Collective Leadership, School/ELCC Improvement Partnerships
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9 • Deliver consistently high-quality learning and teaching across all classrooms and playrooms through the strategic use of agreed approaches: Visible Learning, play-pedagogy, West Dunbartonshire Competencies for Learning and Meta skills, digital technologies, adaptive teaching the National Improving Writing Programme, Concrete Pictorial Abstract mathematics, and Circle Framework. Improve Attainment and Achievement National reform is reshaping the wider education landscape; however, the core functions of key national bodies remain: HMIE continues to lead on inspection; Education Scotland on curriculum support; Qualifications Scotland on assessment, awarding and qualifications design; the General Teaching Council of Scotland in Professional Standards and Registration; and the Care Inspectorate on ELC regulation. In 2026/27 we will: • Refresh the Service Improvement Framework to ensure alignment with emerging national expectations and deliver national priorities for quality in education • Develop and implement an agile learning, teaching, and curriculum strategy that responds to advances in technology, including the effective and ethical use of artificial intelligence • Develop a learning estate strategy to deliver a ‘fit for future’ model of educational provision • Evaluate the devolved Local Learning Community model, ensuring an approach that supports effective implementation, shared accountability and sustainable improvement • Implement system models which deliver streamlined expectations, reduce bureaucracy and workload. Improve skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people Significant system change will be required to meet the expectations of the Scottish Government’s Education Reform programme 2025– 2032, including adjustments to curriculum, assessment, qualifications and wider system accountability. Headteachers have emphasised the importance of ensuring that change is manageable, with clear consideration of staff workload and strong opportunities for collaboration across schools. We need to rapidly respond to change in technology ensuring our children and young people are being supported as responsible users of technology. Maintaining and replacing high-quality and sufficient technology for learning and teaching (e.g., pupil devices, interactive teaching boards) remains an ongoing financial and operational challenge. Long term planning is in place to support provision. In 2026/27 we will:
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10 • Prepare for the implementation of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle to ensure education equips young people to be active citizens, and that learning both supports and celebrates diversity while being proactively anti-racist • Build system-wide capacity to ensure readiness for national reform to curriculum, assessment, and qualifications, strengthening practitioner expertise, curriculum design, and assessment literacy to improve outcomes for all learners • Implement phase 2 of digital learning strategy and produce a refreshed social media policy. Highly Skilled workforce equipped to support the range of needs and rights of our children and young people The Scottish Government expect local authorities to maintain teacher numbers at the pre-determined level held in 2023. This is particularly challenging within the context of school roll reductions, reduction in the number of probationer teachers being allocated to West Dunbartonshire, and budget savings. The introduction of Reduced Class Contact Time (RCCT) has been agreed by Scottish Government and COSLA and is expected to in place by August 2027 for Primary and August 2029 for Secondary. It has been agreed that increased staffing levels will be required to accommodate the reduction in class contact time and will be fully funded, although specific funding allocations are not yet available. Early timing of recruitment to ensure we can secure the number of additional teachers required to deliver the RCCT is crucial to successful implementation. The Scottish Government expect local authorities to support Diversity in Teaching specifically through collaborative involvement across local authorities to support, contribute and implement the Diversity in Teaching Action Plan. Our work in this area will contribute to the WDC People First Strategy and preferred employer status. The Scottish Negotiation Committee for Teachers have agreed changes to the Job Sizing Toolkit with specific reference to the case loads of pastoral support posts. Fuller consideration is required to understand the impact of implementing the changes regarding Principal Teacher pastoral caseloads; however, it is expected that an additional number of pastoral support posts will need to be established for which there is no additional funding provided by Scottish Government. Existing posts must be reviewed no later than 1 June 2028, in readiness for implementation from 1 August 2028. In 2026/27 we will: • Develop and implement employee life cycle plans in line with the People First Strategy to attract and retain the education workforce • Develop and implement a Diversity in Teaching Action Plan • Develop and implement a plan to deliver the job sizing review of pastoral support roles • Implement second phase of clerical and support staff reviews.
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11 These actions form our key workforce activities for the year ahead and will be monitored and reported under the following broader workforce actions that are set out in Appendix 1: • Develop and implement wellbeing, employee engagement, equality and learning and development plans to enable capabilities, improve resilience and promotion of a diverse workforce • Develop and implement employee life cycle plans in line with the People First Strategy to attract and retain the workforce • Implement service review process including role design, use of new technology and new ways of working to add resilience, address gaps, and establish opportunities for efficiencies • Develop and implement learning and development plans and development opportunities to improve capabilities and resilience within the workforce. Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement is central to all that we do. The actions set out in this section, as well as those at an operational level not included in this Delivery Plan, demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement and take account of the wider Best Value focus on vision and leadership; governance and accountability; effective use of resources; partnerships and collaborative working; working with communities; sustainability; and fairness and equality. Action Plan The challenges identified in Section 2 and the key factors identified in Section 3 have informed Education priorities for 2026/27. Appendix 1 sets out the action plan to address them. It also includes: • performance indicators that will enable progress to be monitored and reported to stakeholders • strategic workforce actions to address workforce issues identified in the planning process • strategic and/or service risks. In relation to the latter, strategic risks represent the potential for the Council to take advantage of opportunities or fail to meet stated strategic objectives and those that require strategic leadership. Service risks relate to service delivery and represent the potential for impact on individual services, or the experience of those who work within the services, i.e. employees, partners, contractors and volunteers, or service users and clients in receipt of the services provided. In identifying the relevant risks for 2026/27 and actions to mitigate them, we aim to improve or maintain the current position (i.e. the current risk score) set out in the Appendix.
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12 4. Resources Finance Education has a net revenue budget of £139.270m and a capital budget of £4.721m in 2026/27. A breakdown by service area is set out below. We will make the best use of the resources available to deliver our key priorities. Service Area Gross Expenditure 2026/27 (£m) Gross Income 2026/27 (£m) Net Expenditure 2026/27 (£m) Capital Budget 2026/27 (£m) (Figures subject to ongoing verification) Primary 36.426 0.326 36.100 1.867 Secondary 37.572 0.983 36.588 2.754 Special 25.454 0.237 25.217 0 Psychological 0.911 0.100 0.812 0 Sports Development / Active Schools 0.627 0 0.627 0 Early Learning and Childcare 21.042 0.350 20.692 0 Creative Arts 0.810 0.124 0.687 0 Public Private Partnerships 18.489 4.329 14.160 0 Curriculum Development 0.072 0 0.072 0 Central Administration 1.011 0.068 0.943 0 Workforce / Continuous Professional Development 0.329 0 0.329 0 Performance & Improvement 0.558 0.039 0.519 0 Education Development 2.760 0.235 2.524 0.100 Scottish Attainment Challenge 0.852 0.852 0.000 0 Pupil Equity Fund 3.381 3.381 0.000 0 Pupil Equity Fund – Looked After & Accommodated Children 0.393 0.393 0.000 0 Total 150.686 11.416 139.270 4.721
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13 Employees Employee Numbers The headcount and full-time equivalent of support staff in each service area derived from the HR Console (as of 31st March 2026) and the headcount and full-time equivalent of teachers in each service area is derived from the Teacher Census (as of 8 September 2025, published December 2025) and is as follows: Service Area – Support Staff Headcount FTE Central Additional Support Needs Support Service 27 19.76 Children and Young People 4 3.6 Early Years 501 366.9 Education Central Management 5 5 Education Development 25 20.1 Music Service 18 12.4 Performance and Improvement 4 4 Primary Schools 240 159.7 Psychological Services 11 9.5 Schools - Peripatetic 41 0 Secondary Schools 185 82.1 Special Schools and Units 143 106.9 Technician Services 22 18 Workforce Continuous Professional Development 9 6.6 Total – Support Staff 1235 814.56 Service Area – Teachers Headcount FTE
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14 Employee Absence The 2025/26 quarterly absence figures for Education are shown below, together with the Council average for the same periods for comparison. 2025/26 Absence Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Annual FTE days lost per FTE employee Education – Support Staff 6.14% 3.76% 7.26% 7.88% 14.44 Teachers 2.39% 1.61% 5.06% 5.77% 8.59 Council wide Total 6.17% 5.39% 7.2% 7.65% 14.38 ASN 67 60.8 Primary Schools 453 401.8 Secondary Schools 443 402 HQ 16 15.2 Early Stages 13 10.4 ELCCs/PTs/Excellence 7 6 Early Years HT Pointages 4.2 4.2 Total – Teachers 999 900.48 Grand Total 2234 1715.04
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15 Appendix 1: Action Plan Please note, all 2026/27 targets are indicative until year-end data for 2025/26 is available. Our communities Our neighbourhoods are safe, resilient and inclusive Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Cases of exclusion per 1,000 school pupils 20 Claire Cusick Percentage points difference between male and female pupils attaining national levels in literacy in Secondary school 3 Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage points difference between male and female pupils attaining national levels in literacy in Primary school 10 Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage points difference between male and female pupils attaining national levels in Numeracy in Secondary school 0 Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage points difference between male and female pupils attaining national levels in numeracy in Primary school 1 Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of schools with the Keeping the Promise Award 100% Claire Cusick Percentage of schools with Child Inclusion: Research into Curriculum, Learning and Education (CIRCLE) Champions 100% Claire Cusick Percentage of schools who have achieved Right Respecting Schools (RRS) Award (Gold, Silver & Bronze) 80% Claire Cusick School Attendance Rates (per 100 pupils) 90% Claire Cusick
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16 Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target School Attendance Rates for Looked After Children (per 100 Looked After Children) 85% Claire Cusick School Exclusion Rates (per 1000 pupils) 20 Claire Cusick School Exclusion Rates for Looked After Children (per 1000 looked after children) 75.5 Claire Cusick Action Due Date Owner Place the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education 30-Jun-2027 Claire Cusick Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Owner Failure to place the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education This risk concerns the delivery of UNCRC and ensuring these are integral to the planning, experiences and supports we offer children, young people and their families. Claire Cusick Our residents’ health and wellbeing remains a priority Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Number of ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ trainers in schools 14 Claire Cusick Number of mentors in 'Mentors in Violence Prevention' programme 30 Claire Cusick Number of schools with Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS) leads Claire Cusick
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17 Action Due Date Owner Improve children and young people's health and well being 30-Jun-2027 Claire Cusick Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Owner Failure to improve children and young people's health and wellbeing This risk concerns our ability to develop curriculum, opportunities and supports in collaboration with key stakeholders which will meet the wellbeing needs of our children, young people and families. Claire Cusick Our residents are supported to increase life and learning skills Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Percentage of young people with Additional Support Needs in a positive destination 91% Claire Cusick Percentage of establishments delivering good or very good high-quality learning & teaching (Outcome of Improvement Framework) 93% Julie McGrogan Percentage of school attendance 90% Andrew Brown Percentage of 3- & 4-year-old children at ELC achieving the benchmark in literacy 59% Alison Bowers Percentage of 3- & 4-year-old children at ELC achieving the benchmark in numeracy 39% Alison Bowers Percentage of ELC settings meeting the National Standard Criteria of good and above 100% Alison Bowers Percentage of pupils gaining 1+ awards at SCQF level 5 85% Andrew Brown Percentage of pupils gaining 1+ awards at SCQF level 6 60% Andrew Brown
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18 Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Percentage of educational establishments receiving positive inspection reports 100% Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P1 who have achieved Early level for reading on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P4 who have achieved First level for reading on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P7 who have achieved Second level for reading on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of young people in S3 who have achieved Third or Fourth level for reading on, or before, the ACEL census date 90% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P1 who have achieved Early level for writing on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P4 who have achieved First level for writing on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P7 who have achieved Second level for writing on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of young people in S3 who have achieved Third or Fourth level for writing on, or before, the ACEL census date 90% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P1 who have achieved Early level for numeracy on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P4 who have achieved First level for numeracy on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of children in P7 who have achieved Second level for numeracy on, or before, the ACEL census date 85% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan
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19 Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Percentage of young people in S3 who have achieved Third or Fourth level for numeracy on, or before, the ACEL census date 90% Katherine Forbes; Julie McGrogan Percentage of young women going to positive destinations 91% Andrew Brown Percentage of pupils gaining 5 + awards at level 5 60% Andrew Brown Percentage of pupils gaining 5+ awards at level 6 30% Andrew Brown Percentage pupils in 20% most deprived areas getting 5+ awards at level 5 50% Andrew Brown Percentage pupils in 20% most deprived areas getting 5+ awards at level 6 22% Andrew Brown Overall Average Total Tariff 790 Derek McGlynn Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving expected CFE Level in Literacy 73.5% Julie McGrogan Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving expected CFE Level in Numeracy 80.2% Julie McGrogan Literacy Attainment Gap (P1,4,7 Combined) - percentage point gap between the least deprived and most deprived pupils 11.5 Julie McGrogan Numeracy Attainment Gap (P1,4,7 Combined) - percentage point gap between the least deprived and most deprived pupils 13.8 Julie McGrogan Percentage of pupils achieving expected levels in Writing by P7 75% Julie McGrogan Percentage of funded Early Years Provision which is graded good or better 100% Alison Bowers Action Due Date Owner Close the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people 30-Jun-2027 Julie McGrogan Improve attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy 30-Jun-2027 Julie McGrogan
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20 Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Owner Failure to narrow the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people This risk concerns the delivery of the key areas within the Scottish Government Strategic Equity Fund. This risk concerns the delivery of approaches to address the equalities gap and those with protected characteristics. This risk concerns the delivery of approaches to address the poverty related equity gap in all sectors. This risk concerns our ability to work successfully to collaboratively plan with a range of partners for successful delivery. Claire Cusick Failure to improve attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy This risk concerns the successful implementation of the four dimensions of the revised West Dunbartonshire Improvement Framework; 1. Collaborative Improvement 2. Enhanced Support 3. Enhanced Scrutiny and Support 4. Leadership Development. This risk concerns our ability to develop of the literacy and numeracy curriculum, opportunities and supports in collaboration with key stakeholders which will meet the needs of our children, young people and families. Julie McGrogan Challenges in implementing broad- ranging school improvement to raise attainment and achievement This risk concerns delivering excellence and equity for children and young people. National and local indicators have been set to monitor progress with outcomes relating to attainment and achievement with a key focus on making progress to narrow the poverty related attainment gap. Scottish Equity funding devolved to local authorities aims to deliver on priorities between 2023-26. This funding will end in 2026. Julie McGrogan Our Economy
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21 Our residents are supported to access employment and training opportunities Performance Indicator 2026/27 Owner Target Percentage of young people entering a positive destination 97% Andrew Brown Participation rate for 16–19-year-olds (per 100) 91.5% Andrew Brown Action Due Date Owner Improve skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people 30-Jun-2027 Andrew Brown Risk Description Current Assessment Target Assessment Owner Failure to improve skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people This risk concerns the ability to expand course provision and revised learner pathways in the Senior Phase leading including for those young people with Additional Support Needs. This risk concerns our ability to work successfully to collaboratively plan with a range of partners for successful delivery. This risk concerns the development of a skills-based approach to the curriculum within the BGE and Senior Phase. Andrew Brown; Julie McGrogan Our Council Our workforce is resilient and skilled where digital technology supports service delivery for our residents
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22 Action Due Date Owner Develop and implement wellbeing, employee engagement, equality and learning and development plans to enable capabilities, improve resilience and promotion of a diverse workforce 31-Mar-2027 Andrew Brown Develop and implement employee life cycle plans in line with the People First Strategy to attract and retain the workforce 31-Mar-2027 Andrew Brown Implement service review process including role design, use of new technology and new ways of working to add resilience, address gaps, and establish opportunities for efficiencies 31-Mar-2027 Andrew Brown Develop and implement learning and development plans and development opportunities to improve capabilities and resilience within the workforce. 31-Mar-2027 Claire Cusick